I like Ugin more since he can protect himself against go-wide strategies and just spam bolt ftw, but Karn can slot into less ramp-heavy decks. Both are stellar cards, but I'd cut Karn before Ugin.
Port is the bees knees, I always try to get it along Strip Mine / Wasteland in my aggro deck. While it's no Strip Mine, it can lockdown basics unlike Wasteland. Being able to keep manlands down and City of Brass for the lolz is big game.
Luckily I got my Port for free. Two years ago I was piecing out my buddy's collection and selling it for him, he let me keep a decent amount of cards: Port was one of them. I almost snap-sold it when Eternal Masters was announced, glad I didn't make that mistake.
Last time I saw the ocean was in Tampa, Florida last October, was there for my buddy's bachelor party.
PW rankings by color / guild, IMO (not including flipwalkers)
WHITE
- Elspeth, Knight-Errant
- Gideon Jura
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- Gideon of the Trials
- Ajani Goldmane
- Elspeth Tirel
A lot of room for debate here. A lot of people will argue Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is #1-#3, and i wouldn't necessarily disagree with them. I rank them this way based on role / curve
BLUE
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor
- Tezzeret the Seeker (if you support the artifact deck)
- Jace Beleren
- Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
- Jace, Architect of Thought
- Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
- Jace, Memory Adept
The top 3 is pretty solid, the bottom 3 can probably go either way.
BLACK
- Liliana of the Veil
- Liliana, the Last Hope
- Liliana, Death's Majesty
- Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
- Ob Nixilis Reignited
A lot of people will argue between Death's Majesty and the Obs, but I'm pretty solid on my stance.
RED
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Daretti, Scrap Savant (if you support the artifact deck)
- Chandra, Flamecaller
- Koth of the Hammer
- Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
- Chandra, Pyromaster
I think most people would agree with this. Koth fell a lot when Torch of Defiance came out and isn't as much of a priority anymore.
GREEN
- Garruk Wildspeaker
- Garruk Relentless
- Nissa, Worldwaker
- Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
- Nissa, Vital Force
- Garruk, Primal Hunter
Top 2 are pretty solid in their spots. I like Nissa at #3 if you support big ramp strategies, but Vital Force is a better generic midrange card. Voice of Zendikar has a decent niche in tokens. Primal Hunter is playable, I can see people arguing him being higher.
Venser can be #1 depending on how hard you want to push blink. I think Dovin is a better generic planeswalker than Narset.
ORZHOV
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
- Sorin, Grim Nemesis
- Sorin, Solemn Visitor
- Kaya, Ghost Assassin
Lord of Innistrad > Solemn Visitor in my book, plus Solemn Visitor also gets edged out by Elspeth / Gideon. I like Grim Nemesis at #2 since it fills a hole in 6-cmc slot of black and white. Kaya can be higher if you want to support blink shenanigans.
DIMIR
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (if you support the artifact deck)
- Tezzeret, the Schemer (if you support the artifact deck)
- Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
A lot of people will argue for Ashiok at #1, and it's definitely true if you don't support the artifact deck.
IZZET
- Dack Fayden
- Ral Zarek
- Saheeli Rai
Not much to say here...
RAKDOS
- Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
- Sarkhan the Mad
Not much to say here either.... Daretti is solid even if you don't support the artifact deck.
GOLGARI
- Vraska the Unseen
- Garruk, Apex Predator
Not a fan of either in this day and age. I wouldn't be surprised if Garruk > Vraska.
GRUUL
- Xenagos the Reveler
- Sarkhan Vol
- Arlinn Kord
- Domri Rade
A lot of argument here. I like Xenagos the most since he's a token generator and ramp enabler, but Sarkhan does a lot of unique things with a Threaten / Fires effect. Both are fairly even in my eyes, but Xenagos has more archetype appeal. Arlinn is a decent value walker, Domri Rade is poo poo, IMO.
BOROS
- Ajani Vengeant
- Nahiri, the Harbinger
I'm not a fan of Nahiri since my cheaty face decks tend to not play white. Also, Ajani is just a beast.
Ehh, not a fan of either of these. Ajani Unyielding at least draws multiple cards and can plow things.
SIMIC
- Nissa, Steward of Elements
- Kiora, Master of the Depths
- Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Nissa is probably the #1 or #2 Simic card, period. Both Kioras are very comparable, I prefer Master of the Depths since she ramps, draws cards, and fuels the graveyard.
The draw 7 is randomly good with Psychatog + other similar discard outlets. With at least two cards in your hand and this in your yard is 14 damage with Tog.
I have a spare slot to mess with in white. Just recently tested Angel of Sanctions, but I really don't need another 5-drop or pure Oblivion Ring effect. I never tested Angel of Serenity, so I figured I might as well give this one a try. Gives me an extra fatty in cheaty face deck and seems like a nice payoff card for Mirari's Wake.
The best of the original Lorwyn 5, Garruk stands the test of time as not only the best green planeswalker, but one of the best green cards period. OG Garruk does everything green wants to do: ramp, make tokens, overrun. His ultimate is not only strong, but fast since it's achievable on his second active turn. I just recently had a match where my opponent forced a stalemate by cloning my Hornet Queen. I broke the stalemate by using Garruk's ultimate and Rolling Earthquaked for 2 to sweep the opposing hornets and bashed for 15 for the win.
I just use facedown cards bulk cards to represent tokens and have a sharpie in case people want to be specific. Keeping the cube shuffled and making sure everything is in-tact every session is already enough of a chore, I don't want to add organizing 50+ unique tokens on top of that.
I think it's a decent card, but black and red aren't hurting for removal or curvetopper win conditions. I'd rather just run people over with Falkenrath Aristocrat.
I love me some actually playable Nicol Bolas Ugin. He's a nice payoff for big artifact / land ramp (not so much creature-based ramp since he blows them up). Ugin can easily take over the game all by himself, but he's pretty weak against big colorless creature. There's been a good number of times where Ugin's day has been ruined by a Wurmcoil Engine / Myr Battlesphere.
