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Black
Black excels at destroying creatures, and has interesting abilities that come at an interesting price.

Black is pretty much no-nonsense, no hangups, no compunction, no fear, and no reservations. It holds nothing sacred - except the effectiveness of a timely sacrifice!

Black’s creatures aren’t particularly good at combat, but half of the time they just come back after they die. And when they can’t win a fair fight, they frequently resort to assassination.

Magic is not just about power and protection - games frequently hinge on timing. Black cards let you pay a few life points to put your foot on the gas. But it’s not all about the zombies - there is also a very suave conclave of vampires, and one of their best tricks is gaining life so you can keep playing (and paying life points to demons and denizens) for longer.

Black isn’t mean-spirited — it’s practical. It can readily destroy almost any creature it encounters, and it can also cause opponents to discard directly from their hand. It can’t deal with artifacts or enchantments though, so more complex strategies might discover that weakness.

Sooner or later in every game of Magic, cards start to pile up in the graveyard - sometimes dozens of them. Black knows its way around every graveyard, and has ways to take full advantage of whatever is found there. This strategy is not only kooky and fun, but often potent and resilient, since removing cards from the graveyard is a rare ability for Magic cards to have.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (perhaps a headstone?), you know that the phrase “black magic” means that tremendous power is available to those who will pay most dearly for it. Black continues this tradition with a long list of demons that do ugly things to the battlefield, and “demonic tutors” that let you select your best card rather than drawing at random.

Black might not appeal to new players quite as frequently as green and white, but the extreme power of its dark sorcery is known to tempt players into escalating their commitment to the underworld. And, black being very up-front about mortality, you’ll be on your way to discovering the various ways that Magic allows you to experiment with immortality.