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ARTIFACTS, LANDS COLORLESS
Ayara, First of Locthwain
I'm not sure where I fall on this card, as there are very few disposable Black creatures running around so you're often sacrificing a real creature in hopes of turning it into a card. The drain ability is nice, but as you need to be very Black heavy for this card I'm just not a fan of the total package. This will play an awful lot like Spellskite, and I'm just not happy to draft mono Black for Spellskite. Drain effects seem to be a well supported theme in Black, so you'll want this most in decks built around draining the opponent out.
Rating: 2/5
Bake into a Pie
Murder for one more mana with upside will still satisfy, no matter what else is baked in. As Bake into a Pie does largely everything you want to out of a removal spell, I'm happy to pick this up early and the slow life gain attached means that you can play a bunch of these if you're fortunate enough to get them. Imagining this with Bog Naughty just sounds brutal, and I hope to assemble that combination as much as I can.
Rating: 3.5/5
Barrow Witches
Knights are so plentiful in this set that despite this not always returning what you'd want, it's still going to draw you a spell the vast majority of the time. As a 3/4, this isn't effective when it's not buying something back but it's certainly not useless either. Barrow Witches looks to be a huge performer in Throne of Eldraine, and I expect every Black deck to want the first one at least. Having one of these in hand is going to make me very interesting in making any trades with a Knight I can.
Rating: 3/5
If Boggart Brute has taught us anything, it's that a 3/2 Menace on turn 3 is no joke. This one has the relevant tribe attached, and pumps your other Knights as well, meaning that if you take this early and get a lot of Knights it's insane, but if you miss you still have a totally reasonable 3 mana creature. As Menace creatures usually do, this works great with combat tricks as you can blow out a double block, or burn out your opponent who was never willing to block.
Rating: 3.5/5
Creativity is the only real limiting bar on Blacklance Paragon, as it acts as a combat trick and removal spell all in one stapled to a reasonable creature for its cost. Whenever you can cast this to ambush something you're really getting away with something, as you'll even gain 3 life in the process, but this has the most power when your opponent double blocks your Belle of the Brawl for instance, as you'll be able to win combats heavily while having a 3/1 left over to show for it. You do need Knights for this, but so many of them are Black that you won't have to work too hard.
Rating: 4/5
Bog Naughty
Look no further for the best food pay-off in the set, as this is a reasonable creature in it's own right without Food whatsoever, and it just turns Food into Terminate for only 3 mana later on. Bog Naughty is an incredible card, and will take over games all on it's own without a whole lot of work behind it. The ability here is so powerful that it makes me a lot more interested in any cards that can make Food, even normally weak ones.
Rating: 4/5
Here we get something else to exchange our Food for, but at a massively lower power level over all. Without Giant's Skewer or Witch's Cauldron in my deck I'm completely uninterested in this, and I likely want one of each to make Cauldron Familar worth it. Otherwise, no matter how many 1/1s for 1 Wizards throws at me, I'm still not going to play with them.
Rating: 1.5/5
The Cauldron of Eternity
There's a lot going on here, but like its Blue Mirror shaped cousin you're not getting a whole lot unless you have at least 3 creatures in your graveyard, and I have to imagine you want quite a few more than that you maximize this. In order to be better than it's uncommon cousin, you need to get multiple creatures out of this, and that card isn't particularly exciting. In games where you have a totally stocked graveyard this card looks nearly unbeatable, but without getting there this is slow and expensive. There's enough power here that this earns high marks, but if there's one card I'm overrating in this review this is the one.
Rating: 4/5
Unlike Rise from the Grave this can't hit your opponents graveyard, which vastly restricts your total options available. It's nice that this doesn't target, and it can occasionally give you a +1/+1 counter as well, but there's just not enough going on here for you to ever actually want this. After Bond of Revival tricked me repeatedly in War of the Spark Limited, I've become a lot less interested in expensive reanimation spells.
Rating: 1/5
Clackbridge Troll
Flavorful as this is, this may be the most bizarre card in the set, and it's tough to rate as a result. The stats here are completely absurd, and with Haste you have a guarantee of getting something for your money. Giving you cards and life is a huge cost to pay, as you'll always have the Clackbridge Troll waiting to actually attack until your opponent actually kills it. Your opponent does get a pile of goats if they manage to kill this immediately, but there aren't a whole ton of ways to take advantage of a bunch of 0/1s in the set so that shouldn't cause too many problems.
