Black mages! What’s your favorite thing about playing black? Did we miss any of the color’s pitfalls? What’s your favorite tech to shore up those weaknesses and pilot your black decks to victory?
@Coffee_break514 Same! I love black because then nothing goes to waste. Nothing more satisfying than seeing a good monster in the grave and having constant access to it. EDIT: My favorite deck is a Grixis eternals deck with Death Tyrant and Wand of Orcus.
I love asmodeus(tech) because you feel like you have unlimited power, but you need to pay with your live. I really like this feeling to be able to do anything, and (for me) black is the only color that gives me this feeling.
Mono black is a blast. Everything is a resource, you have to look at things differently. Especially since even your graveyard is just another place to keep your cards
I'm glad to see someone using the better Chainer! The only reason I changed the deck up is because I got bored of winning the same way, the deck is just that powerful, it's now Syr Konrad.
I'm hoping they'll get into the combinations and associated stereotypes after Blue, Green, and Colourless get done. This series could stretch for 29 more great episodes if they're willing to approach it.
It is fantastic how much better Rachel made this podcast! I liked it before and watch most episodes, but having a person, who is perfectly prepped and can openly talk about how they did the work for the episode every time is fantastic! By now, I love Josh and Jimmy as popular guest more than as hosts! It must have been hard to hand the child they created over like, but I think it helped out the show, and can only imagine it created more time for the business side of things. Lots of love to the entire team, you assembled! You make an awesome product!
@@bassfunkprog6730you could, sure, but you'd still be wrong. Rachel has brought so much life to the podcast, I love seeing Jimmy and Josh when they're here but I agree with op that Rachel has taken the podcast far and away above where it was.
@@bassfunkprog6730 you never really stated why, just that you didn't. You're entitled to your opinion but without dropping actual statement facts about the topic, not a single soul will care about your opinion
@@bassfunkprog6730you legit haven’t given a reason for your opinion, it’s good to have your own opinion, but you’re just having a pity party because people don’t agree with you. Provide reasoning for your opinion
@@magnusprime962 It's pretty nice, since it means them saying they left on good terms is likely not the empty platitudes that often happen when someone leaves a team ^^;
Don’t forget about Discard! This is one of Black’s unique abilities, and although it isn’t as great in Commander compared to constructed, Black also has mass discard like Liliana of the Veil or Delirium Skeins.
I found this video very informative and helpful in making and playing my first mono black Commander deck, Marrow-Gnawer! Thanks Rachel, Ladee, and Command Zone team! Can't wait for the other colors!
Umm 👉👈 ...yes. *Edit: I loved how pumped Ladee gets over all the black good stuff cards. So my 2¢, they talked about how the colour Black has high risk, high reward but didn't mention much on the actual "lose the game" cards. The "Lich" cards, Demonic Pact, Pact Weapon Vorpal Sword, Abyssal Persecutor ect. ect. I could see this topic go on longer, like having a part two since there is so much to cover and talk about.
I was really hoping this series would come back, and it's great to see Ladee Danger return again! It's nice to know that despite the departures of people like her and Ashlen Rose from the main Command Zone team there's no animosity between anyone. Hopefully those two will see success in their future endeavors and the CZ team will continue going strong!
“It’s hard to know when to push the button or draw the cards.” I can’t give a definitive answer on the button, but to drawing cards: the answer is ALWAYS “now.” That’s why you’re playing black. 😂
@@lithiux7766 So you don’t cast a draw spell like Night’s Whisper when you have two mana to spare? You wait until you think you’ll have the mana to cast a big spell immediately afterward? That would really suck if you were a mana short of casting the big spell you drew…
@crawdaddy2004 nights whisper doesn't sacrifice a creature nor is it an instant. The way I interpret their question is if you can do it as an instant speed sacrifice to blocking or death trigger on an opponents turn rather than your own turn. Do you still do it on your turn if you're tapping out to do it
@@lithiux7766 Personally, I have never put Village Rites in a single deck (intentionally), and I have yet to find a good slot for Deadly Dispute despite my efforts (a significantly better card than Village Rites). Black gives me things without requiring resources outside of mana and life.
@crawdaddy2004 korvold is a good fit off the top of my head especially if you have cards that care about when you draw cards descend etc once per turn types of effects
Only new to magic, been playing for 2 months. I fell in love and was drawn to black. Found this super helpful. I play the grave danger pre con and also just built my first mono black deck.
