Planeshift Limited Review: Black Gary Wise It seems like nowadays there just isn't enough black to go around. Obviously one of the stronger colors in Invasion, black's peak in card quality is unmatched, with commons like Terminate and Agonizing Demise dominating their respective sets. Unfortunately, the black commons in Planeshift aren't as strong as we'd like to believe. While gold cards like Lava Zombie and Terminate are excellent, the general quality of the mono black commons in Planeshift make it so that there may not be enough to go around. The issue here isn't lack of power. It's almost being regarded as fact that if you don't play black in your Sealed Deck you might as well start playing in side tournaments round two, but with the selection in Planeshift being as weak as it is, you won't be finding yourself getting much of anything in pack three if the drafter to your right is in this color in any way. This isn't to say that you shouldn't bother trying, but instead that if you start in black and find it drying up too quickly, you may want to abandon ship. Commons Bog Down I really like this card. Through Invasion's first few months, a metamorphosis occurred that saw Hypnotic Cloud go from being a throw-away card to a popular powerhouse that left one's opponent for dead. This card is just better, regardless of whether you pay the kicker or not. Three mana for pure card advantage is obviously a very good deal, especially in a format with as much efficient bounce as Invasion block Draft, and on the odd occasion where you have an excessive amount of land and your opponent has three cards in hand, you can completely decimate them by uttering those three little words. No, not "I love you," but "with the kicker." Death Bomb I definitely don't feel the urge to utter the other three little words when playing this card, but 'Da Bomb' isn't too bad. Generally used to trade two cards for two better cards, the Bomb will more often than not take out their best creature as a response to your opponent using some targeted spell to take out yours. That said, the four mana cost makes it hard to apply, so I'd recommend against using more than one. You could play extras after sideboarding if they have many Armadillo Cloaks, Shackles and Hobbles though. Maggot Carrier It amazes me how often I see this card being played. The logic goes that it helps get your Cavern Harpy into play, but the problem is that its coming into play ability limits the Harpy's effectiveness. I just don't see how a 1/1 for 1 ever does enough to merit play, but if your deck is light on creatures and heavy on Sinister Strengths, I suppose it could be viable. Kiss a frog Morgue Toad If you haven't noticed, the black common creatures in Planeshift are pretty weak, with 3/3s costing five and 1/1s costing two. In a color with a lot of five drops, it will often be more advantageous to play the Toad, which can help solidify your mana base over an over-costed fatty like Phyrexian Reaper. Don't ever bother taking this over something of importance as Grey Ogres come a dime a dozen, but there are worse things than having to play this guy. Nightscape Familiar Blah, blah, blah, Familiars are good, blah, blah, blah, they help your mana, etc. You've heard it all before, but this is one of the two best of its ilk, with this little guy allowing for fourth turn Probes, third turn Ancient Kavu and a late game source of defense against opposing fatties. Very strong with Sinister Strength, this Familiar is always a solid choice. Phyrexian Bloodstock There are some cards you want to keep out of your deck and some you want in multiples. The Bloodstock falls right in between, as it works well with gating, against white decks, or with color changers like Tidal Visionary, but at the same time is a 3/3 for 5 without evasion. Yes, after sideboarding you'll probably want to alter this line of reasoning, but for your main deck, just go with one. Shriek of Dread More like Shriek of Defeat. Don't play it. A not-so-twisted experiment Sinister Strength A very powerful card, Sinister Strength can turn your weenies into fatties for the mere cost of 1 ManaBlack Mana. With the obvious drawback of offering one's opponent an opportunity for card advantage, the Strength will almost always allow you to hit for four points the turn it comes into play, so it's almost always worth the risk. Great with Battleflies and Familiars, you don't want too many, but more than one can be an archetype. Volcano Imp Black's most solid common creature, the Imp is either great (RB) or barely above average (non-R). 2/2 flyers for four are less than thrilling, so if you aren't playing with Mountains you probably will find other things to take over it, but there aren't too many that are better in a RB deck. Uncommons Exotic Disease Soul Feast and Rhystic Syphon were both solid Limited cards, but the Disease obviously throws up some barriers that those cards didn't. With the basic land type requirement suggesting one' deck must be base green for this card to be effective, in order to make it work, you'd probably have to splash it. There are better things to splash. Nightscape Battlemage Possibly the weakest of the Battlemages, This card is a little disappointing in that one ability is virtually useless while the other lacks the versatility you want it to. Does the Green Battlemage deal 2 to target non-green creature? No, but the Nightscape is limited that way. Granted, when playing against a non-black player its ability is solid, but it seems like everyone is either playing black or pro-black, either of which this Battlemage's 'Undo' ability is useless against. Don't be afraid of passing it if something better shows up. Noxious Vapors A very powerful card, Noxious Vapors is so hard to apply that it more often than not will not be worth playing. Like Exotic Disease, it would be best in a five color deck, but with a 1 ManaBlack ManaBlack Mana casting cost, it's virtually impossible to splash. Give it a try, but not when something important is on the line. Slay Well, this card is obviously the best sideboard card in the set. I mean, three mana for an Annihilate? Hardly seems fair. I usually took Light of Day fourth or fifth, and while Slay isn't as all-encompassing, it's almost as good. Take it over those potential main deck Grey Ogres. You won't be disappointed. Warped Devotion This card is really cool. I drafted a deck a few weeks ago with 2 Wash Outs, a Rushing River, Barrin's Unmaking and a Nightscape Battlemage and I ran Warped Devotion with great success. Combining with Wash Out for a one-way Wrath of God effect, the Devotion is obviously a card that you should only be playing if you have a LOT of bounce. Don't take it high if you do, it'll come back the second time around. Rares Dark Suspicions Maybe in Constructed kids, but this column is mostly known for its Limited analysis. Diabolic Intent Again, much more viable in Constructed. The exception here is that if you have a token generator like Ordered Migration or multiple Ravenous Rats, it may be viable to play it if you have a game-ending bomb like Dromar or Spinal Embrace. If only it were an instant... Dralnu is the life of the party! Lord of the Undead a very solid card, the Lord makes those high pick Shivan Zombies all the more worthwhile, not to mention Nightscape Familiar, Phyrexian Scuta, Lava Zombie and so on. There are more Zombies in this format than I can count, and the Lord makes them all better, though I still wouldn't personally play Maggot Carriers unless I had to. Phyrexian Scuta Obviously nuts, I'm pretty sure that the Scuta is the best mono-black card in the set. I mean, 5/5 for 4? Sure, they can bounce it to gain life advantage, but the 3/3 for 4 is still really solid in this set. I might take Terminate over it, but I don't think any other black card in the set need apply. Planeswalker's Scorn A solid if slow card, the Scorn is a little sluggish against 'bear' decks, but against those UW control decks its insane. Turn after turn, you just pay four and kill their creature, and there's nothing they can do about it. Just be careful that your opponent has a creature in play. This thing needs a legal target, so no free looks.