How to Win With Black in Magic: The Gathering

The black cards in Magic: The Gathering represent death, darkness, despair and about everything dreary. Black cards can be both powerful and self-deprecating, depending on how you play. Here are some tips to help you win with the black cards in Magic: The Gathering.

Instructions

1. Find your strongest black cards and consider themes. If you have many black cards, you may be able to build a few strong decks. Otherwise, you need to find your most essential black card or cards and build around them.

2. Pick out your lands. You will probably have some swamps, but look for non-basic lands that can give you other bonuses and black mana. Also consider cards like Dark Ritual, which will give you 3 black mana and costs 1 black mana to play.

3. Hurt yourself. While playing a black deck, you are required to damage yourself. Don't let this deter you though, because with a strong black deck you will hurt your opponent more. A card like Flesh Reaver is a 4/4 creature that only costs 2 mana, but it damages you as much as your opponent. Balance cards like this to give you powerful creatures and spells without killing yourself completely.

4. Make an aggressive deck. Aggressive, or aggro, decks work by dealing lots of damage from creatures and direct damage spells in a short amount of time. Black lends itself to aggro decks because of the availability of cheap creatures with harmful side effects and many damage spells. Make sure you have enough mana to cover your spells but not too much mana that you get stuck with only mana in your hand.

5. Control the game with a black control deck. A control deck, more of a defensive deck, is reactionary and can really throw off your opponent. You need lots of mana and want to be able to draw extra cards. Cards like Mind Sludge, which causes opponents to discard for each swamp you control, and Phyrexian Arena, which lets you draw an extra at the beginning at your upkeep with the cost of one life, are good cards for a control deck.

6. Pair your black cards with other colors. Black cards pair well with other colors because black cards have a definite strength but can be easily exploited. A black and blue control deck, if properly built, can be nearly unstoppable due to blue counterspells. There are also black and green aggro decks and even black and white decks that can deal damage while keeping you alive.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to read the flavors on your black cards. Black and red usually have the funniest flavors, and uncontrollable laughter is a great way to get the upper hand on your opponent.