Black

Black mana symbol

Black is one of the five colors of mana in Magic. It is drawn from the power of swamps and embodies the principles of free will and amorality. The mana symbol for Black is represented by a skull. On the color pie, it is the ally of blue and red, and the enemy of white and green. Black seeks to increase his power by all possible means, including opportunism, murder, treason, and cruelty.

Flavor

The essence of Black can be summarized in: having the last word on his own life.

Black looks at the world and sees a simple reality: power is everything. Power dictates who is happy and who isn't; who commands and who submits; who lives and who dies. And whether the weak see it or not, they are at the mercy of the powerful. Black sees his own will as something so precious that the idea of losing it or giving it up is totally unacceptable. Thus, to live according to this notion, Black must preserve and expand his free will by all means; which inevitably translates into gaining power. He aspires to be as powerful as he could be, reaching omnipotence if possible.

To achieve power, Black follows a simple rule: don't follow any rule. It looks for any opportunity to get ahead, and takes advantage of it without mercy or shame. The thirst for power is the greatest factor in Black's inner psychology, countering all forms of meekness, laziness and conformism. Of course, killing and sowing terror is not a problem for Black either. All living beings are subject to fear, and Black does not hesitate to provoke and use the fear of others to achieve its purposes.

On a philosophical level, this search for power can be positively motivated, from the recognition of one's own identity and free will as the basis of human dignity and happiness; or negatively, from a deep fear of defeat in all forms (including death) that leads to power for power's sake, losing humanity in the process. This second perspective is the most reflected in MTG, stereotyping Black as the classic "Dark Lord" creator of his own ruin, although there are also a few examples of the first one, especially in recent editions.

On a mechanical level, it must be noted that black magic is NOT creative, in the organic sense of the term. Black sees power dynamics as a zero-sum game not subordinated to anything external. That is why it uses parasitic mechanics (zero sum) and amoral mechanics (power does not submit to laws, but originates them). Life draining, abuse of the cemetery, theft of enemy cards and sacrifice of permanents to obtain a benefit are typical examples of this.

Attributes

Black individuals focus on themselves and their interests. They are (or aren't) proper, kind, harsh, treacherous, etc. only if they find useful to be it (or not). This does not mean they haven't personal predilections about how to be or act, but they'll rarely let them interfere with their quest for power. A truly Black individual does not worry about how to acquire power, as long as he/she does. The end justify the means? Not always. But very few ends are so particular as to care about the means.

Black is also the most honest and unashamed color, in it's core. While he can pretend he's something that really isn't, does not allow himself to fall on their own masquerade or lies. Black values and respects the reality and the truth, even if he distortes them before others in order to get an advantage. But with itself, and to those it want to help, Black speaks the truth without distorting, hiding or sugar-coating anything. This adherence to truth is key for its success, and allows it to do things no matter how horrible, abhorrent, shameful or even laughable they are, overcoming any remorse or peer-pressure.

But despite all the things it's capable and willing to do, Black is not free of necessity and responsibility. Daily life is full of choices that must be made, and a bad decision can ruin the work of an entire day - or an entire life-, a fact which Black is well-awared. Because of this, Black invests lots of time and effort to identify the things it can control or influence - which it's responsible of - and the things that can not - which only can accept. Black does NOT reject being responsible, but the exact opposite. It only rejects paying the worst part of the price of its decisions if it can avoid it.

It has to be noted that Black is one of the LEAST fatalistic of colors, despite (or due to?) its embracement of the most dark aspects of reality and humanity. Black believes people ought to do everything possible to improve their situations by their means avaliable, and encourages them to do it. This does not means that Black wants everyone to succeed - an impossible from their perspective -, but wants everyone to have a chance.

Misconceptions and Controversies

GOOD AND EVIL

Maybe the most common misconception is to think that Black embodies Evil. Understandable, given the omniscient horrored-malicious flavor in the majority of black cards in all editions. But Black is not inherently evil. No color has the monopoly of Good and Evil, and malice, pettiness, sadism and violence are not inherent or exclusive of Black.

Why Black appears to be most evil than the other colours? For two reasons: it's willing to doing Evil, and is competent at it.

True, Black has no problem in doing evil to others - in horrific and creepy ways - if considers it to be the best and/or the only way to achieve its goals. Not because it believes that Evil in inherently superior or better than Good, but because it considers wrong to limit its options to get ahead. Black's Amorality must be understood in this sense: as a way to legitimate the right to choose between Good and Evil, since both are part of the reality. Not as a devaluation of Good, or a glorification of Evil.

In the same way of thought, Black always chooses to be competent. Since it doesn't limit its ways to do evil, neither time nor place, Black is extremely dangerous when it has to do evil things. Which is coherent with either its philosophy - Free Will consists in having options - and the fact that it's responsible for itself at any moment. When Evil becomes the best or the only option, Black has to be able to do it.