If I"m heavy on the artifact / land ramp plan, I'll take Ugin. If I'm playing creature based ramp or a control deck without much ramp, I'll take Karn. I typically don't P1P1 either of these cards anymore, but sometimes I'll go in on either if I'm in the mood.
I love Ugin in the storyline, especially how he always dumps on Jace and Sorin (and basically everyone else not named Nahiri).
I really like this guy, but when I'm just trying to add green aggro to 360 (surprisngly working) I'm just NOT in the mood to add a card that can't be played with white, black, AND red.
I'd play Warden even if I didn't support green aggro, he always makes the cut in any non-combo deck in his color combination.
Drafted a more utility /shenanigans deck this morning on Cubetutor. Turned out nicely, but at the end of the draft I realized I didn't have any black fixing for the black splash that I was aiming for : /
Deck
My sad sideboard Probably could've played Memory Jar Goblin Welder / Daretti shenanigans.
I feel like this one needs an alter of those monkeys in the background, just for nostalgia's sake.
What a great idea. I'm not a fan of alters in my cube, but I may make an exception for this. I have a close friend who makes alters, I wonder what her reaction is going to be when I say "seriously, I just want two monkeys doing it in the background."
Often considered one of the most barren slot in the cube, good black 5-drops are few and far between. Inspired by recent printings of 5-drops worth looking at, I decided to write an in-depth analysis of every cubeable black 5-drop I can think of. Take the ratings with a grain of salt, it's the analysis that matters
The new kid on the block has modal applications that costs almost the exact same as Shriekmaw's. Cycling is always a nice option to have, especially in black where graveyard recursion to hand / play is not uncommon. 5/4 flyer is servicable at 5 mana and his ability can Plague Wind your opponent with the right set-up like Survival of the Fittest. While being modal is nice, none of the modes are particularly exciting, especially the body itself. That being said, the fact that it is modal makes me like it slightly more than a lot of other black 5-drop creatures. A 5th toughness would have gone a long way (I’m going to be saying this a lot) as would an extra keyword like lifelink.
Probably the most vanilla creature on this list, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 5/4 flying body is always welcome, as is a Phyrexian Arena that you can point at your opponent for extra damage when necessary. While boring, Bloodgift Demon is far from an embarassing option and I'm never disappointed to see him while drafting another cube. Like Archfiend of Ifnir, a 5th toughness would have gone a long way. Bloodgift Demon is a fairly safe, yet boring cube option.
My filler card of choice for a while, Contagion is a wonky card. As far as I’m concerned, Contagion is the only effect that gives a non-symmetrical plus or minus counter. Depending on the matchup, you can score a 2 for 2 (many times for free!) or just shrink down a Wurmcoil Engine without setting of its death trigger. As much as I love my old man cards, Contagion definitely has its faults, specifically needing to be heavy black to take advantage of its alternate casting cost.
The first list I consulted to make this article was the Cubetutor 720 average. My first thought while looking at the black 5-cmc section was “Liliana Vess, why...” My second thought was “wait, where’s Custodi Lich?”
I definitely underestimated Custodi Lich until I realized that Custodi Lich is essentially a 3 for 1 on ETB (as long as it isn’t removed in response to the Monarch trigger). Monarch creates a fun mini-game and is absolutely BRUTAL in 1v1 when it goes uncontested. Even if you do lose Monarch, getting it back re-triggers Custodi Lich for more sacrifice shenanigans, plus it’s not hard blink / bounce / recur Custodi Lich to reset Monarch on your side.
While I don’t believe Custodi Lich is the black 5-drop we’ve been waiting for, it’s probably the best black 5-drop that we’ve got in a while and it’s also the best black 5-drop most people aren’t playing. Custodi Lich is powerful, but I can understand people’s reservations for not playing it due to their dislike of the Monarch mechanic, which is probably one of the big reasons why it’s not on the Cubetutor 720 average.
Overall Rating: 7.75/10
Monarch Mini-Game Fun Rating: 10/10
Arguably one of the top black sweepers a few years ago when the only true staples were Damnation and Toxic Deluge. Within the past 3 years we’ve gotten Languish and Yahenni's Expertise, so Crux of Fate isn’t as needed as it once was. It might be the #5 or #6 sweeper black sweeper for me, it’s a bit of a tossup between this and Black Sun's Zenith. Being able to selectively sweep your opponent’s Thundermaw Hellkite / Dragonlord Atarka is pretty cool I guess, but how many times has that actually happened.
Overall Rating: 3/10
Ugin vs Bolas PPV Rating: 10/10
Unstoppable in its native retail limited format, Drana is a bit slow for cube. Being able to fireball an opponent is cool, but lack of immediate impact and pricey activated ability means Drana isn't very suited for the most cutthroat Max Power (TM) cubes. Just taking out two X/1s costs 2BBBB.
Good o’l Gary. I know a lot of people love Gary for good reason. While most black 5-drops suffer from lack of decent synergies, Gary has synergies in spades: zombie, 2-power or less synergies with Reveilark / Alesha / Imperial Recruiter, abusable ETB trigger, helps offset black’s life loss, fun with clones, etc. I know a lot of people like to support (mono) black devotion, but Gary works perfectly fine without those BBB spells. I also really like that Gary’s ETB trigger is fairly unique in cube since every other creature with an ETB effect usually just kills things or generates tokens.
Probably my least favorite of the original planeswalker cycle known as the Lorwyn 5. While Vampiric Tutor is a power effect, it’s pretty meh at 5 mana, as is the discard outlet. Starting at 5 loyalty is nice, but the discard / Vampiric tutor abilities could have at had secondary effects like draw a card / make a zombie or something.
