Second Sun for income

[Corinthian]

The main problem with the second sun spell is that it is a troll global that does little to benefit you and much to anger your neighbors. Even if it only costed 0 gems it might still not be worth it because diplomacy is gold in this game.

And also, compare it to Gift of natures bounty will ya. At best this spell can give you +15% to your income. At best GoNB will give you 200% to your income. It also dont piss of your neighbors in the same way. (Though maybe your income graph will.)

[Shangrila00]

The advantage of Second Sun over GoNB is that it's actually a lot cheaper than just 1/2 to go with its much lower effectiveness. It's fire gems rather than more valuable nature, and you don't need to overcast it much. GoNB is vulnerable to dispel because of its relatively high base cost, or overwrite if you aren't the dominant nature power. You don't care at all if Second Sun gets overwritten since you gain the benefits either way, and dispelling it will cost whoever does it more than it cost you to put it up.

Diplomacy wise, yeah, it depends on the other players. C'tis will thank you (and donate gems to make it stronger). Actually if C'tis is in the game and can cast it, it might be better for you to donate fire gems and get them to cast it. Most heat preference nations won't care and will gain overall as their enemies weaken (but not as much as you), same for underwater nations. So if you aren't vulnerable to attack from multiple cold/neutral temp land nations...

Definitely super niche though, I agree.