Which Colours Should I Play – Black

Black is known for creature removal, as well as the best hand disruption options in the format. Whilst black has some fantastic creatures, it does not have many. Its main weaknesses, however, are struggling to deal with artifacts and enchantments, and playing aggressively. For these reasons it sees large amounts of play in controlling and midrange-style builds, such as BGx midrange and 8rack.

Top spells in Black include disruption such as Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek, efficient removal such as Go for the Throat, Victim of Night, Smother, and Dismember. With the splash of white, black receives Lingering Souls, a card which can fill the role of being a resilient threat or a wall against aggressive decks, or with a green splash black gets arguably the best removal spell in the format in Abrupt Decay.

Black also has access to some extremely potent creatures in Dark Confidant and Phyrexian Obliterator. More recently it was boosted with the Delve creatures from the Khans of Tarkir block: Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Gurmag Angler – both are large threats that can be cast for just 1 mana if enough cards are exiled from your graveyard. The only viable mono-black deck right now is 8rack, which is usually creatureless. Most deck opt to use black as a support colour, such as BGx midrange or BW tokens. In terms of planeswalkers black has Liliana of the Veil which is one of the most powerful and widely played planeswalkers in the format. She is known for her flexibility, granting you good options against control and aggressive decks, along with an ultimate that allows you to halve the number of lands an opponent has, as well as possibly getting rid of other troublesome permanents.