Ixalan Set Review - Black

Its the middle of the week, we've seen all of the White and Blue cards and today we're going to take a look at all of the black cards, so let's dive in.

Anointed Deacon

With such a big tribal theme you're going to come across cards in Ixalan that benefit from or benefit other certain creature types, in this case Anointed Deacon benefits other vampires in a vampire tribal deck. It's stats aren't particularly stellar, five mana for a 3/3 and it doesn't have an immediate impact on the game, but if not dealt with then it could be attacking for five next turn. Like I said, Anointed Deacon does benefit more from being in a vampire tribal deck because you can use its ability to target other vampires but if worst comes to worst, it can always target itself. At five mana you probably don't want more than one in your limited deck, Anointed Deacon sits at on the top end of your curve and will do if you need something there but you will hopefully come across better top end creatures.

Arguel's Blood Fast

The power in this card is insane; costs two mana to play and only two to use, and you're paying two life for a card which is a fair trade. If you can drop this early the card advantage is going to be immense and will put you way out in front, and you can activate this multiple times if you have the mana, though the life lose will start to take its toll. When that happens however Arguel's Blood Fast transforms into Temple Of Aclazotz, a legendary Land that adds black and can start to counteract all that life you've lost by drawing cards. You will have to sacrifice a creature you control to gain life so you could end up running low on on board creatures but it's a small payment to survive. This is a limited bomb and should be played whenever you can, the card advantage is going to be incredibly good and keep in mind that the flip trigger is a may trigger so you don't have to flip it. In constructed I could see this being played in a control deck to net some cards but one that is more willing to play with its life total.

Bishop Of The Bloodstained

An ability like this is easily the top end aim in a vampire tribal deck, this five mana 3/3 could end the game on the spot depending on how many vampires you control. If you can get off to a good start and curve out nicely then by turn five Bishop Of The Bloodstained entering the battlefield can deal that extra bit of damage enabling you to close out a game and even if it doesn't, a 3/3 for five that deals one damage is still playable. If you can find a way to return this to your hand then it can be devastating to your opponent in limited, I would love to see Bishop Of The Bloodstained make its way into constructed but the mana cost coupled with the variable effect might restrict that a bit.

Blightkeeper

One mana 1/1 flyers are pretty much always playable in limited, having one with upside definitely makes it more playable but in Blightkeeper's case that upside does cost eight mana. There is potential for a couple of points of flying damage with Blightkeeper and obviously it's always useful having a flying blocker on the cheap end of your curve, I wouldn't hold your breath on being able to drain your opponent for four life however as it's a big investment.

Bloodcrazed Paladin

I love the design of this card. A two mana vampire with flash that gets bigger the more creatures that died this turn, the flavour is there and so is the potential power. At worst Bloodcrazed Paladin is a surprise blocker for a low cost which is fine but the card really shines when you get into those massive combat situations because at that point you can decide to block in such a way that trades are a plenty and this guy becomes huge, and all of that for just two mana. In limited he will be a great utility creature and I would love to try it out in constructed, maybe not as a four of though.

Boneyard Parley

It's Fact Or Fiction dead style with Boneyard Parley. With this card you get to choose up to five creatures between both graveyards and then your opponent puts them into two piles, you get the creatures in your chosen pile and the rest go back to the graveyard. It sounds like a good reanimation spell and if you can get to seven mana ahead of schedule then your board position will be looking decent no matter what you get out of it. The only problem is that your opponent chooses the piles and they will always put the creatures you want separate from the other ones you want but I mean you're getting possibly multiple creatures back so that's ultimately a minor complaint. This is your top end limited bomb that could provide you with enough blockers to stave of death and maybe make a comeback, as for constructed there could be a ramp deck that focuses on abusing the graveyard like this but I don't think it's going to see much play.

Contract Killing

Removal in limited is at a premium so when it comes in common form the chances of having a couple of copies increases. Contract Killing does costs five but when it can kill any creature it's limited playable, and it does give you a little mana rebate in the form of a couple of Treasure tokens. You play one, two if you really need to and can support having multiple five cost removal spells which may cause you to cut a top end creature,

Costly Plunder

You need cards and don't mind what the cost is? Costly Plunder will provide as long as you have an artifact or creature you're willing to trade in. It is an instant which means the investment in it isn't as bad but you have to pick your moment with Costly Plunder, for example you don't want to cash in your only creature and not find another. With the big Treasure theme though you could always choose to sacrifice a token to net two cards, although it would take away the mana potential of that Treasure. If you can abuse the sacrifice effect from Costly Plunder then I could see playing this for more than face value in limited, I'm not a massive fan of these types of cards though because I feel you could always play another creature or spell or whatever you're trying to find and you will have the same rate of drawing that card rather than having to dig for it.