POWER BY POWER'S SAKE

Another common misconception is that Black pursues power by the power itself, trying to become the "number one" in a senseles race to the omnipotence - or out from the bottom. While it's true that this is one way to express Black philosophy, and sadly a frequent one in MTG villains, it's not the only way to be Black-oriented. As we noted in the introduction, power is only a tool for the purpose of maximizing one's Free Will. But, what does one with it's Free Will? Whatever it wants to do.

A Black individual doesn't need to become a "Dark Lord", or to be constantly improving and empowering him/herself. Also, it doesn't need to pursue by default political-domination ends, demeaning-to-other ones, trascendent ones, nor even selfish ones. Black does not provide a set of goals the alligned individuals have to pursue, only a method (not being restricted by a method) and a worldview to face reality. One can choose any goal he or she desires, by whatever reasons; Black only reminds that freedom of choice doesn't mean freedom from consequences, so choices have to be made in the proper time and way.

When ego, fear and pettiness are the main driving forces of the majority of individuals, it's no surprise that they became the stereotypical villains-consumed-by-their-own-power we tend to see in MTG and other fantasy worlds. Excellence is for a few.

EGOMANIAC

In line with the former, Black is often represented with a monstruous Ego. Once again, this is just one - sadly common - way to express Black, not the only one. While Black certainly will defend its ego and try to reshape the world at its own convenience when it believes it's the most optimal choice, the supreme value Black wants to protect is not its Ego, but its Free Will. Not the reason why it makes it's choices, but the ability to make them in the first place. Black is not closed to being humble, or to radically change it's own self-image and scale of values, or to empathize with others. The only intolerable thing for Black is not to be able to choose in matters relevants to his life. And this includes why, when and how to die, either in a psychological or even literal way.

Interactions with other colors

Agreements

Black and Red: In Red, Black sees a color that knows that the best way to live is in one's own interest. Red's desire to do what it wants and Black's desire to get what it wants lead to a color pair that is the purest form of hedonism; do whatever you want, and damn the consequences and the law -if you're powerful enough, nothing can stop you, so screw the weak and frightened. Black/Red demolish any rule or regulation that gets in the way of what they want, which directly opposes their common enemy, White, who is determined to have a lawful society at any cost.

Black and Blue: In Blue, Black sees a color that doesn't shy away from how ugly the world is. Blue's quest for omniscience coincides perfectly with Black's desire for omnipotence, leading to a color pair that wants absolute knowledge and absolute power. Black/Blue also are extremely pragmatic and subvert the status quo in their quest for unlimited power and knowledge, which puts them at odds with their common enemy, Green, which wants to preserve the communion of the natural world and is driven by instinct.

Black and White: When White and Black agree, it's usually on practical details about group dynamics, though there are a few shared values like free will (Black sees it as quintessential, White likes heroic choices). White and Black both understand the need for sacrifice (even if Black sacrifices others for its own good and White sacrifices itself for the common good), and both are the most affiliated with religion: either as a way to live by the values of being virtuous or to become superior to your peers (hence White and Black get the most clerics, and the Orzhov Syndicate is a religious organization on its face). Whenever Black and White cooperate, it's usually in the government of a group (White) by a powerful and privileged elite (Black) maintaining this status quo at any cost, which embodies pure Machiavellianism. As such, Black/White excel at ruthlessly manipulating life totals for their own benefit. However, Black's emphasis on self-help can help White's desire for caring for others, offering positive examples like Gideon's and Liliana's friendship.

Black and Green: When Black and Green agree, it's usually on a fundamental, natural scale. Even though Black and Green conflict on the Death vs. Life debate, both colors understand the need for death to prune excess life (even if Black uses death proactively, and Green lets death happen naturally). Similarly, both colors are firm believers in the "survival of the fittest." Black and Green manipulate the graveyard more than any other color pair, being able to use the cycle of life and death to its advantage during the moments in which the two cooperate. Both acknowledge the superiority of the predator over the prey and understand that natural instinct also includes survival at any cost (even cheating and killing), predation, and willpower, leading Black/Green to be a surprisingly cohesive pair.

Disagreements

Black versus White: In White, Black sees a color that is held back by a set of morals. Naturally, the main debate between White and Black is that of Morality vs. Amorality. Black sees no universal set of morals that life conforms to, and thus acts without morals (note that this does not always lead to evil). White's moral system is, to Black, archaic and outmoded, and only serves to get in the way of what's best for oneself. Black also sees White as overprotective of society's weakest members. A purely Black system ensures that the strong excel, while a purely White system ensures that all are treated equally or at least fairly. White enforces laws to create social cohesion, while Black exploits laws to benefit itself.