"LADEE DANGER" The fact that you want to improve your mind is the most epic thing I have from most of the people I meet! Everyone should always try to elevate themselves. Blessings to all 👊😇👍
Black makes up a good bit of my Mardu decks. Currently Licia is the highest at about 48% of the colored pips. A lot of that takes advantage of K’rrik’s life for black pips ability since the deck loses life to gain life and gains life to trade in for ramp and card advantage. Black has access to some of the more weird, old cards that people tend to forget about. Sacrifice (mono-black) and Burnt Offering (Rakdos+) can ramp using an expensive creature that was cheated out for its ETB. There’s also some unique effects like Simulacrum, Sorceress Queen, Season of the Witch, Koskun Falls, Spoils of Evil, and Carnival of Souls. Even my least black Mardu deck, Kelsien (27% of pips) has some important black pieces. There’s Pain Seer (non-draw card advantage) and King Macar (exile removal + ramp) and Toshiro Umezawa (let’s me recast cheap spells for more Kelsien activations). Black is extremely versatile if you’ve got the imagination and will.
A cute interaction with Necropotence that some people look over, it doesn't say "exile it instead", so the card still hits your grave. If you have an instant way of responding to the exile trigger, you can still use the card, or for Syr Konrad, each creature discarded deals 2 damage to each opponent.
52:40 To be fair, even though it's a 6 mana spell, Ghastly Death Tyrant from _Commander Legends: Baldur's Gate_ is Feed the Swarm(the destroy target enchantment part) on a creature etb. I am getting to like it more, because as a creature, it's also in the color best suited to bring it back from the graveyard. It's also a decent sized body, and giving my board Deathtouch until end of turn is nothing to sneeze at either.
I think mono black is the best colour personally. I love how it is very polarising. In that it's all or nothing. You have to pick your moment to go all in. Getting it right will win/lose you the game. The epitome of use life as a resource.
Black to me has ways to deal with any situation, but at a cost. Black is a very powerful color and one of the best splash colors in Commander due to it's flexibility.
One of my favorite decks is my Ayara, Widow of the Realm (AKA Asshole of the Realm), who, technically, is Rakdos, but in theory could be seen as mono black. My favorite things to do with her is to reanimate either Demon's Disciple or Kroxa, and force my opponents to sac a creature or discard a card, then the thing I just reanimated sacs itself so I don't need to exile it at the end of my turn.
38:01 There was a time that Animate Dead could reanimate Akroma and due to the protection, it was never technically attached to her, so she stayed in play (they fixed this rule a long time ago).
Thx Rachel & Ladee for making this vid as person who's been waiting to build a mono black deck who hasn't played it before this helped me a whole lot especially because I'm an Green, Red Player
I love my Ayara, First of Locthwain deck. Drains the table, gains you life to support life payments and when needed gets you a card. My favorite combos to run are Ayara > Plague of Vermin | Ayara, Sedgmoor Witch, Chain of Smog and lastly | Gary w/ Saw in Half. 🥰
So great to see Ladee Danger once again! Hope their are some more opportunities for her to visit! Black in Magic definitely used to be explicitly 'evil', I for one am glad they realized villains could be White and it works just fine, it was stifling to the pie to always have the villains be Black. I think Black tends to be '_____, but at any cost', Black lets you do almost anything you can think of in the game (depending on your budget), but it also has tight win cons/combos alongside some of the great value options like Aristocrats. Black manages to have a low barrier of entry compared to the next most powerful colour, Blue, Black often has very simple and direct pathways to winning, and while it can play control it's a much more intuitive form of control than mono-Blue. I've noticed that when I build 2 colour decks with Black they often run more Black than the other colour, while my 3 or more colour decks tend not to be as devoted. In general though, I tend to play more Black than any other colour. Cooking is fun and not especially hard to do, you just have to accept you're going to have mistakes, especially when you're starting out. My best tip would be to think about why your mistakes didn't turn out so you can try not to do that again (this can mean keeping records, I have extensive records on my Christmas Cake recipe because it's so much of a hassle)! As you said, it's hard to improve at cooking without doing it, and their are few things as satisfying as being able to cook the kind of food you like! Eventually you can start to invent recipes that cater to your peculiarities, often ones you didn't know you had (part of getting good at cooking is exploring what you actually like food-wise).
1:04:32 thank you for making the blue shell reference 😂. I made that joke to myself as I was watching. Having a response to a spell on the stack in mono black via imps mischief, and seeing everyone’s surprise is one of my favorite things to do. As far as mana goes, I also play songs of the damned. And a hidden all star is bubbling muck. Glad to see ladee back!
Watching this made me feel better about playing a 2 decks with black in it. One is Anhelo where I wanna play big removal spells and make a ton of life drain spell copies, and the other is Slimefoot and Squee where I get to reanimate things and sac them off for value.
Vito, thorn of the dusk rose is my favorite (only) mono black deck and all he cares about is using life gain to punish opponents. Such a black mechanic lol!