Rating: 4/5
Epic Downfall
Killing largely anything but Exiling, and with training wheels attached sounds like an amazing package to me. Although this format seems a bit hostile to splashing in general, this is the exact card I'd love to splash as well. All around this is one of the best removal spells in the set, although there's an upper limit to how many you can play.
Rating: 4/5
Eye Collector
Yet another 1 mana 1/1 flier, once again without enough upside to be interesting. I have to imagine this is only playable in U/B, and only then in a deck entirely based around milling your opponent out.
Rating: .5/5
Festive Funeral
There's certainly no shortage of strong Black removal spells in this set, and Festive Funeral will help round out your removal suite in a pinch. Once in a while this won't be powerful enough to kill anything, but the vast majority of games of Magic will get enough cards in your graveyard to make this work, and once the game drags on this will kill anything. While this certainly isn't the best removal spell around, it won't hurt too much when it makes the cut.
Rating: 2.5/5
Foreboding Fruit
There's enough removal in Black that a cheap way to go up cards has real appeal. Just like your typical Divination this will help you hit land drops and smooth out your draws overall, and late in the game you can cast it for BBB to get a Food token as well. Out of every Adamant common thus far this is by far the best without Adamant. Just like Sign in Blood this maintains the ability to deal the last two points to the opponent, which doesn't come up much but is incredibly satisfying when it does.
Rating: 2.5/5
Forever Young
At such a low cost you can get a massive advantage in games that drag on, as it's easy to use this to stack your deck with creatures to gain an edge when both players are drawing off the top. As this also effectively cycles when you're trying to hit land drops, and can always act as a Raise Dead, Forever Young is a card I'm always happy to have the first copy of in any Black deck. After the first copy this card loses a lot its luster, so don't take this too aggressively as you're never playing more.
Rating: 2.5/5
While it won't often be wise to wait until you can get the both sides of this card, when you draw this late in the game it's an awful lot more appealing than a Sedge Scorpion. Generally bias toward casting this on turn one when you have something to do every turn, and only look to gain Profane Insights when you're lacking other ways to spend your mana.
Rating: 3/5
Of the colored equipment we've seen thus far this looks to be the most appealing on it's own. The equip cost is steep but getting Food returns whenever things trade off is always welcome. This works pretty well with Cauldron Familiar, as you can continuously rebuy the 1/1 and equip it with Giant's Skewer to grind the opponent out. Most decks won't actively want this, but the first copy gives you a lot of late game punch as it makes any creature it attaches to threatening.
Rating: 2.5/5
Lash of Thorns
Sure, this is a cheap trick, but without much of a toughness boost it's not going to win a whole lot of combats. While I don't hate having one in my aggressively slanted Black decks, I'm not willing to go any higher than that. As a combo with Syr Carah, the Bold this is great, but outside of that combo it just ain't good enough.
Rating: 1/5
Just like the other common Adamant card in black, Locthwain Paladin is actually quite reasonable without Adamant, and is very strong once you're paying 1BBB. While I'm not surprised that mono Black seems to have the best support of mono colored decks in this set, it is a bit strange that they get reasonable cards on both sides where the other colors get cards that basically have the triple colored requirement. Having a bunch of these is a pretty appealing reason to be mono Black, as big menace creatures become exponentially harder to block in multiples.
Rating: 3/5
Nothing about Lost Legion excels, but it's a reasonable way to fill out the curve as it's a Knight with an acceptable body size with some card selection tacked on. I like this most alongside Wicked Guardian, as it can help find a 4th land or Wicked Guardian itself, all while providing a 2/3 body to enable Wicked Guardian's ability. In the absence of Wicked Guardian the value of Lost Legion falls off substantially.
Rating: 2.5/5
Malevolent Noble
For a 2 drop we're not asking a lot generally, but I expect Malevolent Noble to be a consistent over performer. Removal spells get much weaker against you as long as you've got some mana open, and this can threaten to become large over the span of a long game. While I can't imagine you'll want a whole pile of Malevolent Nobles, the first few are a great way to start a game on a winning foot.