Overall Rating: 2/10
Gatewatch Story Character Rating: 10/10 (the others are 0/10)
A lot of people in the cube community has a Wishlist, and one of the more common items was “a good black 5-drop” and “a 4-cmc planeswalker that poops out zombies.” Enter Liliana, Death’s Majesty. Liliana’s latest form does a lot of what black wants to do: make zombies, reanimate things, and sweep the board.
A planeswalker that’s able to increase its loyalty while being able to defend itself at the same time is a hallmark for a solid cubeable card. Liliana’s base stats of 5 starting loyalty combined with being able to immediately +1 to 6 while putting up a 2/2 zombie blocker is a good place to start with any planeswalker. Milling you two is a nice side-effect since the graveyard is such a huge resource. The mill not only fuels her -3 Zombify ability, but also provides target for any other reanimator spells, Regrowth effects, Flashback, Embalm, Aftermath, Snapcaster Mage / Jace VP, and fuels Delve. Liliana being a token generator also gives black more legs to stand on in token archetypes since it has access to Bitterblossom / Ophiomancer / Grave Titan in addition to valuable tutors and cheap removal spells.
Not much to say about her minus abilities. Her -3 is a bit steep, but probably appropriately costed since the ceiling for Zombify is pretty high. Being able to Zombify a Grave Titan that died or was discarded is always big game, as is having an insurance policy for a Grave Titan currently in play. Going back to the tokens archetype, Liliana being able to recur an army-in-a-can like Siege-Gang Commander with Purphoros in play is a nice option.
Liliana’s -3 ability being able to would be cool if she can target any graveyard, but that’s my only legitimate complaint. Unlike most other planeswalkers, Liliana has a very achievable ultimate. It’s a bit boring, but it synergizes with her other abilities since they both generate zombies.
So is Liliana the black 5-drop we’ve been waiting for?
My opinion: Kind of….?
I have two legitimate complaints about Liliana as a whole.
Liliana saturation. While the black 5-drop slot is pretty barren, cubeable Liliana planeswalkers are not. Liliana of the Veil and Liliana, the Last Hope are both premium black 3-drops and Liliana, Heretical Healer is still very popular among my playgroup. I’m okay with playing 4 Lilianas at 540 at the moment because Veil / Heretical Healer can pitch excess Lilianas if needed, and Heretical Healer can always be cashed in for a zombie before she dies to planeswalker uniqueness rule. While Death’s Majesty doesn’t compete in the same slot as the other 3 cubeable iterations, I currently rank Death’s Majesty at #3, with #1 being Veil and Last Hope at #2.
Archetype application. Being a 5-drop means she’s not ideal for aggro or cheaty face / reanimation combo decks, which leaves her only really viable in midrange and control. Her -3 Zombify effect is best suited for midrange since it’s more likely to have a higher creature density that your typical control deck, which may only have a handful of targets. On the other hand, control decks can keep the board clear so that she can have an ultimate more readily available. This is where her -3 being able to hit other graveyards would’ve been useful, since sweeping the board is backpedaling on both her +1 zombie generation ability and making her ultimate less needed. That being said, she’s still useful post-sweeper, and I like her more overall than either Ob Nixilis planeswalker form in both midrange and control since she’s able to protect herself more and has a higher ceiling with her Zombify ability.
Overall Rating: Somewhere between 7.75-8.0/10, I feel like Liliana isn't exactly an 8, but higher than 7.75. She'd be higher if she could steal from other graveyards or wasn't a Liliana planeswalker card).
Silk Dress Rating: 10/10
My favorite card of all time. That being said, I think a lot of people both under and overestimate this card. People overestimate by treating it as a pure reanimation spell for reanimation / cheaty face combo decks (conflicts with a lot of cheap sweapers like Earthquakes / Toxic Deluge that commonly sees play in this archetype in my cube). People underestimate it as an expensive, inconsistent effect. That being said, my cube has all the discard outlets and maxes out on all the Wild Mongrel / Psychatog vairants it can, so I can see why people would underestimate it. Living Death tends to see play mostly in Rakdos / Golgari midrange shells.
Any deck that runs Recurring Nightmare can probably run Living Death, especially if there’s a Survival of the Fittest lying around. Living Death isn’t suited for control decks since those decks tend to play a lot of single-targeted removal spells and sweepers. It works well with midrange decks since they play a lot of ETB removal spells. It’s usually okay if you kill their creatures before Living Death because there’s a pretty good chance their creatures are just going to die again to your ETB effects.
Living Death isn’t a staple, but I’m comfortable with it at 540. Living Death is responsible for the best cube stories, especially the “I was so far ahead and my opponent had zero chance of winning, but then Living Death happened.”
Overall Rating: 6/10
Pet Card Rating: “Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power level?”
Having Delve hardly makes Murderous Cut a 5-drop, but I figured I should talk about it anyways because why not?
I think Murderous Cut is a middle of the road black spot-removal card. Being a splashable, scaleable instant is nice: 2B is a decent rate for Murder, 1B is above average, and B is just gravy. That being said, there are a few things that Murderous Cut has against it
My preferred form Ob Nixilis form (hopefully this will change in the future with a new printing). The +2 drain life ability is a bit underwhelming, but life gain is always nice in black and +2 is a decent rate for it. The real spice of Ob Nixilis is the -2 ability to generate a 5/5 black flying demon. Since both his abilities are +/- 2 loyalty counters, Black Oath is able to generate a 5/5 flying demon every other turn. Losing 2 life sucks, but being a one shot effect is fine and his +2 ability and the defense of a 5/5 flyer helps offset it. I don’t think I’ve ever used his ultimate. Ob’s demons being able to live Languish / Wildfire effects is what puts him over a lot of other 5-drops for me. I don’t believe I ever used his ultimate before, but that’s okay because being able to generate a 5/5 demon right off the bat is a large impact and is well worth 5 mana even if Ob immediatley dies.
Did I mention that Ob makes 5/5 flying demons?