Great episode! Good to see Ladee, especially for this one. One of the black effects I love is the dictate of Erebos style effects. My meren deck once cast plaguecrafter three times in the same turn. One of my favorite rakdos decks is Greven - my build has a heartless hidetsugu with ways to give lifelink (and wound reflection). Who put the tnt in the burning clown car style deck 🤣! Also, best deck ever for bolas citadel.
As a new player, I really appreciate the warning and discussion around the social aspect. I personally get nervous playing strangers so it definitely helpful for someone who loves playing black
Great video, thank you :-) I think Black is the color that has to give up most when you add another color. The big Ramp depends on having a lot of Swamps or Devotion, both of which are difficult if your not in mono black.
56:28 - you don't need another spell on the stack, you re-direct the counterspell to counter Imp's Mischief, then Imp's Mischief resolves, and the counterspell fizzles because its target no longer exists
Finally got around to watching the episode, and I have 2 things to say. 1st my favorite thing about black is discard (it's pre-stack interaction) and 2nd, Thief of Sanity is one of my favorite Dimir cards too!. Bonus 3rd, Rachel and Ladee are awesome!
Ladee Danger is awesome. Love every episode she is in. And I also love black - I like how you can do pretty much everything with black just by paying a little life or sacrificing a few creatures. Zombies are also such an amazing tribe - I am building more and more zombie decks and they never get boring :D
It's the slytherian of the mtg world, I use it almost exclusively. All of my commander decks use it. I don't think it's hard, but I know qlot of people have aversion to using your life as a resource as well as your creatures
Imp's Mischief doesn't require another target on the stack to redirect a counterspell, since it can redirect the counterspell to itself. Very useful to know!
This was fantastic, great energy for both of you. The only thing I can think of is that you didn't emphasize the impact of hand disruption as being a black only mechanic. Sure black can't deal with enchantments well but that doesn't matter if you get to look in their hand and make them throw it away. This is especially useful when you have enchantments out that punish discarding or reward you when they discard. Absolutely nothing pisses people off more than T1 inquisition of Kozilek or Thought seize. I have a mono black Tinybones hand disruption deck that uses things like isochron scepter, specters, discard spells, megrim, bottomless pit, etc and everyone in the playgroup hates it
Small correction regarding Imp's Mischief. If there is a counter spell on the stack you can redirect the counterspell to the Imp's Mischief you played. Unless there is a specific ruling that states you can't I'm not familiar with. I know this because it's a common play with Misdirection (the free blue Redirect)
Yup, absolutely spot-on assessments. I like to describe Black by meticulously describing each other colors specialities and limitations in excruciating detail. Then, wrap-up with "...and Black does whatever it wants". But yeah, anyhow, my favorite deck is my homemade Orzhov Pestilence (honorable mention to RakSac). White comes with so much Protection From Black and Prevent Damage, it *really* satisfies the God complex. Pestilence × (Stuffy Doll + Soul Link) ÷ Sphere of Grace = 4 hp swing for one Black mana. Repeat.
Never has a Command Zone podcast spoke to me more than this one... Nearly everything these wonderful ladies said applies directly to the one one Mono-Black deck I have currently: Throne of the Grim Captain. Rule Zero'd, of course, but when that chair cracks open and my 7/7 Menace, Trample, Hexproof, Lifelinking Y'ARRR, Skeleton Spirit Pirate starts swinging, I am the problem. I learned very quickly that I can not make deals or any kind of alliances with him because he swabs the whole table with his attack trigger. All I can do is hit the gas. This deck plays with graveyards, plays with life totals, destroys creatures, reanimates my creatures(mostly through the Good Captain's trigger), and makes zero friends doing it all. It does everything a Mono-Black should do, including getting gangked on when I Ritual/Coffers to that early lead. It's easily one of my favorite decks I've made in a while. 10 out of 10, would recommend. Also added in a few cards for that wishlist just listening to Ladee and Rachel. Also also, regarding Ladee's last words about taking a break from the things you love so you can come back in a right mind is exactly where I am at right now. I haven't picked up a deck in about three weeks. Reevaluating the game and how much joy that it, my playgroup, and even myself bring to me. "Self care is important, Jimmy." - JLK
One piece of Stack Interaction I really like running in my mono-Black deck that no one sees coming is Deathgrip. It's cost is just Black Black and it's an enchantment with the ability, Pay a black and a black and country target green spell. There's a bit of downside to having to telegraph it since you have to get the Enchantment to stick before you can actually use it but if it lands it's fantastic. Green is a really popular colour in commander and if you hold up mana you can counter a lot of things. Especially since Green has a lot of Artifact and Enchantment destruction.