Rating: 3/5
Adventure hate is the real business on this card, as there's so few ways to interact with Adventure aside from countering them. Despite my impression of this format's slow speed, effects like this are generally not strong enough to see a whole lot of maindeck play. If this one breaks the trend, it'll be because it can blow out Adventure spells, and not as Coercion. Out of the sideboard this gains most of its mileage, as its great against slow decks and decks trying to counter spells.
Rating: 1.5/5
Murderous Rider
Removal spells that make you lose life are always worse than they look, but with a 2/3 Lifelink attached for 3 it's very easy to justify paying a couple life to destroy anything you want. The ability on Murderous Rider is intended to hose various graveyard recursion, but it won't stop Murderous Rider from Running Away Together with one of your opponent's creatures. My favorite usage of the ability is to not deck as fast, but that's much more of a me problem than a problem for the general player base.
Rating: 4.5
Oathsworn Knight
While this has a pretty large drawback associated, it's still a hard to kill 4/4 for 3 that beats Deathtouch creatures and can't be killed by damage based removal. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is even the creature type you want, and I can't see real flaws in this. On some boards it's just going to run to its own demise, but with the damage prevention ability it'll take quite a few turns for your opponent to actually eat this. There's such a large theme in Black of draining the opponent that I don't think racing a card like this is a realistic option, especially if you control a bunch of Knights.
Rating: 4/5
Order of Midnight
Everything about this card rocks, and will translate into winning more games whenever it gets cast. Relevant creature typing, evasion, and card advantage altogether in an efficient package that can be played flexibly and in installments is just an incredible card, and the only drawback is an inability to block. I would order as many of these as I possibly could.
Rating: 4/5
Piper of the Swarm
This is one hell of a 2 drop, as it's acceptable as curve filler and has a very powerful active ability. Piper of the Swarm will play a bit like a planeswalker, as if it ever lives long enough to steal a creature your opponents life gets incredibly hard. You can always steal one of their creatures at instant speed to cause a game ending combat, or you can just steal their best creature for value if they play conservatively. Ayara, First of Locthwain combos incredibly well with this, although I can't imagine it'll be too easy to combine two rares together in Limited. Maybe if I read over this enough times I'll find some flaws, but it looks like Piper of the Swarm will be a consistent over performer in Limited.
Rating: 4.5/5
Rankle, Master of Pranks
Without the abilities this card has some pretty incredible stats, a 4 mana 3/3 flier with Haste is incredibly efficient, and absolutely worth the asking price. Each ability will have its own time and place, your goal will primarily be to break the symmetry as much as possible. Most easily if you play this as your last card, both players discarding will only effect your opponent. The other modes take quite a bit more creativity, but as you're smart enough to read this set review you're smart enough to come up with ways to maximize Rankle. I believe in you friend.
Rating: 4.5/5
Reaper of Night
While this is less dead than the usual Mindrot against opponents without cards to play, the mana cost attached is sky high. As a late game threat for a more controlling deck this is justifiable, but weak. After sideboard this is a pretty average Mindrot, and gets quite a bit better on the draw vs. the play. Reaper of Night will often pair up with Lonesome Unicorn, as the last two cards drafted out of a pack.
Rating: 1/5
Reave Soul
Black seems to be incredibly flush with removal, and this is quite nice for just two mana. While this is much better at killing defensive creatures than opposing aggressively slanted creatures, it'll still find targets against anyone and I'm quite happy to kill basically any creature for such a cheap price. I really like this in a controlling deck where interacting on the cheap is at a premium, but the price is right to cast this in an aggressive deck while adding something to the board at the same time.
Rating: 3.5/5
Revenge of Ravens
Ill-Gotten Inheritance gives me some pause here, as the last time I did a set review (that I never released publicly) I gave that card a terrible rating and ended up totally wrong. While this looks more obviously weak to me, it could have a time and a place against certain decks, especially when they're flush on 1 power creatures. As a sideboard card I'm really into this as when it's good it's incredible, but I think this effect generically isn't worth a card and 4 mana. Drain theme decks might actively want this, although I"m very unsure if those actually exist yet.
Rating: 1.5/5
In the vast majority of games this will come down on turn two, start swinging, and trade off with one of your opponents creatures while gaining you a few life in the process. Late in the game, especially with a bunch of Knights, Smitten Swordmaster gives some incredible reach to go with the 2/1 Knight body. While I'm not confident in building my entire deck to maximize this card specifically, as a Knight tribal pay-off that's acceptable in other decks I'm pretty smitten with this one.
