In this article I will be looking at the rest of the Black cards in the Magic 2012 set. Even if you weren’t able to draft some of the strongest Black cards, Black can still make an excellent secondary color in your deck. It pairs best with Red in a bloodthirst deck, or with Blue in a tempo/card advantage deck.
Average Black Cards
Blood Seeker – Most decks you face will be creature heavy, so getting this guy out early, or in multiples, can put a nice dent in your opponent’s health total.
Bloodrage Vampire – Works best in a deck with a lot of removal to clear the way, since he dies to so many creatures with his low toughness.
Child of Night – In most games it will end up being a Sorin’s Thirst in creature form.
Dark Favor – You have to be careful about playing this or any other aura, since your opponent gets a 2 for 1 if he can kill the creature you enchanted. If your opponent has little or no removal, then this works great on evasive creatures like Tormented Soul.
Devouring Swarm – Decent flyer that combos well with Reassembling Skeleton.
Diabolic Tutor – Really only worth playing if you have one or more bombs you can get with it.
Disentomb – Most of the time you’ll want better cards in your deck, but this can be useful if you have a few key creatures that you would want to get back.
Drifting Shade – Good in a deck with lots of black mana to pump it up, otherwise it’s not worth playing.
Duskhunter Bat – Like all bloodthirst creatures, you need to have reliable bloodthirst enablers for this card to be good.
Gravedigger – Would be rated excellent if Magic 2012 wasn’t such a fast set. It can still be a very good card in most decks, especially in the mid or late game.
Mind Rot – Can be really good if you have it in the first few turns, but can be useless if you draw it later.
Onyx Mage – Giving any of your creatures Deathtouch can be very useful.
Reassembling Skeleton – At worst, it’s a blocker on the ground that you can keep bringing back. Combos well with several cards, including Devouring Swarm and Smallpox.
Smallpox – This card can be good in the right situation, but you should only play it with cards that complement it. Some cards that work great with it are Reassembling Skeleton, Solemn Simulacrum, and Vengeful Pharaoh.
Sorin’s Thirst – This card is strongest at the beginning of the game, when very few creatures will have more than 2 toughness.
Tormented Soul – This card is really good as a bloodthirst enabler. Also works well with Dark Favor or Greatsword if your opponent is light on removal.
Warpath Ghoul – Decent filler creature if you are low on creatures. Becomes much better if you get a Call to the Grave or Cemetery Reaper.
Wring Flesh – Decent removal because of all the 1 toughness creatures in the set.
Zombie Goliath – See Warpath Ghoul above.
Reject Black Cards
Brink of Disaster – Costs too much for what it does.
Hideous Visage – Not strong enough of an effect to warrant a spot in your deck.
Monomania – By the time you can cast this, your opponent will probably be down to 2 cards or less.
Sutured Ghoul – Costs way too much, plus it requires lots of creatures in your graveyard to be useful.
Taste of Blood – Way too weak to take up a slot in your deck. Would only be playable if you could also target a creature with it.
Zombie Infestation – Discarding two cards is too high of a price for a measly 2/2 zombie.
Sideboard Black Cards
Deathmark – Nice extra option for removal when facing green or white decks.
Distress – Really should only go in your deck if you know that your opponent has one or more bombs.
See also:
Drafting The Magic 2012 Set: Overview
Drafting the Magic 2012 Set: Ranking the Strength of the Commons in Each Color
Drafting the Magic 2012 Set: Black Bombs and Black Excellent Cards