I love this podcast, you two did so well explaining why black is fun. Everything is like making a deal with the devil. My #1 favorite commander deck is my Teysa Karlov aristocrats deck, who doesn't love Inkshield into Meathook?
My favorite black deck is Kuon, Ogre Ascendant, once I get Kuon’s Essence activated it’s hard to deal with, and I have a bunch of stuff like Archfiend of depravity to make sure nobody has anything, eventually play Rise of the Dark Realms and kill everyone.
I LOVE zombies and recursion. Definitely the best part of black. And paring it with cool sac fodder like rekindling phoenix (my pet card) to make big value engines just makes me feel cool.
I love paying life. It feels so darksided and lich like. I got a old necropotence when I was a kid and it is the best pet card I could've ever wished for. My current favorite combo is bolas citidel+ aetherflux reservoir+ necropotence.
I am a newer player to magic, almost a year now playing, I mainly play commander and I love playing black, I run a massacre girl as my mono black commander and it is so fun but I do get targeted immediately even though I am the least experienced and rarely win, I don't care about winning just having fun but ya big weakness with black is everyone fears it, this video helps me understand better about playing mono black also multi colours that have black and I'm glad this is a vid that I and others can learn from.
I absolutely LOVE Last One Standing- it's reminiscent of one of my favorite Hearthstone cards, Brawl. Representing each creature in the random choice (ESPECIALLY against token deck) gets messy quickly, though.
Black mages! What’s your favorite thing about playing black? Did we miss any of the color’s pitfalls? What’s your favorite tech to shore up those weaknesses and pilot your black decks to victory?
My favourite tribe is zombies!! Mono black as some of the best zombies
@Coffee_break514 Same! I love black because then nothing goes to waste. Nothing more satisfying than seeing a good monster in the grave and having constant access to it.
EDIT: My favorite deck is a Grixis eternals deck with Death Tyrant and Wand of Orcus.
I like paying life for things. I really feel the power level when I do.
I love asmodeus(tech) because you feel like you have unlimited power, but you need to pay with your live.
I really like this feeling to be able to do anything, and (for me) black is the only color that gives me this feeling.
Mono black is a blast. Everything is a resource, you have to look at things differently. Especially since even your graveyard is just another place to keep your cards
I'm happy Rachel Weeks came to the command zone. Her breakdowns and ideas on subjects is a much needed fresh air to the command zone.
As a new player black has been the hardest to learn! Also love hearing women talk about Magic, more of this plz! 💕
black was my first Erebos, Sheoldred (OG one), and many others. if you mix it with others like white its fun even in red and green
My favorite deck is black i adore Chainer Dementia Master.
I'm glad to see someone using the better Chainer! The only reason I changed the deck up is because I got bored of winning the same way, the deck is just that powerful, it's now Syr Konrad.
For me it's the opposite, I can't really play the other colors as well as black. Black just makes sense to me
Q: How many cards should I draw with Necropotence?
A:Yes
Just draw until you have 0 life. You might be dead, but you still have more cards than anyone else.
@@greywolf7577totally agree that's my goal too
More
Honestly?
Love this podcast.
Please, do all the colors.
So far they've already done white and red, I anticipate Josh will do blue , not sure who will do green. Maybe Mr infect?
I'm hoping they'll get into the combinations and associated stereotypes after Blue, Green, and Colourless get done. This series could stretch for 29 more great episodes if they're willing to approach it.
It is fantastic how much better Rachel made this podcast! I liked it before and watch most episodes, but having a person, who is perfectly prepped and can openly talk about how they did the work for the episode every time is fantastic!
By now, I love Josh and Jimmy as popular guest more than as hosts! It must have been hard to hand the child they created over like, but I think it helped out the show, and can only imagine it created more time for the business side of things. Lots of love to the entire team, you assembled! You make an awesome product!
you could miss-spell against? lol@@bassfunkprog6730
@@bassfunkprog6730you could, sure, but you'd still be wrong. Rachel has brought so much life to the podcast, I love seeing Jimmy and Josh when they're here but I agree with op that Rachel has taken the podcast far and away above where it was.
@@BusinessSkrubShe’s a good addition but I don’t really see how radically she’s changed it. Josh and Jimmy is still the best duo
@@bassfunkprog6730 you never really stated why, just that you didn't. You're entitled to your opinion but without dropping actual statement facts about the topic, not a single soul will care about your opinion
@@bassfunkprog6730you legit haven’t given a reason for your opinion, it’s good to have your own opinion, but you’re just having a pity party because people don’t agree with you. Provide reasoning for your opinion
Love that they keep Ladee on the show even when she’s not “on the show”
Cast reanimate
I was asking myself the same thing. Is she gone or not?