Overall Rating: 6.75/10
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath as a Commander Rating: 0/10
Probably the most boring black planeswalker, but that’s okay because I still like this Ob more than Liliana Vess. Being a Phyrexian Arena that works immediately is pretty cool, and removing any creature is decent. What I don’t like about this Ob is that both effects are fairly expensive for 3BB. -3 loyalty counters is a hefty price for Murder, honestly this should be able to hit planeswalkers at 3BB and -3. His ultimate is pretty cool since it creates an Underworld Dreams emblem on steroids. Ob is a decent value engine, but providing zero archetype support kills it for me, especially since Black Oath’s demons synergize nice with Languish / Wildfire effects. Ob's similarities to Jace, Unraveler of Secrets doesn’t do him much favors either.
Overall Rating: 5.5/10
Villain Rating: 8/10, Ob is basically a mini Nicol Bolas, and Ob drowning Gideon in a puddle was pretty funny. I really hope we see more of Ob Nixilis in future storylines.
An old cube relic. Some people still cube with him since he’s not the most embarrassing thing to cube with since his landfall trigger is actually pretty powerful. Just triggering landfall once justifies the 3BB cost, and any other landfall triggers after that makes quick work of your opponent. It’d be nice if Ob had menace or some other keyword. I think if Ob were printed today, it’d have some one keyword and / or his landfall ability would also gain you 3 life.
When Origins was first spoiled, I honestly thought Priest of the Blood Rite was the black 5-drop we’ve all been waiting for. Generating a 5/5 demon is one hell of an ETB trigger, and the Priest being two power itself means it has all the Reveilark / Alesha / Recruiter synergies. 7 power (5 of it flying) over 2 bodies for 3BB is a great deal, but the Priest costing you 2 life a turn was a bit too much since there aren’t a lot of cubeable sacrifice outlets. Priest of the Blood Rite’s ceiling is absurd, but the floor is literally “World’s Most Miserable Gray Ogre.” Priest would be much more playable if the drawback was reduced to 1 life. With enough sac outlets, Priest of the Blood Rite can see a comeback in the future, but it also has to compete with Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, which is my demon generator of choice.
Overall Rating: 4.5/10
Failure to Meet My Expectations Rating: 10/10
Not exactly suited for aggressive powered cubes since Puppeteer Clique heavily relies on your opponent, but it can wreak havoc in a slower midrangey cube. Beating up your opponent with his own cards is always fun, and being a 3/2 flyer with Persist ain’t too shabby either.
A 5/6 flyer is above average stats for a 5-drop, and destroy target non-demon creature is a very powerful ETB trigger, especially since there aren’t a ton of demons flying around the cube. Unfortunately, Shadowborn Demon just had to have more text beyond the the ETB trigger: “at the beginning of your upkeep, if there are fewer than six creature cards in your graveyard, sacrifice a creature.” Not only is that a steep drawback, it’s a drawback that’s not easily mitigated at all. Shadowborn Demon’s drawback is easily the worst drawback of any other card on this list, even over Priest of the Blood Rite. This card would’ve been pretty staple / near-staple territory without the drawback, but is probably one of my least favorite cards on this list as is. If this were printed today, it could’ve read “lose 1 life every upkeep unless you have Delirium” or something. Angel of Sanctions having a stronger effect and embalm at 3WW makes Shadowborn Demon look very silly in comparison.
3/2 with Fear and ETB Terror effect is decent on its own, it’s essentially a Nekrataal for an extra mana for the evasion. However, Shriekmaw has an extra line of text that makes it perhaps the most versatile 5-drop in all of cube: Evoke. Shriekmaw being black means his Evoke is ripe for abuse since you can just pitch Shriekmaw early and recur it (hopefully multiple times) late game. Shriekmaw having Fear makes him a legitimate win condition, especially since he can hold a Sword of X and Y like a champ. While being flexible for being modal and splashable, my only complaint of Shriekmaw is that he can be lackluster against heavy black decks, but there shouldn’t be more than one player per pod with that kind of deck.
Overall Rating: 10/10
Weird Art Rating: 10/10 (took me a while to notice the duality of Shriekmaw’s head)
I think Sidisi is a good card on paper, but below average when it comes to cube playability. Being a 4/6 (survives Wildfire / Languish!) zombie with Deathtouch with and an exploit trigger that Demonic Tutors seems GREAT and ABUSABLE, but Sidisi suffers from two large flaws:
Sidisi’s Exploit trigger can be cancelled out by removing the Sidisi in response
Being 5-cmc means Sidisi isn’t suited for aggro or combo decks, limiting her to midrange / control. Exploiting creatures other than herself means she doesn’t fit well in control shells since they tend to have a low creature density and heave a tendency to board wipe before they reach 5 mana. A solo Sidisi is essentially an expensive Demonic Tutor that your opponent can interrupt with instant speed removal.
Like Bloodgift Demon, Sidisi isn’t extremely powerful on her own and doesn’t exactly support any particular archetype archetype.
Custodi Lich
Shriekmaw
Liliana, Death’s Majesty
Living Death
If I were to play other existing 5-drops, it’d probably be Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. I always keep Precursor Golem around since it plays well in a lot of black shells, especially if you can find a way to repeatedly sacrifice / recur the original golem.
So what exactly would the black 5-drop we’ve all been waiting for look like? Well, using precedence in other colors, this would be nice:
Deranged Zombie Gang Commander of Invention
Creature - Zombie Wizard
When ~ enters the battlefield, create two 2/2 black zombie tokens.
Whenever ~ or another zombie you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. 2/2
Black army-in-a-can may be a cliche, but I’d still cube the hell out of it. From Under the Floorboards and Liliana’s Mastery type effects would be so much better on a creature, and this creature isn’t unreasonable at all.
Phew, 19 cards analyzed! While black has plenty of cubeable 5-drops, a lot of them feel flawed and incomplete. Still, we have to play with what we have and hopefully this analysis helps shed some light on how each option relates to other cube archetypes. As usual, feel free to disagree with everything I said below in the comments.