Black versus Green: In Green, Black sees a color that is naïve to the basics of life; that the world is an ugly place and that letting life happen unhindered only leads to more and more problems. The main debate between Black and Green is Parasitism (Death) vs. Interdependence (Life). Black believes that the weak masses exist only to be exploited by the strong (and will use death as a tool to cull the weak). Green's belief in the masses being essential to maintaining synergy through nature makes no sense to Black. More importantly, Green strictly believes in fate and destiny, which greatly disturb Black's ambitious and free-will oriented lifestyle. Not only does it imply Black's quest for control is pointless, but also that an individual's own sense of self is always dictated by something or someone else. Whether true or not, the spread of these beliefs undermines Black's creation of a world in which the self is valued above all. As such, Black will silence Green's proselytising.

Black versus Red: Occasionally, Black sees Red as being far too chaotic in its search for freedom. While Black certainly supports destruction for an objective (creature removal, for example), Red can sometimes be far too reckless, destroying things simply because they can be destroyed. Also, since Black rarely lets its feelings get in the way of its plans, it perceives Red's intense focus on emotion as foolish. When they both get their hands on a new toy or weapon, Black is at least willing to read the instructions first. But the most important conflict between Black and Red is the importance of emotional bonds with others - Red will sacrifice itself for its loved ones, putting their welfare above itself without coercion. This is anathema for Black, who sees such behavior as the height of stupidity.

Black versus Blue: Occasionally, Black sees Blue as being too focused on how things are accomplished. For Black, while the means can certainly be important in determining a desirable outcome, the ends are much more important as they are the outcome itself: for Black, the process leading to the goal is always secondary to the goal. Black also detests Blue's excess subtlety, which allows other colors to gain the initiative while Blue is still planning. To Black, getting rid of threats and planning for a goal's achievement don't need to be at odds. Finally, their most important conflict is the value of the very act of learning, and the need to share the knowledge gained. Black doesn't value learning and discovering for their own sake, only for the advantages they provide it. To Black the world is not made of high ideals, but of the self, and Blue deludes itself by wasting its time in pursuit of education and other abstractions: the harshness of experience is Black's education. This is sad and deplorable for the truth-seeker Blue, which willingly assumes the role of mentor to increase its own knowledge through interactions with its pupils, but also as a means to transmit knowledge to the new generations. Black will take pupils only as a tool to pursue its goals or expand its own power, and it will throw them away without regret when they have accomplished their purpose.

Rules

A black card is defined as any card that has in its mana cost or any card that has a black color indicator . Black is oriented on obtaining power — ultimate power at any cost. In the game of Magic, this means that black cards sometimes use 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 access 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 foremost color that causes a player to discard as an effect, not a cost, with Blue a far distant second (each color occasionally uses 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 do not allow regeneration, such as Terror, and this is a different way of avoiding Regeneration and Indestructible, in that a creature with 0 or less toughness is put directly into the graveyard. A similar method is forcing the opponent to sacrifice something, giving them the choice of losing it, instead of letting you choose. This usually bypasses creatures with hexproof and shroud, as the cards do not directly target the creatures, as well as Indestructible and Regeneration. It plays into Black's ability to capitalize on an opening, as since the choice remains in the hands of the affected player, these effects have to be reserved and planned for the right moment, where they can be devastating for a minimal amount of resources.

The following evergreen keywords are associated with the color black (as well as the colors they share it with):

• Flash (shared with blue and green)
• Lifelink (shared with white)
• Menace (shared with red)
• Deathtouch (shared with green)
• Flying (shared with white and blue)

Mechanics

Discarding

With a few exceptions, Black is generally the only color that can look at the opponent's hand, choose a card from it, and force that player to discard it, e.g. Duress. It is also the primary color to force the opponent to discard cards of his or her choice, though this mechanic has occasionally been bled to blue. Forcing the opponent to discard cards that are chosen at random is also a black ability, though some red cards can do that after having drawn additional cards.

This mechanic represents mostly coercion and inducing insanity into the opposition.

Reanimation (the primary strategy of Reanimator decks)

Black is more than happy to ignore the cycle of life and death, using creatures in the graveyard with just as much, (if not more) ease as creatures in hand, with a variety of spells and abilities that can both revive your own dead and turn your opponent's fallen against them.

Reanimation has been proven to be a hyper-competitive strategy that has been inplemented successfully in Commander, Legacy and Modern. Reanimator decks also occasionally appear in Pioneer and Historic. It is a way to skip ahead cheating a big creature into play.

Although the most efficient Reanimation spells are seen as hyper-competitive, there are plenty of other cards with Reanimation effects that allow for health casual play.

Evasion

Black is a color that values secrecy and doing a straightforward job without interference. As such, it is a color that uses evasion to get past the creatures of the opponent, such as flying or shadow.