@@Dinoschnaffy It seems she's left the main staff, but she's still willing and welcome to come back on as a guest, like Ashlen Rose
@@magnusprime962 It's pretty nice, since it means them saying they left on good terms is likely not the empty platitudes that often happen when someone leaves a team ^^;
I didn't know she left 😢
It's the rule, if Ladee Danger is on the show I must watch it.
Came here to say just this 😂
She's a favorite of mine aswell
Same
Same
@@bassfunkprog6730rachel has some of the best theory takes and insight.
The energy is always 100 when Ladee is here.
So if Ladee is back to show us how to play Black, then could Ashlen be back to show us how to play colorless?! 🙏🏾
i think they did already?
Yes!! My favourite is colourless because of Ashlen being so inspirational. It would be so amazing if she taught how to play colourless
@@georgehunter3393 believe she did years back there is a video
I love seeing Ladee's excitement for the black color pie! I too am a huge black player. Golgari will always have my heart.
Don’t forget about Discard! This is one of Black’s unique abilities, and although it isn’t as great in Commander compared to constructed, Black also has mass discard like Liliana of the Veil or Delirium Skeins.
I found this video very informative and helpful in making and playing my first mono black Commander deck, Marrow-Gnawer! Thanks Rachel, Ladee, and Command Zone team! Can't wait for the other colors!
Umm 👉👈 ...yes.
*Edit:
I loved how pumped Ladee gets over all the black good stuff cards. So my 2¢, they talked about how the colour Black has high risk, high reward but didn't mention much on the actual "lose the game" cards. The "Lich" cards, Demonic Pact, Pact Weapon Vorpal Sword, Abyssal Persecutor ect. ect. I could see this topic go on longer, like having a part two since there is so much to cover and talk about.
Ladee's Liliana shirt is incredible!
OMFG I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE IT SAID LILIANA AND NOT NIRVANA XD
I was really hoping this series would come back, and it's great to see Ladee Danger return again! It's nice to know that despite the departures of people like her and Ashlen Rose from the main Command Zone team there's no animosity between anyone. Hopefully those two will see success in their future endeavors and the CZ team will continue going strong!
A 2 hour video with Ladee??? Im in! ❤❤❤
I love my Chainer deck. Been running it for almost 15 years, with updates ofc along the way.
Absolutely LOVED this episode! Black has always been my favorite color and Ladee Danger is my favorite Command Zone member! 🖤
“It’s hard to know when to push the button or draw the cards.” I can’t give a definitive answer on the button, but to drawing cards: the answer is ALWAYS “now.” That’s why you’re playing black. 😂
I disagree, wait unless you have mana to cast something you would draw
@@lithiux7766 So you don’t cast a draw spell like Night’s Whisper when you have two mana to spare? You wait until you think you’ll have the mana to cast a big spell immediately afterward? That would really suck if you were a mana short of casting the big spell you drew…
@crawdaddy2004 nights whisper doesn't sacrifice a creature nor is it an instant. The way I interpret their question is if you can do it as an instant speed sacrifice to blocking or death trigger on an opponents turn rather than your own turn. Do you still do it on your turn if you're tapping out to do it
@@lithiux7766 Personally, I have never put Village Rites in a single deck (intentionally), and I have yet to find a good slot for Deadly Dispute despite my efforts (a significantly better card than Village Rites). Black gives me things without requiring resources outside of mana and life.
@crawdaddy2004 korvold is a good fit off the top of my head especially if you have cards that care about when you draw cards descend etc once per turn types of effects
Only new to magic, been playing for 2 months. I fell in love and was drawn to black. Found this super helpful. I play the grave danger pre con and also just built my first mono black deck.
We missed you Ladee, hope your back more often
"LADEE DANGER" The fact that you want to improve your mind is the most epic thing I have from most of the people I meet! Everyone should always try to elevate themselves. Blessings to all 👊😇👍
Nice! What a great gift of an episode.
Black makes up a good bit of my Mardu decks. Currently Licia is the highest at about 48% of the colored pips. A lot of that takes advantage of K’rrik’s life for black pips ability since the deck loses life to gain life and gains life to trade in for ramp and card advantage.
Black has access to some of the more weird, old cards that people tend to forget about. Sacrifice (mono-black) and Burnt Offering (Rakdos+) can ramp using an expensive creature that was cheated out for its ETB. There’s also some unique effects like Simulacrum, Sorceress Queen, Season of the Witch, Koskun Falls, Spoils of Evil, and Carnival of Souls.
Even my least black Mardu deck, Kelsien (27% of pips) has some important black pieces. There’s Pain Seer (non-draw card advantage) and King Macar (exile removal + ramp) and Toshiro Umezawa (let’s me recast cheap spells for more Kelsien activations).