Dark Nourishment

Again, you want to keep your eye out for removal in limited, even if it costs more than you would usually pay for it in constructed it's still worth it in limited because the games tend to be longer on average. Dark Nourishment may not always kill a creature but the life gain can be a real thing and it could always be used to close out a game by giving you those extra few points of damage. It's easy to splash so if you're playing a faster deck maybe based in red you could throw in a swamp or two giving yourself a little extra reach or an extra removal spell for limited.

Deadeye Tormentor

Creatures that teach players how to play Magic are always vital to the game to breed better players, Deadeye Tormentor is one such card. It may sound trivial to some of you but to get maximum value out of both your cards and your opponents plays (from your perspective anyway) its general thought that you should play your spells after your combat phase. Doing this can make your opponent think you have combat tricks, anticipate cards incorrectly therefore causing them to play different spells or play spells at the wrong time and it maximizes your options. The Raid keyword on Deadeye Tormentor is one that triggers if you have attacked this turn so for maximum value from this three mana 2/2 you should almost always play him after combat to make them discard a card. It's fine in limited, you'll be happy to see him and play him, in constructed it's nothing special and probably won't see play.

Deadeye Tracker

Say hello to the new four of staple for every black deck. Deadeye Tracker is a one mana 1/1 that comes with a new ability called Explore, and while explore may take up a lot of room in the text box it is a pretty strong mechanic. When you Explore you reveal the top card of your library, if it's a land card you put it into your hand otherwise you put a +1/+1 counter on the creature that Explored and then you choose whether to put the revealed card back on top of your library or into your graveyard, Deadeye Tracker does this for two mana and exiling two cards from your opponents graveyard but other creatures will have other means. I think this mechanic is going to be really powerful, it's like a sudo Scry but 40% of the time you just get a free card and the other 60% you get a bigger creature and information. Great in limited because it can act as card advantage and I think will be a staple in constructed because of the versatility.

Deathless Ancient

Vampires are going to be well represented in Ixalan and it's always good to have something for a tribe to do when it's not getting in for damage. Deathless Ancient is a six mana 4/4 Vampire with flying. That's pretty good; it attacks and blocks well in the air, is a reasonable threat and it has the potential to keep coming back. I think Deathless Ancients is going to be a powerhouse in limited but maybe a little to highly costed for constructed.

Desperate Castaways

If you really need a creature, like a 23rd card creature just to beef out your limited deck a little, then I guess this would do. I don't think you're going to be happy about playing Desperate Castaways as it's pretty much on par with a normal two mana 2/2 which are a dime a dozen in most sets, having the draw back that requires you to have a Treasure is probably going to a problem you aren't going to run into often but it still isn't enough to justify this for me. Like I said, if you really need another creature then sure it could be good enough but on the whole, this card is pretty bad.

Dire Fleet Hoarder

Speaking of two mana 2/2's with a draw back, here's Dire Fleet Hoarder. In this case though the drawback isn't the lack of blocking but a lower toughness which may sound worse but when Dire Fleet Hoarders dies you get a Treasure so overall you probably want it to die. In comparison to Desperate Castaways, Dire Fleet Hoarder is a much more playable creature; it costs the same and provides the same power but the Hoarder gives you a bit more value where as the Castaways would just feel a bit slow and clunky. You can really utilise any extra early mana in limited which Is was I think this will make the cut quite often.

Dire Fleet Interloper

This as your four drop in limited isn't bad, you will come across better four drops but I wouldn't be upset with Dire Fleet Interloper. A 2/2 Menace creature makes combat awkward and can get some damage in if your opponent doesn't want to put their creature in a position for a possible combat trick but the kicker is the Explore. If it hits a nonland then it becomes a 3/3 with Menace which is much more threatening and at worst it draws you a card if it's a land, like I said there will be better four drops but this will do if you really need another one.

Dire Fleet Ravager

This is a very aggressive little pirate, a five mana 4/4 with Menace and Deathtouch already wants to be on the front foot and attacking when able. Add to this aggressive creature that it dispenses with a half of both players life totals when it enters the battlefield and suddenly it only takes a few swings with Dire Fleet Ravager to finish your opponent off. An obvious bomb in limited and I could see this turning up in some sort of suicide black list in constructed but maybe when a lot of the burn decks have disappeared.