One mechanic that was specific to black was fear. Some black creatures are too frightening to behold; they may be walking horrors, pestilent abominations, or powerful intimidators. As such, non-black creatures are too terrified to engage them in combat. Artifact creatures, being cold and artificial, do not have such a limitation. This mechanic has been supplanted by Intimidate and later, Menace.

First strike

This creature deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.

Though this mechanic is primarily a red and white ability, a number of black creatures have the ability as well, such as Nekrataal and Black Knight. In black, first strike represents subterfuge, dirty tactics, and cunning quickness.

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: the refusal to stay dead. Some black creatures, through necromancy or other unholy magic, are not alive but undead. Zombies, skeletons, specters and other living dead are just animated corpses forming the infantry of black magicians. In the wake of Regeneration being phased out, Black has been given the ability to temporarily give creatures Indestructible instead.

Lifelink

Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.

Creatures, such as vampires, feed on the essence of others, thus strengthening themselves. Black uses this ability to restore itself to a healthy state while taking its toll on its opponents, much like its parasitic spells do. It shares this ability with white.

Sacrifice

Black utilizes sacrifice differently from each other color. While white believes in self-sacrifice for the good of others, Black will sacrifice their own creatures and their 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.

Life loss

Nearly all cards that have an opponent lose a given amount of life directly appear in black. Examples of these include Blood Tribute, Burden of Greed, and Shadow Slice. Other black cards force one or more players to lose half their life total, or for a spell's caster to pay life as part of the cost of a spell or ability. Black also has numerous cards, such as Disciple of the Vault, that triggers life loss if a given action happens. R&D was shifting away from life loss, in favor of direct damage, to trim out unnecessary complexity. However, due to the unpopular reception from the players, the templating being longer, and damage overlapping too much with red, this has been reversed.

Creature destruction

Black is homicidal, and 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 (e.g. Doom Blade, Dark Banishing), though spells like Death Rattle and Murder 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. Effects that cause weakness are sometimes depicted as a result of plague or pestilence; other times, they are depicted as some sort of asphyxia, causing opponents' creatures to gasp for air.

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.

Besides having temporary -X/-X effects, black is the strongest color for -1/-1 counters.

Parasitism

Target opponent loses X life and you gain X life

Black's primary source of life gain, parasitism literally siphons the life out of others, allowing the mage to feed on their life force. This has been an ability of black consistently over the course of the game, with cards like Drain Life and Syphon Soul.

Removing counters

Remove a counter from target permanent

Black has built a niche for cards that remove counters, like Thrull Parasite, Vampire Hexmage, and AEther Snap.

Black-aligned tribes

Humanoid/intelligent races

• Aetherborn
• Archon (shared with white)
• Demons (iconic creature)
• Avatars (shared with white)
• Dauthi
• Faeries (shared with blue)
• Gorgons
• Gremlins
• Hags
• Harpies (shared with blue)
• Imps
• Kor (shared with white and blue)
• Liches
• Moriok
• Nezumi
• Nightstalkers
• Shades
• Specters
• Thrulls
• Vampires (characteristic creature, shared with red and white)
• Werewolves (shared with red and green)
• Wraiths

Monstrous/subservient types

• Bats
• Carriers
• Eyes
• Frogs
• Horrors
• Nightmares
• Ogres (shared with red)
• Ooze (shared with green)
• Pest
• Rats
• Scorpions
• Skeletons
• Slugs
• Surrakar (shared with blue)
• Zombies (another characteristic creature, shared with white in Amonkhet and blue)

Classes:

• Assassins
• Clerics (shared with white)
• Knights (shared with white and red)
• Mercenaries
• Minions
• Ninja (shared with blue)
• Pirates (shared with blue and red)
• Rogues (shared with blue and red)
• Samurai (shared with white and red)
• Warlocks

Trivia

• Black spell with the highest converted mana cost (legal): Shadow of Mortality (15)
• Strongest and toughest Black Creature (legal/non-token): Withengar Unbound. (13/13 or greater)
• Strongest and toughest Black Creature: Marit Lage (20/20 Flying, Indestructible)
• Strongest and toughest Black Creature (any): B.F.M. (Big Furry Monster) (99/99)
• Most cost-efficient Black creature (The lowest cost for the biggest creature): Death's Shadow
• Most expensive Black card: Arabian Nights Juzam Djinn ($2,500.00 U.S. as valued by Starcity Games)
  • Heavily played versions go for about $1,400
• Most expensive Black card from early core sets: Alpha edition Mind Twist ($1,500.00 U.S. as valued by Starcity Games)
• Most unusual expensive Black card: Portal Three Kingdoms Imperial Seal ($500.00 U.S. as valued by Starcity Games)
  • Portal sets were meant for new players, and, aside from Three Kingdoms, generally consider devoid of powerful cards.

See also

• Reanimator
• Reanimation
• Legacy Reanimator deck
• Legacy
• Modern
• Vintage