Black is extremely versatile if you’ve got the imagination and will.
A cute interaction with Necropotence that some people look over, it doesn't say "exile it instead", so the card still hits your grave. If you have an instant way of responding to the exile trigger, you can still use the card, or for Syr Konrad, each creature discarded deals 2 damage to each opponent.
Love this series, all colors! Ladee Danger is my favorite 🖤
I looove that episode! Lady is amazing
It's really good to have Ladee back on the show, i really enjoy the way she designs her decks and plays the game.
52:40 To be fair, even though it's a 6 mana spell, Ghastly Death Tyrant from _Commander Legends: Baldur's Gate_ is Feed the Swarm(the destroy target enchantment part) on a creature etb. I am getting to like it more, because as a creature, it's also in the color best suited to bring it back from the graveyard. It's also a decent sized body, and giving my board Deathtouch until end of turn is nothing to sneeze at either.
My favorite deck is a chainer, nightmare adept deck. It has the same gary card i used in a gt way back when he was in standard. So much fun
Thank you for the very energetic Show. A must watch for every Black enthusiast. And it's even better to watch it as a patreon without interruptions 😊
Oh wow. Just checked my phone to see if there was a new vid, and lo and behold here it is!!
I think mono black is the best colour personally. I love how it is very polarising. In that it's all or nothing. You have to pick your moment to go all in. Getting it right will win/lose you the game.
The epitome of use life as a resource.
Black to me has ways to deal with any situation, but at a cost. Black is a very powerful color and one of the best splash colors in Commander due to it's flexibility.
Black has ALWAYS been my fav color
shes in full rage mode in that thumbnail. LOVE the Ladee
One of my favorite decks is my Ayara, Widow of the Realm (AKA Asshole of the Realm), who, technically, is Rakdos, but in theory could be seen as mono black. My favorite things to do with her is to reanimate either Demon's Disciple or Kroxa, and force my opponents to sac a creature or discard a card, then the thing I just reanimated sacs itself so I don't need to exile it at the end of my turn.
Nice my 2 favorite magic ladees and my favorite color. This is awesome!
38:01 There was a time that Animate Dead could reanimate Akroma and due to the protection, it was never technically attached to her, so she stayed in play (they fixed this rule a long time ago).
Loved that Rachel is not a sports guy, then proceeds to explain it with a baseball analogy and every person outside of the US is like "?"
Thx Rachel & Ladee for making this vid as person who's been waiting to build a mono black deck who hasn't played it before this helped me a whole lot especially because I'm an Green, Red Player
How to play Black? That's easy: Play Swamp. Tap Swamp. Play Dark Ritual. Play Drana, Liberator of Malakir. Pass Turn.
These two have excellent chemistry.
As a K’rrik cedh player I loved this episode
This was so much fun to watch. Lady Danger haven't lost a beat.
I love my Ayara, First of Locthwain deck. Drains the table, gains you life to support life payments and when needed gets you a card. My favorite combos to run are Ayara > Plague of Vermin | Ayara, Sedgmoor Witch, Chain of Smog and lastly | Gary w/ Saw in Half. 🥰
The orginal flavor text of Phyrexian Obliterator said it best for me:
"Behold, Blessed Perfection" -Sheoldred
Finally, an episode that isn't a precon upgrade! I love this type of content, thanks for making it.
My absolute favorite deck I play is mono black with Vito, of the Dusk Rose, demonic tutor for exquisite blood!
So great to see Ladee Danger once again! Hope their are some more opportunities for her to visit!
Black in Magic definitely used to be explicitly 'evil', I for one am glad they realized villains could be White and it works just fine, it was stifling to the pie to always have the villains be Black. I think Black tends to be '_____, but at any cost', Black lets you do almost anything you can think of in the game (depending on your budget), but it also has tight win cons/combos alongside some of the great value options like Aristocrats. Black manages to have a low barrier of entry compared to the next most powerful colour, Blue, Black often has very simple and direct pathways to winning, and while it can play control it's a much more intuitive form of control than mono-Blue.
I've noticed that when I build 2 colour decks with Black they often run more Black than the other colour, while my 3 or more colour decks tend not to be as devoted. In general though, I tend to play more Black than any other colour.
Cooking is fun and not especially hard to do, you just have to accept you're going to have mistakes, especially when you're starting out. My best tip would be to think about why your mistakes didn't turn out so you can try not to do that again (this can mean keeping records, I have extensive records on my Christmas Cake recipe because it's so much of a hassle)! As you said, it's hard to improve at cooking without doing it, and their are few things as satisfying as being able to cook the kind of food you like! Eventually you can start to invent recipes that cater to your peculiarities, often ones you didn't know you had (part of getting good at cooking is exploring what you actually like food-wise).