If it's more Welder/Feldon/Metalworker kinds of shenanigans, I generally don't use the big mana sorceries at the top of the curve.
This makes sense. I normally go the walker / rocks / big spells route and find myself not wanting to run Goblin Welder / Feldon / Metalworker because they conflict with my Earthquakes or something. Will try and experiment with more shenanigan based artifact builds rather than big spells, thanks for the tip.
Luckily I got my Port for free. Two years ago I was piecing out my buddy's collection and selling it for him, he let me keep a decent amount of cards: Port was one of them. I almost snap-sold it when Eternal Masters was announced, glad I didn't make that mistake.
Last time I saw the ocean was in Tampa, Florida last October, was there for my buddy's bachelor party.
- Elspeth, Knight-Errant
- Gideon Jura
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- Gideon of the Trials
- Ajani Goldmane
- Elspeth Tirel
A lot of room for debate here. A lot of people will argue Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is #1-#3, and i wouldn't necessarily disagree with them. I rank them this way based on role / curve
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor
- Tezzeret the Seeker (if you support the artifact deck)
- Jace Beleren
- Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
- Jace, Architect of Thought
- Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
- Jace, Memory Adept
The top 3 is pretty solid, the bottom 3 can probably go either way.
- Liliana of the Veil
- Liliana, the Last Hope
- Liliana, Death's Majesty
- Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
- Ob Nixilis Reignited
A lot of people will argue between Death's Majesty and the Obs, but I'm pretty solid on my stance.
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Daretti, Scrap Savant (if you support the artifact deck)
- Chandra, Flamecaller
- Koth of the Hammer
- Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
- Chandra, Pyromaster
I think most people would agree with this. Koth fell a lot when Torch of Defiance came out and isn't as much of a priority anymore.
- Garruk Wildspeaker
- Garruk Relentless
- Nissa, Worldwaker
- Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
- Nissa, Vital Force
- Garruk, Primal Hunter
Top 2 are pretty solid in their spots. I like Nissa at #3 if you support big ramp strategies, but Vital Force is a better generic midrange card. Voice of Zendikar has a decent niche in tokens. Primal Hunter is playable, I can see people arguing him being higher.
- Dovin Baan
- Venser, the Sojourner
- Narset Transcendent
Venser can be #1 depending on how hard you want to push blink. I think Dovin is a better generic planeswalker than Narset.
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
- Sorin, Grim Nemesis
- Sorin, Solemn Visitor
- Kaya, Ghost Assassin
Lord of Innistrad > Solemn Visitor in my book, plus Solemn Visitor also gets edged out by Elspeth / Gideon. I like Grim Nemesis at #2 since it fills a hole in 6-cmc slot of black and white. Kaya can be higher if you want to support blink shenanigans.
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (if you support the artifact deck)
- Tezzeret, the Schemer (if you support the artifact deck)
- Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
A lot of people will argue for Ashiok at #1, and it's definitely true if you don't support the artifact deck.
- Dack Fayden
- Ral Zarek
- Saheeli Rai
Not much to say here...
- Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
- Sarkhan the Mad
Not much to say here either.... Daretti is solid even if you don't support the artifact deck.
- Vraska the Unseen
- Garruk, Apex Predator
Not a fan of either in this day and age. I wouldn't be surprised if Garruk > Vraska.
- Xenagos the Reveler
- Sarkhan Vol
- Arlinn Kord
- Domri Rade
A lot of argument here. I like Xenagos the most since he's a token generator and ramp enabler, but Sarkhan does a lot of unique things with a Threaten / Fires effect. Both are fairly even in my eyes, but Xenagos has more archetype appeal. Arlinn is a decent value walker, Domri Rade is poo poo, IMO.
- Ajani Vengeant
- Nahiri, the Harbinger
I'm not a fan of Nahiri since my cheaty face decks tend to not play white. Also, Ajani is just a beast.
- Ajani Unyielding
- Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
- Ajani, Valiant Protector
Ehh, not a fan of either of these. Ajani Unyielding at least draws multiple cards and can plow things.
- Nissa, Steward of Elements
- Kiora, Master of the Depths
- Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Nissa is probably the #1 or #2 Simic card, period. Both Kioras are very comparable, I prefer Master of the Depths since she ramps, draws cards, and fuels the graveyard.
I just use facedown cards bulk cards to represent tokens and have a sharpie in case people want to be specific. Keeping the cube shuffled and making sure everything is in-tact every session is already enough of a chore, I don't want to add organizing 50+ unique tokens on top of that.
actually playable Nicol BolasUgin. He's a nice payoff for big artifact / land ramp (not so much creature-based ramp since he blows them up). Ugin can easily take over the game all by himself, but he's pretty weak against big colorless creature. There's been a good number of times where Ugin's day has been ruined by a Wurmcoil Engine / Myr Battlesphere.If I"m heavy on the artifact / land ramp plan, I'll take Ugin. If I'm playing creature based ramp or a control deck without much ramp, I'll take Karn. I typically don't P1P1 either of these cards anymore, but sometimes I'll go in on either if I'm in the mood.
I love Ugin in the storyline, especially how he always dumps on Jace and Sorin (and basically everyone else not named Nahiri).
I'd play Warden even if I didn't support green aggro, he always makes the cut in any non-combo deck in his color combination.
Deck
My sad sideboard
What a great idea. I'm not a fan of alters in my cube, but I may make an exception for this. I have a close friend who makes alters, I wonder what her reaction is going to be when I say "seriously, I just want two monkeys doing it in the background."
Archfiend of Ifnir
The new kid on the block has modal applications that costs almost the exact same as Shriekmaw's. Cycling is always a nice option to have, especially in black where graveyard recursion to hand / play is not uncommon. 5/4 flyer is servicable at 5 mana and his ability can Plague Wind your opponent with the right set-up like Survival of the Fittest. While being modal is nice, none of the modes are particularly exciting, especially the body itself. That being said, the fact that it is modal makes me like it slightly more than a lot of other black 5-drop creatures. A 5th toughness would have gone a long way (I’m going to be saying this a lot) as would an extra keyword like lifelink.