Duress

We always need hand disruption in standard and good old Duress is back to keep things in check. As it stands we have one other one mana hand disruption spell, Harsh Scrutiny, and it's not that good. Maybe in a world full of aggro decks but that's not one we live in currently, with our diverse mix of decks and strategies it's possible to do almost anything you want making a restricted card like Harsh Scrutiny pretty bad. Duress gives you more versatility as to what you can take and almost always makes it into blue black control lists. It's pretty weak in limited because limited tends to be more aggressive.

Fathom Fleet Captain

An interesting and possibly great creature for the pirate decks, Fathom Fleet Captain is really good at amassing an army of 2/2 pirates that can be awkward to block. For a two mana 2/1 with Menace I don't think you're going to be disappointed to open this in limited especially with so many other Pirates running around and as far as constructed goes, I could see Fathom Fleet Captain making it but it might turn out that it's a little restricted as far as it's ability is concerned.

Fathom Fleet Cutthroat

It's a conditional Nekrataal, albeit easier to cast and without the First Strike but Fathom Fleet Cutthroat does give you more power and much more toughness so it balances out nicely. This is another card that screams "play me post combat!" because you really want to get maximum value out of it, sure a four mana 3/3 is good and you would play that anyway but one that can act as a removal spell post combat is even better and can really turn a game when played at the right time. The fact that Fathom Fleet Cutthroat is common means that you will see it fairly often in limited and you should pick a couple up; its easy to splash and can double up as a creature and removal spell, what more could you want?

Grim Captain's Call

Being able to return your bomb creature in limited can always be useful, just in case your opponent was able to deal with it the first time round hopefully it will be a bit too much for them a second time. Failing returning your bomb creature you could just get value out of Grim Captain's Call by returning a utility creature or just generic creature from each tribe in Ixalan. I'm not a massive fan of Grim Captain's Call as I think you could just play another creature over it for three mana and be happier with it, if you're planning on running multiple creature types in limited however then I could see playing it but I'm not sure I would still be happy playing it.

Heartless Pillage

Mind Rot with additional text I'm sure will be great in limited. Mind Rot usually see's play in limited and when you can get extra mana out of it just for attacking it's going to make it more appealing, essentially turning it into a two mana discard spell.

Kitesail Freebooter

Another new staple in black for constructed, Kitesail Freebooter is a creature that will do work for you in any deck you put it in. A two mana 1/2 isn't the strongest but it does fly which is nice. The main crux of this card comes with its enter the battlefield ability enabling you to look at your opponents hand and nab a non creature non land card, this is a lot more powerful than people may think especially when it's attached to a creature. The information you gain just from looking at your opponents hand is immense; you could see what colours they're playing, the bombs that may have in limited or just what curve they're working with. Kitesail Freebooter is very limited playable and in my opinion definitely constructed playable, having a Duress on legs is a good tool for your deck to have and can even get them in the late game for such a low cost.

Lurking Chupacabra

Lurking Chupacabra is a great utility creature for black decks in limited, if you can abuse the Explore mechanic then it can start mowing down your opponents creatures and in multiples will be absolutely insane. It blocks well and is a great four drop addition to any board control deck.

March Of The Drowned

A great, cheap utility card in limited decks and it will perform much better in a pirate tribal deck. One mana to return a creature from your graveyard to your hand is a good trade off, much better in my opinion than Grim Captain's Call, keep in my as well that even if you didn't want the two Pirates in your graveyard, although I don't know why you wouldn't want full value from your spell, you can just target one of them as a creature instead.

Mark Of The Vampire

Returning from a couple of Core Set printings from years ago, Mark Of The Vampire is now appearing in a more thematic set in relation to its name. Being able to give one of your creatures +2/+2 and Lifelink for four mana might seem a little steep but don't be fooled, you want to play this card in your limited deck; it's easy to splash because it only has one black in its cost, it can pull you back into a game with the Lifelink and it can give the enchanted creature the chance to trade up or just dominate the board.

Queen's Agent

A creature that sits on your top end in limited and has the potential to run away with a game. For six mana having a 3/3 Lifelinker is a little below the curve but it does have Explore to try and remedy that, so you can either end up with a six mana 4/4 Lifelink or a 3/3 Lifelinker and a card. I don't think you want more than one Queen's Agent in limited because it's mana intensive and is fairly easy to deal with at three toughness, but if you get to attack with it then it could start putting a decent life point gap between you and your opponent.

Queen's Bay Soldier

A two mana 2/2, pretty standard but it is a vampire and therefore it does play nicely into the vampire theme. Also at two mana it comes down before Mavren Fein so you can get a token.