Rating: 3/5
Specter's Shriek
Unlike some of the other color hosers in the set, there's no universe where this is a good maindeck card as the drawback is so horrific if you don't take a Black card specifically. Out of the sideboard this is just a much better Thoughtseize, so try to pick one up for the sideboard if it won't cost you much.
Rating: .5/5
Syr Konrad, the Grim
Leaving or going to a graveyard in almost any conceivable way triggers Syr Konrad, which has quite a bit of attached complexity but doesn't really equal obscene power. Attached to that you also get a 5/4 and the ability to mill both players, and altogether this seems like a powerful package. There's a bunch of Black cards that drain the opponent that all look to work well together, but as most of them are uncommons it won't be the easiest synergy to put together. Nothing about this card stands out too much, but this just fits in to any Black deck so well that it should always have some major appeal. Like the other members of this cycle Syr Konrad should win lots of games.
Rating: 3.5/5
Temptation notwithstanding, a 1/3 for 3 better do my taxes, mow my lawn, and drive me to work before I'm paying that much for it. Food does get put on the table, and the ability is certainly a powerful way of using it, but it's awful tough to justify spending mana this unwisely. Witch cards I'll actually take over this I'm unsure, but likely it's all of them.
Rating: 1/5
Wicked Guardian
Combined with any creature that survives this ability Wicked Guardian is unbelievable, as this world's largest Elvish Visionary allegory. As there's numerous ways to recur this or bounce it for value as well, there's a lot of mileage to get out of this one. Whenever this doesn't draw a card it's downright awful, as it either has virtual Defender or trades with a 2/2, not interesting at all for 4 whole mana. Triggering this without downside won't be too tough, but make sure to include a nice number of 3 toughness cheap creatures to insure your value. Wicked awesome dude.
Rating: 3.5/5
Witching Well's biggest competitor for the title of "Most Mispronounced", this is a bit of an odd duck. Ideally you'll be able to kill this before your opponent can activate it, or you can hope your best cards are better than theirs. Whichever you choose, the price on this is low enough that I'm willing to give it a try once I have some particularly powerful cards to go looking for. Consider this one Opt's more binary cousin, as this similarly gets better when you have other good cards in your deck but is actively awful if you're not looking for good rares/mythics. Disenchants are a Wishclaw Talisman's best friend, unless you enjoy rolling the dice.
Rating: 2.5/5
Witch's Vengeance
Humans and Knights are incredibly plentiful in this set, so whenever you're facing down a few of either this will generate a major blowout. Despite its wording this will act a lot like a targeted removal spell with restriction. When you get to play this naming Goblin against someone with a pile of Redcap Raiders in play you'll feel as if you could never lose, or maybe Dwarf against a Seven Dwarves rich opponent. Outside of the dream cases, this card is perfectly serviceable but nothing special.
Rating: 3.5/5
Takeaways
Black is incredibly good at killing opposing creatures and generating value. Like with Blue I expect decks to skew controlling, although there are a whole lot of tools for aggressive Knight based decks here as well. Mono Black looks well supported here especially as opposed to White and Blue, but as Black looks so strong in general I expect the color to be too contested for that to be a common occurrence. While there are definitely some stinkers here, Black looks to be a strong player in Throne of Eldraine Limited, and I wouldn't be shocked if it ended up the best color.
Best Common
Bake into a Pie
Reave Soul and Wicked Guardian offer real competition here, but Bake into a Pie is close enough to Murder that it's impossible not to put it at the front of the pack. There's so much removal here at common that you'll generally want to sample beyond the pie, but having a bunch of Bake into a Pie will be easy to convert into wins.
Best Uncommon
Order of Midnight
Gravedigger that's also a Knight and can also be cast in installments looks to be one of the best uncommons in the entire set, and only competes with a few other insane uncommons. Bog Naughty is a very close second as it requires some work rather than no work at all, but I could easily see the order switching once the set's metagame develops.
Best Rare/Mythic
Rankle, Master of Pranks
Rankle is a card that's very easy to play with poorly, and will often take a lot of serious thinking to maximize. The power is certainly there, as it can easily turn a stumbling opponent into a dead one in short order, either through card advantage generated or just as a mid-sized haste flier.
Until next time,
Kevin
@sealedawaymtg on Twitter
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