Right now, before I start this part of my article, I want to challenge Wizards. Reprint Hypnotic Specter - at the very least test him in your future league I think you'll find that without the possibility of rampant turn one drops backed up with Hymn he's not that broken anymore... Instead he's simply very good. And to those of you who would like to see Hippie back, write an email to Wizards once a week asking for his return... Remember The Shawshank Redemption Library? Free the Black one - Join the Hippy Liberation Movement! Thanks for your time. Without further ado, it is time to Entomb myself and take a close look at what Magic's most popular colour gains from this set....

Cabal Therapy.
Well has Duress finally met its match? This card is in all aspects a worthy companion to Duress... But I feel that in most situations it is in fact stronger than Duress; obviously, in a deck boasting Rats and other black creatures, the flashback makes this card superior. In control decks, you'll see this played alongside Duress (even creatureless control decks)... But is it enough to make Mono-black control a powerhouse again? I'm not sure on that one, but I hope so. Basically, I feel this card would have been fantastic without the flashback, but with the flashback it's superb. I'll definitely play four per black deck.

Death Wish
What's to say about the wishes that hasn't already been said? Only time and testing will show if the loss of half your life is too much to have to pay in order to grab that magic bullet from your sideboard. I'm not sure about this card, obviously; clearly it's a mono-black card, but does that deck need more tutoring? Will it get used in some kind of combo deck? I can see myself putting one or maybe two into the deck, but two seems pushing my limits. And obviously, the life loss makes this a highly situational and highly dangerous card. Oh - and as an afterthought, this card can be used to fetch cards removed from game by Yawgmoth's Agenda. I think I can see a new breed of black control coming up... More later!

Morality Shift.
I'm left wondering why this card is black, it feels like a blue card - entirely like a blue card. As for it's uses: Maybe it could be applied with Agenda... Maybe this could break Agenda. Clearly, the wording is such that you can Morality Shift with an Agenda in play and your new graveyard will not be removed from the game. Can you imagine playing with a thirty-plus card graveyard and an Agenda? The only problem you'll ever face will be decking yourself or a Haunting Echoes - laugh! I'll put a control black deck using this card further down. Oh - and if anyone can think of a way of solving the decking problem, let me know.

Rat's Feast.
Wow - nice anti-threshold/Flashback card. The first serious answer to Roar and threshold I've seen. It can be used to nuke an entire graveyard. Or selectively remove the flashbacks/incarnations. It's nice to see that black's ability to clear graveyards hasn't been diminished over time. More importantly, it's nice to see that the ability is finally becoming useful again.

Filth.
Well, this is obviously a sideboard creature. Some kind of Entomb-based mono-black deck might be able to use it main deck, but apart from that, I'm not even sure if it's sideboard material. How many ways do black decks have to cause themselves to discard it? Ravenous Rats (weak!), Addle myself (weak!), Zombie Infestation? Or you could just play it and use it to threaten a huge alpha strike retaliation in response to an attacker... Chump with Filth, attack you with my unblockable critters? Possibly B/G using Wild Mongrels might use this to great effect, but I can't really see most decks with swamps in having many creatures. I guess it's just another nail in the 'Tog's coffin. Ah well... All the incarnations rock anyhow...

Guiltfeeder.
I like this; I think it's going to be used as a serious answer to the U/W 'Life' decks that will certainly raise their ugly heads. Any life gain will be stripped away rapidly by this guy. And with his evasive abilities he'll be a menace to many other decks as well... I like this guy. I wish he had been a 0/5 though, so he could be Flametongue- proof then. Ultimately then, do you want to pay 3BB for this guy? It's all going to depend on how much people are filling up their own graveyards. Oh and I know people are going to talk about using this thing with Traumatize... But just like Haunting Echoes, it'll be a two 5cc-card combo - yuck! I guess you could use Book Burning as well and really go turbo mill...

All right, I don't like the idea - but I'll try to build a deck for him.