Raider's Wake

Usually a card's ability being based on something like an opponent discarding a card feels a bit awkward because there aren't going to be many cards that allow you to take advantage of it. In this case however Raider's Wake comes with its own way of triggering its ability by having a Raid trigger that causes them to discard a card. That being said the actual discard trigger is worth a look and it's a pretty good trigger, losing two life per card is, in itself, a ten turn clock which is big I know. If you can attack with a creature each turn to trigger the Raid and that creature deals damage suddenly the clock has gotten quicker and that two damage quickly becomes something to worry about. I haven't even gotten to the best part, when you can cause your opponent to discard multiple cards in a single turn or even have multiple Raider's Wake in play at which point they turn into very awkward threats to deal with. In my opinion Raider's Wake's playability only extends as far as limited and casual because of its four mana cost and lack of immediate impact.

Revel In Riches

This five mana enchantment could end up shooting out a lot of Treasure tokens provided you can remove your opponents creatures, sounds straight forward. The Treasure tokens are going to help parley into you playing more removal spells more often because you have more mana to play them with, again straight forward enough, the real interest is the last couple of lines on this card. "At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have ten or more Treasure tokens in play you win the game" this is where a lot of players will be going with Revel In Riches and I think that's going to be very hard to achieve even with other cards providing Treasures which is another point, Revel doesn't just count the Treasures it's made it counts all tokens made under your control. I think the main thing to focus on with Revel In Riches is the value you get when removing a creature, which ideally is something you'll be doing in every game of Magic. It's a permanent effect that gives you extra mana to play around with while you're taking out whatever threats you're currently facing down, you may get the "Win the game" clause sometimes but I don't think it's something to prioritize unless you can have a cavalcade of Treasures entering the battlefield. With all that being said, I don't think you want this in constructed as it's way too slow and doesn't actually do anything. Limited however I can see it being played in because it nets you value and is more likely to win you the game.

Ruin Raider

Dark Confidant was a stupid good creature, it was card advantage in exchange for life wrapped in a cheap little creature. Ruin Raider has a similar ability; you reveal the top card of your library, put it into your hand and lose life equal to the mana cost. However, in Dark Confidant's case you did it in your upkeep and in Ruin Raider's case it triggers at the end of your turn provided you attacked with a creature this turn, note that it doesn't have to be Ruin Raider itself that attacked but it does still count it if it does. With the ability aside as a creature Ruin Raider is a very aggressive creature, a three mana 3/2 that could trade up or if left unblocked will start taking chunks out of your opponents life. In limited it's going to be incredibly good and I'm sure Ruin Raider will appear in constructed as it's still really good card advantage even if it is hitting you while it does it.

Ruthless Knave

Treasures are a big theme in Ixalan so you probably won't struggle to find a few off of your creatures, enchantments or other spells. Ruthless Knave gives you a nice little outlet for any unwanted creatures, for just three mana and a creature you can get an extra two mana for your troubles which sounds pretty good, enabling you to ramp up and fix your mana smoothly. What it also does is give you a draw engine if you can sacrifice three Treasure tokens, instead of giving you three mana Ruthless Knave gives you a card and considering he gives you two Treasures per creature the Investment is definitely worth it to me. One way of using Ruthless Knave I can foresee is blocking with a creature and then before damage resolves sacrificing that creature to get two Treasures and taking no damage. At worst he can sacrifice himself to give you a bit of a mana boost. This guy will do work in limited but I think constructed is a little out of reach as it's a bit mana intensive although the 3/2 body shouldn't be counted out.

Sanctum Seeker

In my opinion Sanctum Seeker is a very powerful creature. It might not be the biggest in stature but as a four mana 3/4 that's still not awful, it won't trade up and blocks pretty decent enough but the real reason you play Sanctum Seeker is for the aggression it gives your deck. Back in my White cards of Ixalan set review I talked about Mavren Fein netting you creatures and giving you a good board advantage, you had a turn two Gifted Aetherborn into turn three Mavren Fein, now you have the perfect four drop in Sanctum Seeker. If you can hit two drop three drop into four drop, when you attack with your three vampires, not only do you get another 1/1 with lifelink but you also get to drain your opponent for three life before any combat damage is dealt and extra turn you get to do more draining and attack with your 3/4. An obvious limited bomb and I think has some constructed applications in a vampire tribal deck.

Seeker's Squire

A sub par Bear in that you have to get lucky for it to be a two powered creature. Sure drop it on turn two and hope for the best but I'm sure you can find better two drop creatures.

Skittering Heartstopper

A simple one drop with the ability to gain Deathtouch for a single black mana. It's going to do a lot of work in limited and has no constructed application whatsoever.

