Black

Black is one of the five colors of mana in Magic. It is drawn from the power of swamps and embodies the principles of parasitism and amorality (though not necessarily immorality.) On the color pie, it is the ally of blue and red, and the enemy of white and green.

Flavor

For those who appreciate brevity, Black can be summarized with a well-known phrase: Look out for number one.

Black looks on the world and sees just a plain reality: Power controls. Power says who rules, and who dies. And whether the weak can see it or not, they are no more than slaves for the powerful. The essence of Black is to see one's own ego as so supremely invaluable, that this prospect of enslavement, of subordinating that ego to another, is utterly inadmissible. So, to be in accord with its perceptions and beliefs, Black simply must discard all obligations but to acquire power for itself. It can be no less than the one supreme being who is subordinate to no other, the possessor of all power in the universe - it must become omnipotent.

In order to reach omnipotence, Black's rule is simply to follow no rule. Life is hard enough without putting limitations on oneself. Black looks for opportunities to get ahead, and seizes them without mercy and without shame. Greed and ambition are the largest players in Black's internal psychology - Greed counters shame, always demanding more; ambition counters humility, never permitting compromise. And of course, killing is no trouble for the color sometimes portrayed as "obsessed with Death." It is fortunate for Black how much the planes are populated with living things (not necessarily true in the multiverse). Living things are naturally subject to terror and despair, weaknesses on which Black thrives mercilessly.

There are essentially two pillars to Black's efforts, which play out in mechanics roughly as follows: Parasitism, which is Black's readiness to steal power, and Amorality, which provides Black direct access to its desires, provided it can pay the price.

Before proceeding, it is worth noting that Black cannot create something out of nothing. Recall that Black's world-view is very unflattering. Black cannot imagine into existence what isn't there. Instead, Black uses liquidation and nullification. These are explained under Amorality below.

Also, while Black does not limit itself, the world still says power cedes to greater power. As such, the power itself of an adversary cannot be confronted by Black. If such were possible, then power wouldn't be power. Thus, any power consolidated in something irreducible, (with no weak pieces to decay internally) cannot be attacked by Black. This is the reason Black magic has no influence over artifacts and enchantments. Both are just permanent magic (one more worldly than the other), and so Black magic can attack no part of it.

Parasitism

Black can take what it doesn't have, for keeps. If this does not rouse surprise, the reader is already understanding. Black can take away anything, with one salient limitation worth noting (artifacts and enchantments). All manner of mundane resources are for Black's taking; so much should be clear. With the power of Black magic, Life itself is just pocket money, stolen as easily. That includes life-force, like the strength of a creature; willpower, won by corruption, terror, or other horrors; Life, as in, being alive; and life total, the game resource with which a player begins the game.

Amorality

This comes out in two ways - liquidation and nullification. Liquidation is turning one resource into another fluidly and efficiently. Without getting into the specifics of mechanics, Life is a commodity in such "deals with Devils" (in Magic, sometimes Devils are actually involved). This capacity is threatening because sometimes it isn't how much one has, but what one has that crowns a victor. Resource-exchange is at the heart of the game in all colors, but there are some prices that only Black will pay. Nothing is out of the question for Black.
Nullification is simply that - utter erasure. Black, in its total selfishness, can deny the world what the world denies it. This translates into an affinity for killing, most noticeably. Again, artifacts and enchantments are a bit of a thorn in Black's side. To put pressure on the Black mage, game design decided that one's own bargain-striking shouldn't be so easily undoable. Black isn't reckless, but it does have a seat-of-its-pants element. Giving a bit of character (and perhaps, game-balancing limitation) to Black magic, it is decided that the removal of one's own enchantments, and to a lesser degree, artifacts, is difficult in Black. This is enforced typically by limiting the number of such effects available in each non-eternal format.

It could be said that Black acts more out of fear than anything. Black sees the prospect of being controlled, and of actually dying, as one and the same - the compromise of the ego. Further, Black cannot understand trust. Black cannot imagine depending on another, and Black will not sacrifice itself for another. These conditions force Black, truly, into its position: defending itself from a terrifying, unforgiving world - alone.

If one can say he understands the terror of seeing death in everything but knowing trust in nothing, he can say he understands Black.