1:04:32 thank you for making the blue shell reference 😂. I made that joke to myself as I was watching. Having a response to a spell on the stack in mono black via imps mischief, and seeing everyone’s surprise is one of my favorite things to do. As far as mana goes, I also play songs of the damned. And a hidden all star is bubbling muck. Glad to see ladee back!
Let’s gooo! Ladee is so much fun! I glad she is still going to be a face on the show from time to time!
Watching this made me feel better about playing a 2 decks with black in it. One is Anhelo where I wanna play big removal spells and make a ton of life drain spell copies, and the other is Slimefoot and Squee where I get to reanimate things and sac them off for value.
Vito, thorn of the dusk rose is my favorite (only) mono black deck and all he cares about is using life gain to punish opponents. Such a black mechanic lol!
Great episode! Good to see Ladee, especially for this one.
One of the black effects I love is the dictate of Erebos style effects.
My meren deck once cast plaguecrafter three times in the same turn.
One of my favorite rakdos decks is Greven - my build has a heartless hidetsugu with ways to give lifelink (and wound reflection). Who put the tnt in the burning clown car style deck 🤣! Also, best deck ever for bolas citadel.
I feel like golgari is one of the absolute best combinsations because it doesnt have any weaknesses really.
graveyard hate maybe, but yesh golgari is nice. i like dimir too.
Dayum ladies... I have never heard of Withering Boon before. That is actually pretty sweet. I feel a new buddy for Mana Tithe!
✌️😎👍
As a new player, I really appreciate the warning and discussion around the social aspect. I personally get nervous playing strangers so it definitely helpful for someone who loves playing black
You all missed Dash Hopes for the stack interaction section! Regardless, awesome episode. I truly love playing black.
Great video, thank you :-) I think Black is the color that has to give up most when you add another color. The big Ramp depends on having a lot of Swamps or Devotion, both of which are difficult if your not in mono black.
oooooh and I was just looking aroud for Golgari brews ahahah
Dark Confidant is my favorite example of what black is all about: "Greatness, at any cost."
56:28 - you don't need another spell on the stack, you re-direct the counterspell to counter Imp's Mischief, then Imp's Mischief resolves, and the counterspell fizzles because its target no longer exists
Thanks for the info!
Finally got around to watching the episode, and I have 2 things to say. 1st my favorite thing about black is discard (it's pre-stack interaction) and 2nd, Thief of Sanity is one of my favorite Dimir cards too!. Bonus 3rd, Rachel and Ladee are awesome!
Ladee Danger is awesome. Love every episode she is in. And I also love black - I like how you can do pretty much everything with black just by paying a little life or sacrificing a few creatures. Zombies are also such an amazing tribe - I am building more and more zombie decks and they never get boring :D
Orivoth is the best and my, favorite way to play. Teysa was my first commander. Nice 😅 seeing u on the show lady.
It's the slytherian of the mtg world, I use it almost exclusively. All of my commander decks use it. I don't think it's hard, but I know qlot of people have aversion to using your life as a resource as well as your creatures
20 years the first color I played and built was black. Playing black came easy for I struggle with playing blue.
Just finished the episode! For an episode about black the end note is quite blue!😂
Imp's Mischief doesn't require another target on the stack to redirect a counterspell, since it can redirect the counterspell to itself. Very useful to know!
Loved this episode! I think of black white as a hearse ...
Im really looking forward to this series. It would be fantastic to eventually see the "how to play" combinations (black and green rise up!)
To quote the flavor text of dark confidant, "Greatness, at any cost." Sums up black and what it does very well.
You can use imp's mischief to make a counter spell target imp's mischief. You don't need another spell on the stack.
Nice, the next episode of the series. Now we need blue, green, colorless, maybe one for gold or clan specific
This was fantastic, great energy for both of you.
The only thing I can think of is that you didn't emphasize the impact of hand disruption as being a black only mechanic. Sure black can't deal with enchantments well but that doesn't matter if you get to look in their hand and make them throw it away. This is especially useful when you have enchantments out that punish discarding or reward you when they discard. Absolutely nothing pisses people off more than T1 inquisition of Kozilek or Thought seize. I have a mono black Tinybones hand disruption deck that uses things like isochron scepter, specters, discard spells, megrim, bottomless pit, etc and everyone in the playgroup hates it
Small correction regarding Imp's Mischief. If there is a counter spell on the stack you can redirect the counterspell to the Imp's Mischief you played. Unless there is a specific ruling that states you can't I'm not familiar with. I know this because it's a common play with Misdirection (the free blue Redirect)
i'm so glad Rachel got to host Ladee's return cos they are both so great together
Watching this while sleeving my mono white deck
This was a great overview, I learned a lot. It was equally informative and entertaining.
