C
Cateran Emperor
Guest
This is an appeal by Black Magi, for Black Magi.
Regardless, if you are not a Black Mage, I still welcome any support for our color of Magic.
We have seen the future of Magic.
We have seen Serra return to the White Magi's delight.
We have seen Red Magi cheer over the return of their old reptilian friend.
We have seen Green Magi with their thorned elementals.
We have seen Blue Magi get their first victory condi-Djinn return.
Yet what does 7th bring to cheer up the Black Mage?
We have Duress. And we have...
...
...
...
...
... three more Duresses in the same deck.
Old school Black Magi have not gotten their Sengir back.
Hatred Black Magi have no Dauthi, nor one mana Zombies.
Black Horde Magi have not a single effective Knight to their name.
Controlling Black Magi have no Plaguelord to carry the day.
Suicidal Black Magi have no Skirge, nor their Negator.
Combo Black Magi have nothing to their name at all.
Mercenary Black Magi gain nothing, nor do they lose anything.
Black Theme Magi have their Lord at last, but they do not have their low casting cost Zombies, nor many solid black Zombies.
Multi-Player Black Magi have no Gravepact, nor do they have a great deal of any mass effect for that matter.
What does this leave?
Nothing. A void where the Fifth color of Magic used to be.
It is often said that Green was the weakest color in Magic. That was said up until the days of Urza's Saga, and the effective Green creatures found therein.
Are Black Magi now to suffer the same fate? Are we to suffer from a problem that was never to occur again? We are left to the most bare of all devices with which to build decks. Few of our spells are synergistic with each other. Many more have a negative effect on the other cards.
This is not only a problem for Type II tournament players. Let's look at Extended, past and future.
Way back last year, Black was in heaven.
If he wanted speed he had Knights, Dauthi, Rituals, and Hatred.
if he wanted to play more slowly he had Necropotence, Drains, Edicts, Plaguelords, and even Disturbed Burials or Corpse Dances.
Suddenly, blue entered the scene. It offered an opportunity to some black mages. All they had to do was support the blue decks with their card drawing engine, and blue promised it victory. And so it was, at first.
Then, the DCI came. And it was bad.
Our Ritual, the core of a solid black deck, was taken away. Seemingly forever. The DCI had fired at an escaping convict and had hit an innocent bystander. Many, many innocent bystaders in fact.
Still, we could improvise.
Hateful Mages could still Consult for their cards, and use Lakes to power it.
Necro Mages could pay some life for some cards, and draw into their Plaguelords and Edicts. All was not well, but we were surviving.
Still, blue had its grasp in the Black mages who forgot that Magic was about fun. And so the demonic spawn that would cripple black continued its rampage.
The DCI returned, determined to finish the job. And so it fired. And it was bad. Again.
The DCI hit more innocent bystanders this time. The Hateful mages were robbed of their right arm, their Consults. The Black Horde mages were robbed of their left arm, their Necropotence.
These shots finally brought the beast down. Or so it seemed. It seems that the Black mages it had corrupted had shielded it from the shots. And so the Blue Mages abandoned the Black Mages, determined to never look back.
The DCI chased after the Blue mages, but forget to send help to poor black. Now, black slowly bleeds to death on the sidelines, alone and forgottend.
And so 7th edition comes along, and black runs towards it with open arms, hoping for some relief. Instead, 7th rams right into black and tramples it, straight on ahead toward the other waiting four colors. It bore shiny gifts, gifts that were too good for black to hold.
And so I sit here today, with piles of Dauthi Warlords and Slayers, of Delraichs and Rampart Crawlers, Black Knights and Knights of Stromgald, Skirges and Negators.
And I wait for the Apocalypse, praying over the grave of my dear friend, Black.
Regardless, if you are not a Black Mage, I still welcome any support for our color of Magic.
We have seen the future of Magic.
We have seen Serra return to the White Magi's delight.
We have seen Red Magi cheer over the return of their old reptilian friend.
We have seen Green Magi with their thorned elementals.
We have seen Blue Magi get their first victory condi-Djinn return.
Yet what does 7th bring to cheer up the Black Mage?
We have Duress. And we have...
...
...
...
...
... three more Duresses in the same deck.
Old school Black Magi have not gotten their Sengir back.
Hatred Black Magi have no Dauthi, nor one mana Zombies.
Black Horde Magi have not a single effective Knight to their name.
Controlling Black Magi have no Plaguelord to carry the day.
Suicidal Black Magi have no Skirge, nor their Negator.
Combo Black Magi have nothing to their name at all.
Mercenary Black Magi gain nothing, nor do they lose anything.
Black Theme Magi have their Lord at last, but they do not have their low casting cost Zombies, nor many solid black Zombies.
Multi-Player Black Magi have no Gravepact, nor do they have a great deal of any mass effect for that matter.
What does this leave?
Nothing. A void where the Fifth color of Magic used to be.
It is often said that Green was the weakest color in Magic. That was said up until the days of Urza's Saga, and the effective Green creatures found therein.
Are Black Magi now to suffer the same fate? Are we to suffer from a problem that was never to occur again? We are left to the most bare of all devices with which to build decks. Few of our spells are synergistic with each other. Many more have a negative effect on the other cards.
This is not only a problem for Type II tournament players. Let's look at Extended, past and future.
Way back last year, Black was in heaven.
If he wanted speed he had Knights, Dauthi, Rituals, and Hatred.
if he wanted to play more slowly he had Necropotence, Drains, Edicts, Plaguelords, and even Disturbed Burials or Corpse Dances.
Suddenly, blue entered the scene. It offered an opportunity to some black mages. All they had to do was support the blue decks with their card drawing engine, and blue promised it victory. And so it was, at first.
Then, the DCI came. And it was bad.
Our Ritual, the core of a solid black deck, was taken away. Seemingly forever. The DCI had fired at an escaping convict and had hit an innocent bystander. Many, many innocent bystaders in fact.
Still, we could improvise.
Hateful Mages could still Consult for their cards, and use Lakes to power it.
Necro Mages could pay some life for some cards, and draw into their Plaguelords and Edicts. All was not well, but we were surviving.
Still, blue had its grasp in the Black mages who forgot that Magic was about fun. And so the demonic spawn that would cripple black continued its rampage.
The DCI returned, determined to finish the job. And so it fired. And it was bad. Again.
The DCI hit more innocent bystanders this time. The Hateful mages were robbed of their right arm, their Consults. The Black Horde mages were robbed of their left arm, their Necropotence.
These shots finally brought the beast down. Or so it seemed. It seems that the Black mages it had corrupted had shielded it from the shots. And so the Blue Mages abandoned the Black Mages, determined to never look back.
The DCI chased after the Blue mages, but forget to send help to poor black. Now, black slowly bleeds to death on the sidelines, alone and forgottend.
And so 7th edition comes along, and black runs towards it with open arms, hoping for some relief. Instead, 7th rams right into black and tramples it, straight on ahead toward the other waiting four colors. It bore shiny gifts, gifts that were too good for black to hold.
And so I sit here today, with piles of Dauthi Warlords and Slayers, of Delraichs and Rampart Crawlers, Black Knights and Knights of Stromgald, Skirges and Negators.
And I wait for the Apocalypse, praying over the grave of my dear friend, Black.