Overall Rating: 5.25/10
Jank Survival Combo Rating: 9/10
Bloodgift Demon
Probably the most vanilla creature on this list, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 5/4 flying body is always welcome, as is a Phyrexian Arena that you can point at your opponent for extra damage when necessary. While boring, Bloodgift Demon is far from an embarassing option and I'm never disappointed to see him while drafting another cube. Like Archfiend of Ifnir, a 5th toughness would have gone a long way. Bloodgift Demon is a fairly safe, yet boring cube option.
Overall Rating: 5.5/10
Pimp Cup Rating: 7/10
Contagion
My filler card of choice for a while, Contagion is a wonky card. As far as I’m concerned, Contagion is the only effect that gives a non-symmetrical plus or minus counter. Depending on the matchup, you can score a 2 for 2 (many times for free!) or just shrink down a Wurmcoil Engine without setting of its death trigger. As much as I love my old man cards, Contagion definitely has its faults, specifically needing to be heavy black to take advantage of its alternate casting cost.
Overall Rating: 4/10
Creepy Cat Art Rating: 10/10
Custodi Lich
The first list I consulted to make this article was the Cubetutor 720 average. My first thought while looking at the black 5-cmc section was “Liliana Vess, why...” My second thought was “wait, where’s Custodi Lich?”
I definitely underestimated Custodi Lich until I realized that Custodi Lich is essentially a 3 for 1 on ETB (as long as it isn’t removed in response to the Monarch trigger). Monarch creates a fun mini-game and is absolutely BRUTAL in 1v1 when it goes uncontested. Even if you do lose Monarch, getting it back re-triggers Custodi Lich for more sacrifice shenanigans, plus it’s not hard blink / bounce / recur Custodi Lich to reset Monarch on your side.
While I don’t believe Custodi Lich is the black 5-drop we’ve been waiting for, it’s probably the best black 5-drop that we’ve got in a while and it’s also the best black 5-drop most people aren’t playing. Custodi Lich is powerful, but I can understand people’s reservations for not playing it due to their dislike of the Monarch mechanic, which is probably one of the big reasons why it’s not on the Cubetutor 720 average.
Overall Rating: 7.75/10
Monarch Mini-Game Fun Rating: 10/10
Crux of Fate
Arguably one of the top black sweepers a few years ago when the only true staples were Damnation and Toxic Deluge. Within the past 3 years we’ve gotten Languish and Yahenni's Expertise, so Crux of Fate isn’t as needed as it once was. It might be the #5 or #6 sweeper black sweeper for me, it’s a bit of a tossup between this and Black Sun's Zenith. Being able to selectively sweep your opponent’s Thundermaw Hellkite / Dragonlord Atarka is pretty cool I guess, but how many times has that actually happened.
Overall Rating: 3/10
Ugin vs Bolas PPV Rating: 10/10
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Unstoppable in its native retail limited format, Drana is a bit slow for cube. Being able to fireball an opponent is cool, but lack of immediate impact and pricey activated ability means Drana isn't very suited for the most cutthroat Max Power (TM) cubes. Just taking out two X/1s costs 2BBBB.
Cube Rating: 1.5/10
ROE Limited Rating: 10/10
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Good o’l Gary. I know a lot of people love Gary for good reason. While most black 5-drops suffer from lack of decent synergies, Gary has synergies in spades: zombie, 2-power or less synergies with Reveilark / Alesha / Imperial Recruiter, abusable ETB trigger, helps offset black’s life loss, fun with clones, etc. I know a lot of people like to support (mono) black devotion, but Gary works perfectly fine without those BBB spells. I also really like that Gary’s ETB trigger is fairly unique in cube since every other creature with an ETB effect usually just kills things or generates tokens.
Overall Rating: 7/10
EDH Abuse Rating: 10/10
Liliana Vess
Probably my least favorite of the original planeswalker cycle known as the Lorwyn 5. While Vampiric Tutor is a power effect, it’s pretty meh at 5 mana, as is the discard outlet. Starting at 5 loyalty is nice, but the discard / Vampiric tutor abilities could have at had secondary effects like draw a card / make a zombie or something.
Overall Rating: 2/10
Gatewatch Story Character Rating: 10/10 (the others are 0/10)
Liliana, Death's Majesty
A lot of people in the cube community has a Wishlist, and one of the more common items was “a good black 5-drop” and “a 4-cmc planeswalker that poops out zombies.” Enter Liliana, Death’s Majesty. Liliana’s latest form does a lot of what black wants to do: make zombies, reanimate things, and sweep the board.
A planeswalker that’s able to increase its loyalty while being able to defend itself at the same time is a hallmark for a solid cubeable card. Liliana’s base stats of 5 starting loyalty combined with being able to immediately +1 to 6 while putting up a 2/2 zombie blocker is a good place to start with any planeswalker. Milling you two is a nice side-effect since the graveyard is such a huge resource. The mill not only fuels her -3 Zombify ability, but also provides target for any other reanimator spells, Regrowth effects, Flashback, Embalm, Aftermath, Snapcaster Mage / Jace VP, and fuels Delve. Liliana being a token generator also gives black more legs to stand on in token archetypes since it has access to Bitterblossom / Ophiomancer / Grave Titan in addition to valuable tutors and cheap removal spells.
Not much to say about her minus abilities. Her -3 is a bit steep, but probably appropriately costed since the ceiling for Zombify is pretty high. Being able to Zombify a Grave Titan that died or was discarded is always big game, as is having an insurance policy for a Grave Titan currently in play. Going back to the tokens archetype, Liliana being able to recur an army-in-a-can like Siege-Gang Commander with Purphoros in play is a nice option.