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Rules

A black card is defined as any card that has {B} in its mana cost. Black is oriented on obtaining power — ultimate power at any cost. In the game of Magic, this means that black cards sometimes uses resources that other colors don't dare touch. Sacrificing permanents and paying life is certainly do-able for the right effect. A simple card such as Greed exemplifies black's determination to get any advantage.

Up until and including Mercadian Masques black had acces to temporary mana boosts, primarily in the form of Dark Ritual. This mechanic has since moved to the color Red.

Black is the color which uses every resource it can get, no matter what consequences it will bring. Which is exemplified in cards such as Grinning Demon, Phyrexian Negator and Dark Confidant.

Black is the only color that causes a player to discard as an effect, not a cost. (Certain other colors use discard as cost, but that is different.) Notable discard cards are Hymn to Tourach, Wrench Mind, Persecute and Cabal Therapy.

Black is the foremost color in spot destruction, illustrated in cards as Terror and Dark Banishing. Recently black has been attributed several "weakness" type spells that gives creatures -x/-x (Last Gasp, Hideous Laughter and Sickening Shoal). A possible reason for this is that Wizards have obsoleted the term Bury (="Destroy, no regeneration") and is phasing out destruction spells that does not allow regeneration, such as Terror, and this is a different way of avoiding Regeneration, in that a creature with 0 or less toughness is put directly into the graveyard.

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Mechanics

Fear

(This creature can only be blocked by black and/or artifact creatures)
Some black creatures are too scary to behold; they are either walking horrors or pestilent abominations. As such non-black creatures are too terrified to engage them in combat. Artifact creatures, being cold and artificial, do not have such limitation. Note that some non-black creatures, such as Squealing Devil, Hooded Kavu and Dust Elemental also possess Fear, though they cannot block other creatures with Fear.

Regeneration

(The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)

Although this mechanic can also be found in green creatures it demonstrates a basic Black principle; its refusal to stay dead. Some Black creatures, through necromancy or other unholy magic, are not alive but undead. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls and other living dead are just animated corpses forming the infantry of Black magicians.

Sacrifice

Xerxes: Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.
Spartan King Leonidas: And I would die for any of mine.

Black utilizes sacrifice differently from the other colors, while White believes in self-sacrifice for the good of others Black will sacrifice its own creatures and its own life to achieve power. Also, Black forces its enemies to sacrifice their resources through spells like Pox, Magus of the Abyss, Grave Pact, Cruel Edict, Diabolic Edict and Smallpox.

Black also deals with Demons, the ultimate evil which heeds to no one, creatures of great power and hunger who demand great personal sacrifice. Examples of demons who need continuous sacrifice are Lord of The Pit, Grinning Demon and Yawgmoth Demon.

Creature destruction

Black is homicidal, it will destroy anyone in its path through different methods; frightening its enemies to death (Terror), killing them in their sleep (Royal Assassin, Assassinate) or by mere presence (Avatar of Woe, Visara the Dreadful).

Note that in normal circumstances Black spells and/or effects spare black's own creatures, however spells like Death Rattle break that limitation.

Weakness

(Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn)

Black is the color of disease and infection. Debilitating ailments afflict any particular creature touched.

(All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn)

Black can also provoke engineered epidemics. even resilient creatures with regeneration, shroud or protection from black cannot escape such plagues. Bane of the Living, Mutilate and Kagemaro, First to Suffer are examples of mass removal spells through weakness.

Parasitism

(Target opponent loses X life and you gain X life)

Trivia

• Black spell with the highest converted mana cost (legal): Hypnox (11)
• Black spell with the highest converted mana cost (un-set): B. F. M.; Big Furry Monster (15)
• Strongest and toughest Black Creatures (legal): Devouring Strossus, Kuro, Pitlord. (9/9)
• Strongest and toughest Black Creatures (un-set):B. F. M.; Big Furry Monster (99/99)
• Most cost-efficient Black creature (The lowest cost for the biggest creature): Hunted Horror (a 7/7 Trample for two black mana)
• Most expensive Black card: Imperial Seal and Juzam Djinn ($200.00 U. S. as valued by Starcity Games)