M14 EDH Set Review, Part 3: Black

Two down, 4 to go. Now it's Black's turn in the spotlight. I know that's really uncomfortable for Black, what with all the Vampires and bugs and rats and such... we'll try to make this as quick and painless as possible.


Well, I dunno. Me, I prefer non-circumstantial, reliable options like Beacon of Unrest or even Rise from the Grave. I can get any guy I want from any graveyard at any time I need it. I don't have to have a very narrow, precise window of opportunity, and I don't have to worry about leaving 3 mana up all the time in case something good dies. Oh and then there's Mimic Vat. So, while this is a cool card, I think it gets trumped pretty badly by, oh, about a dozen other cards.

 Meh.

 Meh. Badass art, though.

Black/White Human Tribal, anyone?

Let's see, cards that do this sort of thing, ranked by playability:
1. Bloodghast
2. Reassembling Skeleton
3. Nether Traitor
4. This guy.
So, evaluation is pretty easy. Are you running 1 through 3 already and need more? Well, here you go!

I dare someone to play this in EDH with one copy each of Festering Newt and Bubbling Cauldron. Do it! You know you want to...

Bad. Just play Blood Artist and good creatures. They'll eventually die without you having to pay two mana to kill your own shit, and you'll get the tiny life drains anyway!

More of this "PLAY ENCHANTMENTS OR ELSE" bullshit. I'd actually like this if it were an Enchantment itself. As a creature, it's just too fragile.

Slivers you control have lifelink.
 
Seriously, that's all you can do to review a Sliver. Just say what the card DOES and anyone playing Slivers already will just know if it's good or not.

 Marginally playable. Good effect, compelling CMC. Slightly worrisome drawback. Some decks will literally scoff at that upkeep clause, but many more will struggle with it.

Well, that's... blunt. Hey guys, so Liliana 1.0 has basically never Ultimate-ed in a game of Magic right? So, let's just do a big expensive sorcery so players can experience the joy of such feat without having to actually work for it.

Still, this is pretty fair, even if it's big, dumb and win-more. Unless Urabrask or something makes an appearance, the table should at least have one turn cycle to find a sweeper... or an Insurrection!

Wow, hey, this might be the one card that makes Insurrection novel again!

I killed a bunny for you. Draw some cards.

Definitely playing this in Savra. This card is really powerful but it can also just kill you out of know where. Just remember: Don't EVER have more creatures than your life total and you're good.

Awesome, but unlikely to ever actually deal combat damage. This is another of those "I really like it in 60-card, but not so much EDH" cards.

This is a pretty clever and in-color-pie way for mono-Black to deal with equipment like Greaves. Unfortunately it still does nothing against a guy carrying Sword of Light and Shadow or Feast and Famine. Probably way too niche overall for most EDH players.

















So, obviously for me the standout is Dark Prophecy. Creatures will die, cards will be drawn - basically another day at the office for EDH. The mythic - which I think they should literally have called "Liliana's Ultimate" is pretty ballin' even if I did call it big, dumb and win-more. I mean, it totally is all those things, but that can be said of a ton of cards, some of which I myself play. So I can get behind it. Plus that art is amazing. In the end, though, Black still really doesn't fair much better than White or Blue.