Liliana’s -3 ability being able to would be cool if she can target any graveyard, but that’s my only legitimate complaint. Unlike most other planeswalkers, Liliana has a very achievable ultimate. It’s a bit boring, but it synergizes with her other abilities since they both generate zombies.
So is Liliana the black 5-drop we’ve been waiting for?
My opinion: Kind of….?
I have two legitimate complaints about Liliana as a whole.
Liliana saturation. While the black 5-drop slot is pretty barren, cubeable Liliana planeswalkers are not. Liliana of the Veil and Liliana, the Last Hope are both premium black 3-drops and Liliana, Heretical Healer is still very popular among my playgroup. I’m okay with playing 4 Lilianas at 540 at the moment because Veil / Heretical Healer can pitch excess Lilianas if needed, and Heretical Healer can always be cashed in for a zombie before she dies to planeswalker uniqueness rule. While Death’s Majesty doesn’t compete in the same slot as the other 3 cubeable iterations, I currently rank Death’s Majesty at #3, with #1 being Veil and Last Hope at #2.
Archetype application. Being a 5-drop means she’s not ideal for aggro or cheaty face / reanimation combo decks, which leaves her only really viable in midrange and control. Her -3 Zombify effect is best suited for midrange since it’s more likely to have a higher creature density that your typical control deck, which may only have a handful of targets. On the other hand, control decks can keep the board clear so that she can have an ultimate more readily available. This is where her -3 being able to hit other graveyards would’ve been useful, since sweeping the board is backpedaling on both her +1 zombie generation ability and making her ultimate less needed. That being said, she’s still useful post-sweeper, and I like her more overall than either Ob Nixilis planeswalker form in both midrange and control since she’s able to protect herself more and has a higher ceiling with her Zombify ability.
Overall Rating: Somewhere between 7.75-8.0/10, I feel like Liliana isn't exactly an 8, but higher than 7.75. She'd be higher if she could steal from other graveyards or wasn't a Liliana planeswalker card).
Silk Dress Rating: 10/10
Living Death
My favorite card of all time. That being said, I think a lot of people both under and overestimate this card. People overestimate by treating it as a pure reanimation spell for reanimation / cheaty face combo decks (conflicts with a lot of cheap sweapers like Earthquakes / Toxic Deluge that commonly sees play in this archetype in my cube). People underestimate it as an expensive, inconsistent effect. That being said, my cube has all the discard outlets and maxes out on all the Wild Mongrel / Psychatog vairants it can, so I can see why people would underestimate it. Living Death tends to see play mostly in Rakdos / Golgari midrange shells.
Any deck that runs Recurring Nightmare can probably run Living Death, especially if there’s a Survival of the Fittest lying around. Living Death isn’t suited for control decks since those decks tend to play a lot of single-targeted removal spells and sweepers. It works well with midrange decks since they play a lot of ETB removal spells. It’s usually okay if you kill their creatures before Living Death because there’s a pretty good chance their creatures are just going to die again to your ETB effects.
Living Death isn’t a staple, but I’m comfortable with it at 540. Living Death is responsible for the best cube stories, especially the “I was so far ahead and my opponent had zero chance of winning, but then Living Death happened.”
Overall Rating: 6/10
Pet Card Rating: “Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power level?”
Murderous Cut
Having Delve hardly makes Murderous Cut a 5-drop, but I figured I should talk about it anyways because why not?
I think Murderous Cut is a middle of the road black spot-removal card. Being a splashable, scaleable instant is nice: 2B is a decent rate for Murder, 1B is above average, and B is just gravy. That being said, there are a few things that Murderous Cut has against it
Sheer competition. There’s a lot of black removal spells that I’m not even playing that I like over Murderous Cut like Ruinous Path (which was recently cut for me at 540 for Never // Return), Malicious Affliction, and Ultimate Price.
Murderous Cut being slow against giant creatures being cheated into play early game via Show and Tell / Oath of Druids / Reanimate / etc.
Delve spells not playing well with other Delve spells. Four spells with Delve seems to be my limit at 540, and I like Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time / Tombstalker / Tasigur, the Golden Fang much more than Murderous Cut. Even after those four, I think I like Gurmag Angler more than Murderous Cut, but probably not more than Hooting Mandrills?
Overall Rating: 3.5/10
“I’ll Cut You” Rating: 10/10
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
My preferred form Ob Nixilis form (hopefully this will change in the future with a new printing). The +2 drain life ability is a bit underwhelming, but life gain is always nice in black and +2 is a decent rate for it. The real spice of Ob Nixilis is the -2 ability to generate a 5/5 black flying demon. Since both his abilities are +/- 2 loyalty counters, Black Oath is able to generate a 5/5 flying demon every other turn. Losing 2 life sucks, but being a one shot effect is fine and his +2 ability and the defense of a 5/5 flyer helps offset it. I don’t think I’ve ever used his ultimate. Ob’s demons being able to live Languish / Wildfire effects is what puts him over a lot of other 5-drops for me. I don’t believe I ever used his ultimate before, but that’s okay because being able to generate a 5/5 demon right off the bat is a large impact and is well worth 5 mana even if Ob immediatley dies.
Did I mention that Ob makes 5/5 flying demons?
Overall Rating: 6.75/10
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath as a Commander Rating: 0/10
Ob Nixilis Reignited
Probably the most boring black planeswalker, but that’s okay because I still like this Ob more than Liliana Vess. Being a Phyrexian Arena that works immediately is pretty cool, and removing any creature is decent. What I don’t like about this Ob is that both effects are fairly expensive for 3BB. -3 loyalty counters is a hefty price for Murder, honestly this should be able to hit planeswalkers at 3BB and -3. His ultimate is pretty cool since it creates an Underworld Dreams emblem on steroids. Ob is a decent value engine, but providing zero archetype support kills it for me, especially since Black Oath’s demons synergize nice with Languish / Wildfire effects. Ob's similarities to Jace, Unraveler of Secrets doesn’t do him much favors either.