Skulduggery

I love everything about this card; the name, the feel, the art, the flavour text and the mana cost. Skullduggery reminds me of Zealous Persecution from Alara Reborn, a card that cost WB for this effect except it hit all your creatures and all your opponents creatures, it was a combat trick blowout. Obviously Skulduggery isn't anywhere near as powerful as Zealous Persecution but if played at the right time can still cause a huge one sided combat phase for you. The thing that Skulduggery has over Zealous Persecution is that because the latter affected all of your creatures you were more inclined to use it when you had gone a bit wider and maybe less likely to use it when you only had one or two creatures. I think you should be playing Skulduggery in limited when you can, it's a great combat trick that could put you over the edge and really put your opponent off kilter, I could also see this sneaking into constructed. The effect isn't massively powerful but it definitely relies on a players ability to evaluate a situation and act accordingly.

Skymarch Bloodletter

Black is usually very good at tempo and with this three mana creature you will be able to keep that tempo up. If you can hit your creature drops on curve in the early game then dropping Skymarch Bloodletter on turn three can offset the life totals and give you a little edge. It's limited playable and at worst doubles up as a flying blocker.

Spreading Rot

Land destruction isn't very good, sometimes you can get a specific utility land that's being a real pain in your arse but most of the time land destruction spells are bad, especially when they cost five and don't do much like shock your opponent. Still bad.

Sword-Point Diplomacy

This card is stupid good, three mana for a possibly three cards and even if your opponent takes one away that turns into two cards and hitting you opponent for three. Imagine hitting Gearhulks or Planeswalkers off this card, it turns the game into play a load of life or get wrecked by massive swingy bombs, this seems like a no brainier and I can't really see the drawback. Ok, the exiling cards may be a drawback but it's a small price to pay really when you could be drawing three cards for three mana. Realistically you might hit three lands which isn't the best case scenario but, and I'm going to keep repeating myself to make sure you understand, you've still drawn three cards for three mana. In limited it's great as it can dig for your threats and maybe even put your opponent in a position where they have to take the life from one card and find a way to deal with the others, not having the life to pay. Constructed is going to love this, a ramp deck that plays a tonne of massive threats that need to be dealt with having Sword-Point Diplomacy is dangerous.

Vanquish The Weak

I like Vanquish The Weak, so much so that I could see it being played in constructed. It's on the cheaper side and it's and instant so despite it hitting conditional creatures, in this case with power three or less, It has a range of creatures it will be able to hit and because of that I think it's playable in not constructed and limited and remember, removal is at a premium in limited so Vanquish The Weak is great to play and easy to splash.

Vicious Conquistador

This is the one drop the Vampire tribal deck wants to see. For the first turn or so that it can attack it's essentially a 2 powered creature and if left unchecked could do a lot more than it deserves to, in multiples it will just gun down your opponents life total. The best part about Vicious Conquistador is that it's a great way to start if you want to trigger cards like Sanctum Seeker or Mavren Fein which leads me to think that, in sealed and draft at least, Vampires will be a very powerful archetype.

Vraska's Contempt

This is the premium removal spell from Ixalan. It's Ruinous Path costing one more mana, though instead of having Awaken it's an instant and it Exiles the creature or planeswalker. Expect this to be a four of in decks as you probably won't be seeing better than this anytime soon.

Walk The Plank

Another fantastic removal spell, one that in a different world could be one of the premium removal spells from Ixalan, Walk The Plank. As it stands, in Ixalan limited it's not gonna be a great removal spell as there will be a lot of Merfolk running around. In constructed however it will play a kin to Victim Of Night, a card from original Innistrad that essentially became "BB - destroy target creature" instead of destroy target non Human creature because humans weren't a big part of the metagame. I think the same will happen with Walk The Plank, if Merfolk aren't massively played in constructed then Walk The Plank could be a great cheap removal spell, the downside is that it's Sorcery speed whereas Victim Of Night was an instant. Walk The Plank will see play but in a world with so many other unrestricted removal spells it could get pushed out very easily.

Wanted Scoundrels

A very aggressive two drop in black, the downside is that it lets your opponent skip straight from two mana, opponent on the draw, to four mana enabling almost every removal spell and a lot of big scary creatures or even planeswalkers. If you can stem the spells your opponents plays off of the extra mana Wanted Scoundrels gives your them then this 4/3 could make quick work of their life total, if you stumble however it could be the turning point very early on in the game. It's a risk vs reward creature and I think the risk is worth it most of the time making it very playable in limited and possibly playable in constructed for an aggressive midrange deck.

I hope you've enjoyed this look through all of the Black cards in Ixalan. Maybe it's given you some food for though as far as deck building and limited play is concerned, check back tomorrow for a look through the Red cards and remember to keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.