Aaah black, the color of high risk for high reward. Nothing like skirting death all in the hopes of stealing a win
Was looking forward to this, and I personally can't wait for the blue episode.
Yup, absolutely spot-on assessments. I like to describe Black by meticulously describing each other colors specialities and limitations in excruciating detail.
Then, wrap-up with "...and Black does whatever it wants".
But yeah, anyhow, my favorite deck is my homemade Orzhov Pestilence (honorable mention to RakSac). White comes with so much Protection From Black and Prevent Damage, it *really* satisfies the God complex.
Pestilence × (Stuffy Doll + Soul Link) ÷ Sphere of Grace = 4 hp swing for one Black mana.
Repeat.
Never has a Command Zone podcast spoke to me more than this one... Nearly everything these wonderful ladies said applies directly to the one one Mono-Black deck I have currently: Throne of the Grim Captain.
Rule Zero'd, of course, but when that chair cracks open and my 7/7 Menace, Trample, Hexproof, Lifelinking Y'ARRR, Skeleton Spirit Pirate starts swinging, I am the problem. I learned very quickly that I can not make deals or any kind of alliances with him because he swabs the whole table with his attack trigger. All I can do is hit the gas. This deck plays with graveyards, plays with life totals, destroys creatures, reanimates my creatures(mostly through the Good Captain's trigger), and makes zero friends doing it all. It does everything a Mono-Black should do, including getting gangked on when I Ritual/Coffers to that early lead. It's easily one of my favorite decks I've made in a while. 10 out of 10, would recommend.
Also added in a few cards for that wishlist just listening to Ladee and Rachel.
Also also, regarding Ladee's last words about taking a break from the things you love so you can come back in a right mind is exactly where I am at right now. I haven't picked up a deck in about three weeks. Reevaluating the game and how much joy that it, my playgroup, and even myself bring to me.
"Self care is important, Jimmy." - JLK
One piece of Stack Interaction I really like running in my mono-Black deck that no one sees coming is Deathgrip. It's cost is just Black Black and it's an enchantment with the ability, Pay a black and a black and country target green spell. There's a bit of downside to having to telegraph it since you have to get the Enchantment to stick before you can actually use it but if it lands it's fantastic. Green is a really popular colour in commander and if you hold up mana you can counter a lot of things. Especially since Green has a lot of Artifact and Enchantment destruction.
My mono black deck is Rankle. I love it so much!
I love this podcast, you two did so well explaining why black is fun. Everything is like making a deal with the devil. My #1 favorite commander deck is my Teysa Karlov aristocrats deck, who doesn't love Inkshield into Meathook?
My favorite black deck is Kuon, Ogre Ascendant, once I get Kuon’s Essence activated it’s hard to deal with, and I have a bunch of stuff like Archfiend of depravity to make sure nobody has anything, eventually play Rise of the Dark Realms and kill everyone.
I miss Ladee Danger 😢 so good that she is still able to make guest appearances. Also the combo of Rachel + Ladee = GOLD
One of my absolute favorite Black combos is Sanguine Bond / Exquisite Blood, with a trigger like Gary or Exsanguinate.
I LOVE zombies and recursion. Definitely the best part of black. And paring it with cool sac fodder like rekindling phoenix (my pet card) to make big value engines just makes me feel cool.
Jund the "Actively on fire clown car monster truck"
Honestly, Imp’s mischief has saved me A TON. Always had a good time playing that card.
I love paying life. It feels so darksided and lich like. I got a old necropotence when I was a kid and it is the best pet card I could've ever wished for.
My current favorite combo is bolas citidel+ aetherflux reservoir+ necropotence.
I am a newer player to magic, almost a year now playing, I mainly play commander and I love playing black, I run a massacre girl as my mono black commander and it is so fun but I do get targeted immediately even though I am the least experienced and rarely win, I don't care about winning just having fun but ya big weakness with black is everyone fears it, this video helps me understand better about playing mono black also multi colours that have black and I'm glad this is a vid that I and others can learn from.
23:16 gary + rooftop storm + havengul lich + phyrexian/ashnods altar will always be my favorite game ending combo
I absolutely LOVE Last One Standing- it's reminiscent of one of my favorite Hearthstone cards, Brawl. Representing each creature in the random choice (ESPECIALLY against token deck) gets messy quickly, though.
If Ladee Danger is involved I’ll watch it!
I play Darkness and Stunning Reversal in Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Lots of fun!