Overall Rating: 5.5/10
Villain Rating: 8/10, Ob is basically a mini Nicol Bolas, and Ob drowning Gideon in a puddle was pretty funny. I really hope we see more of Ob Nixilis in future storylines.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
An old cube relic. Some people still cube with him since he’s not the most embarrassing thing to cube with since his landfall trigger is actually pretty powerful. Just triggering landfall once justifies the 3BB cost, and any other landfall triggers after that makes quick work of your opponent. It’d be nice if Ob had menace or some other keyword. I think if Ob were printed today, it’d have some one keyword and / or his landfall ability would also gain you 3 life.
Overall Rating: 3/10
Ob Nixilis / Primeval Titan Wombo-Combo Rating: 10/10
Priest of the Blood Rite
When Origins was first spoiled, I honestly thought Priest of the Blood Rite was the black 5-drop we’ve all been waiting for. Generating a 5/5 demon is one hell of an ETB trigger, and the Priest being two power itself means it has all the Reveilark / Alesha / Recruiter synergies. 7 power (5 of it flying) over 2 bodies for 3BB is a great deal, but the Priest costing you 2 life a turn was a bit too much since there aren’t a lot of cubeable sacrifice outlets. Priest of the Blood Rite’s ceiling is absurd, but the floor is literally “World’s Most Miserable Gray Ogre.” Priest would be much more playable if the drawback was reduced to 1 life. With enough sac outlets, Priest of the Blood Rite can see a comeback in the future, but it also has to compete with Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, which is my demon generator of choice.
Overall Rating: 4.5/10
Failure to Meet My Expectations Rating: 10/10
Puppeteer Clique
Not exactly suited for aggressive powered cubes since Puppeteer Clique heavily relies on your opponent, but it can wreak havoc in a slower midrangey cube. Beating up your opponent with his own cards is always fun, and being a 3/2 flyer with Persist ain’t too shabby either.
Overall Rating: 2/10
Fun Rating: 10/10
Shadowborn Demon
A 5/6 flyer is above average stats for a 5-drop, and destroy target non-demon creature is a very powerful ETB trigger, especially since there aren’t a ton of demons flying around the cube. Unfortunately, Shadowborn Demon just had to have more text beyond the the ETB trigger: “at the beginning of your upkeep, if there are fewer than six creature cards in your graveyard, sacrifice a creature.” Not only is that a steep drawback, it’s a drawback that’s not easily mitigated at all. Shadowborn Demon’s drawback is easily the worst drawback of any other card on this list, even over Priest of the Blood Rite. This card would’ve been pretty staple / near-staple territory without the drawback, but is probably one of my least favorite cards on this list as is. If this were printed today, it could’ve read “lose 1 life every upkeep unless you have Delirium” or something. Angel of Sanctions having a stronger effect and embalm at 3WW makes Shadowborn Demon look very silly in comparison.
Overall Rating: 2/10
Shriekmaw
3/2 with Fear and ETB Terror effect is decent on its own, it’s essentially a Nekrataal for an extra mana for the evasion. However, Shriekmaw has an extra line of text that makes it perhaps the most versatile 5-drop in all of cube: Evoke. Shriekmaw being black means his Evoke is ripe for abuse since you can just pitch Shriekmaw early and recur it (hopefully multiple times) late game. Shriekmaw having Fear makes him a legitimate win condition, especially since he can hold a Sword of X and Y like a champ. While being flexible for being modal and splashable, my only complaint of Shriekmaw is that he can be lackluster against heavy black decks, but there shouldn’t be more than one player per pod with that kind of deck.
Overall Rating: 10/10
Weird Art Rating: 10/10 (took me a while to notice the duality of Shriekmaw’s head)
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
I think Sidisi is a good card on paper, but below average when it comes to cube playability. Being a 4/6 (survives Wildfire / Languish!) zombie with Deathtouch with and an exploit trigger that Demonic Tutors seems GREAT and ABUSABLE, but Sidisi suffers from two large flaws:
Sidisi’s Exploit trigger can be cancelled out by removing the Sidisi in response
Being 5-cmc means Sidisi isn’t suited for aggro or combo decks, limiting her to midrange / control. Exploiting creatures other than herself means she doesn’t fit well in control shells since they tend to have a low creature density and heave a tendency to board wipe before they reach 5 mana. A solo Sidisi is essentially an expensive Demonic Tutor that your opponent can interrupt with instant speed removal.
Like Bloodgift Demon, Sidisi isn’t extremely powerful on her own and doesn’t exactly support any particular archetype archetype.
Overall Rating: 4/10
WOTC’s inability to distinguish Naga / Snakes: 10/10
Here’s what I’m currently running at 540:
Custodi Lich
Shriekmaw
Liliana, Death’s Majesty
Living Death
If I were to play other existing 5-drops, it’d probably be Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. I always keep Precursor Golem around since it plays well in a lot of black shells, especially if you can find a way to repeatedly sacrifice / recur the original golem.
So what exactly would the black 5-drop we’ve all been waiting for look like? Well, using precedence in other colors, this would be nice:
Deranged Zombie Gang Commander of Invention
Creature - Zombie Wizard
When ~ enters the battlefield, create two 2/2 black zombie tokens.
Whenever ~ or another zombie you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. 2/2
Black army-in-a-can may be a cliche, but I’d still cube the hell out of it. From Under the Floorboards and Liliana’s Mastery type effects would be so much better on a creature, and this creature isn’t unreasonable at all.
Phew, 19 cards analyzed! While black has plenty of cubeable 5-drops, a lot of them feel flawed and incomplete. Still, we have to play with what we have and hopefully this analysis helps shed some light on how each option relates to other cube archetypes. As usual, feel free to disagree with everything I said below in the comments.
This makes sense. I normally go the walker / rocks / big spells route and find myself not wanting to run Goblin Welder / Feldon / Metalworker because they conflict with my Earthquakes or something. Will try and experiment with more shenanigan based artifact builds rather than big spells, thanks for the tip.