Fire and Darkness might be similar, but usually Fire and Death go hand in hand...
But, yes, I would rather this be a death shield.
I know this has been said before, but I'd like to remind people of it: Everyone says that when a creatures attack reaches zero, it is "rendered useless." Not necessarily. With RoL+Hope, giving photons atk of zero does not shut down the deck; they are still bioluminescent. Same with an Elite FFQ- still creates elite Fireflies. On the other hand, fire shield destroys RoL+Hope and quickly shuts down firefly swarms.