Masked Gorgon.
Now I really like this card, but I can't see her fitting into many decks, a 5/5 for 4B is really strong, but she's no Spiritmonger. In fact, she's no Guiltfeeder, is she? But she is Mono-Black, she's FTK proof, she's splashable - and finally, she's really efficient vs. decks without green or white creatures (she's good post threshold vs. those decks too.) I've talked myself into trying to use her in mono-black control as the only creature haven't I?

The Decks.
Okay... So black decks don't really gain that much from Judgment. There's nothing black that will encourage a new deck archetype in black (but Riftstone Portal does suggest a new deck type*), so instead of only supplying deck lists I'm going to discuss the kinds of cards you could now use in Kibler Black decks, the cards that might create a Traumatize/Guiltfeeder/Echoes deck and give you a listing for my mono-black deck.

Basically Kibler Black gains increased disruption in the form of Cabal Therapy. You can now play sixteen discard spells main deck (four Duress, Rats, Therapy and Fiend) all of which makes the deck so much stronger against control... But the problem for this deck is always the R/G creature decks. Obviously, you play a full complement of Swarms (which also have some synergy with the Therapy) and then either Flametongues (the red route also allows Obliterate!)... Or you can go the green route and play Spiritmonger, Pernicious Deed, and Wild Mongrel. Personally, I prefer the green cards, they are the ones that really crush R/G, and Deed is one of the best cards in the current environment. Also, with Mongrels you can make good use of Filth to upset the mirror and 'Tog decks.

Traumatize/Echoes
Okay so obviously the deck is a blue/black deck... but I have to say it should probably use red as well. Why? To take advantage of Book Burning, that's why.

You all know the drill with this deck, so here's my take on it...

4 Duress
3 Traumatize
2 Haunting Echoes
4 Guiltfeeder
4 Counterspell
4 Undermine
4 Fact or Fiction
3 Recoil
3 Chainer's Edict
3 Book Burning
2 Burning Wish
4 Underground River
2 Sulfurous Springs
1 Shadowblood Ridge
1 Shivan Reef
2 Darkwater Catacombs
5 Swamp
7 Island

Sideboard:
1 Traumatize
2 Haunting Echoes
2 Obliterate
3 Gainsay
1 Chainer's Edict
3 Hibernation
3 Cabal Therapy

Ugh! Even now it looks like a pile. Maybe it could benefit from Cunning Wish and more creature removal. But bags, I'm not going to try tuning it anymore - decks like this one make my head hurt. If someone else has a better listing, please feel free to put it up... I'm sure somebody can build a superior version.

Shifting Agendas
1 Masked Gorgon
1 Planar Portal
2 Phyrexian Arena
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Soul Burn
3 Corrupt
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
1 Morality Shift
2 Death Wish
4 Chainer's Edict
3 Innocent Blood
2 Mutilate
3 Diabolic Tutor
4 Duress
3 Cabal Coffers
22 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Aladdin's Ring
1 Millstone
1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
1 Engineered Plague
2 Haunting Echoes
1 Rats' Feast
1 Guiltfeeder
2 Mutilate
1 Mind Sludge
1 Morality Shift
1 Soul Burn
1 Corrupt
1 Innocent Blood

Okay, maybe the Masked Gorgon shouldn't be in this deck... But as the only creature, she is pretty strong. It's hard to tell if the Agenda/Morality Shift combo is any good. Obviously when I've cast it, it's been very powerful... Actually, it's normally game winning, but then often Agenda is game winning all by itself.

So black hasn't gained much from black cards. But it has to be noted that the Riftstone black deck looks to be a contender in the new Standard... Even if it doesn't actually use any black cards from Judgment (except maybe the excellent Cabal Therapy). Will black be competitive come July? I think so, and I'm certainly doing my part to help the Empire's cause. Will you?

f3n
S.J.Batten@cs.cf.ac.uk

* - I'll deal with my take on the Riftstone black deck when I talk about the Gold and Land Cards.