Glowing Ranks: Black Legends

Happy Weekend Zoners!

I know we've gotten a little off track, but after a lot of time off, ya boi Landdrops is back, and ready for the final installment of Glowing Ranks.

In case you've missed it, or you need a refresher, here's the previous ones in the set.

Green Legends
Red Legends
Blue Legends
White Legends

As a color, Black Legends were about as easy as ranking the Green ones. Whereas Green Commanders had more of an oligarchical structure and theme to what made them good, the Legendary Creatures with Swamp mana and the decks they want to build were highly variable in ability.

So when go to compare colors, and analyze the "Why?" questions behind my choices, I think this one can be a lot more open to interpretation than its predecessors. The ones that made the Top 5 in black are major players, but the distance between them isn't much.

5. Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

Number Five is about as rare as they come. By that I mean, I haven't even seen a Xiahou Dun in the real, much less at the Commander Table. And despite moving onto the block in a marginally shorter time than most collectors and nostalgic Magic players, I know the neighborhood pretty well.

So this is the most hypothetical ranking, but I believe it's well deserved. Besides, it's a lot more interesting than talking about Korlash or Greel.

What puts Xiahou in my list and not these other two is his ability to retrieve your favorite mono-Black spell.

Reanimator decks have become a very obvious, straightforward ordeal in our game. That isn't a problem for me so much as it is a proverbial "glove slap" to those players who don't want to challenge themselves by doing something a little different.

My point is Good Cards are Good, and we all get it. Yet Xiahou Dun, while good, is a pretty unblockable creature combined with the chance to play multiple Read the Bones, Night's Whisper, your favorite removal spell, or the dare-I-say-it-card Exsanguinate.

Personally, I'm a fan. For sure an expensive deck, but totally worth it.

4. Horobi, Death's Wail

Do you like control? Do you detest overpowered creatures?

If you do, sounds like you're singing Horobi's song.

This is a deck I used to play against regularly, and it's power is greatly underestimated.

Its power lies in the fact that its strategy can be aligned easily with mono-Black worst-kept mana acceleration secret, Cabal Coffers and Tomb of Yawgmoth, to ensure that Horobi never remains unplayable.

In doing so, it neuters basically everything except something like Purphoros, where creatures don't really matter as long as damage is getting through. Even with permanents that can continue to target Horobi, it's still enough power to slow the game to a screeching halt- especially if there's a Cauldron of Souls out too.

3. Geth, Lord of the Vault

Now, Geth edges out Horobi, probably because I'm a combo nut. Any cards that we can combine and power-up to make them better than the sum of their parts is the proper place to begin a great deck.

So why does Geth get the three spot? Well, not only does he have access to tutorable combos, but he also possesses a high dependency for interactivity in order to do so.

When combined with the Altars (Ashnod's, Phyrexian, and "of Dementia), Geth's ability can be used to Reanimate these guys over and over, which is the kind of interesting and "creative" reanimate decks I'm talking about. While it was surely the design team that wins the points for excellent flavor and design, it's you who gets to benefit from this off-the-wall Zombie legend. Not only can you get stuff that doesn't belong to you and win, but you can also use it to mill them out, and potentially get something better.

And all of this is before we talk about how Geth performs in the Red Zone. A 5/5 for six with evasion and access to all manner of removal and Swamp pumps (Lashwrithe and friends) make Geth a much more exciting deck to play and play against.

2. Erebos, God of the Dead

The Gods, as we all have said, have completely taken over the Commander environment since Theros' release last year.

However, none have been so dominant across multiple formats in the last year as the deadest, whip-wielding-y-est, God in the Nyx Pantheon.

Maybe he was just riding the coattails of Thoughtseize and Gary, that Merchant from Asphodel, and a few other cards that supercharged his devotion, but Erebos is a card that is basically always going to be around your local game store or wherever Commander is played, for seven simple words:

"Your Opponents Can't Gain Life," and, "Draw a Card."

Even if you're not beating down with him, which I'm here to tell you means someone should take your Erebos deck away from you anyway, this card is one of the neatest little gems from Nyx.

Yet again, R&D proves without a doubt that they can make black cards.

1. Black Mike

You may be more appropriate with your nomenclature for this Cleric-gone-dark, but around my table, we know him affectionately as "Black Mike."

There are a few things I maintain are true about this insanely overpowered creature.

The first thing is that you don't know just how many Humans you have in your deck until you play against him. The second is that you'll kill at least one of those Humans because you'll forget that this card sandwiched this ability between his two primary abilities.

Honestly, I wish they did this more on cards. Could you imagine an Elesh Norn with "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may gain life equal to the number of creatures you have with power greater than 3"?

Anyway, I shouldn't have to tell you how snapped Black Mike is, because you've probably played against him, or heard about how much he loves his Triskelion. It is the best mono-Black Commander solely because he's a weigh station for the treasure trove of ETB and dies triggers that are not even difficult to access in these colors. And like Geth, he gets to swing a 5/5 body unchecked against non-color opponents.

Phew! I'm Finished!

Hope you enjoyed. Be sure to debate or agree with me in the comments below. I'm always happy to talk shop.

Looking ahead, I've got some great tales, new tech, and a few new decks headed your way too. So keep in touch with your TGZ connections. New Commander spoilers are upon us too, and we're still here.

Pass Turn
-UL