The Top 100 Black Commander Cards of All Time

It's the BEST black cards in all of Commander, ranked right here from #100 down to #1! Which cards will come out on top?
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[@nebnesnah]

Where the heck is Grave Titan?!!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Oh don’t worry it’s TOTALLY on here

[@PapaBlach]

Justice for GrAvE tItAn!!!!!!

[@At9poison]

He’s number 101 😅

[@trialbyicecream]

He’s #0

[@ARC--5973]

It's #-1. It's quality transcends mathematics

[@Csteffee9]

Solid video. Definitely think Black Market Connections, new Braids, Marionette Master, and Feed the Swarm warrant some serious consideration.

[@carloszarraga1990]

The nerds never liked Black market connections, ever since it was released. I respect their opinion on it, but I do disagree! It's always been amazing and I run it in almost all my black decks! I understand they don't like it, but I don't think there's a doubt it should be in the top 100

[@japplek]

Feed the swarm is pretty much essential tech. But then I run Light of Day in my combat meta so maybe my perceptions are warped.

[@Eric_The_Cleric]

​@japplek nah it's definitely essential tech. Especially these days there are a ton of really good enchantments like Smothering Tithe that, if left on the board, dominate. You can't rely on your opponents dealing with threats because (at least from what I've seen consistently) they just don't. Either they don't see the threat or don't have the removal spell at the time or didn't pack enough removal or, god forbid, it is doing them some level of good which means it sticks around. You gotta pack your own removal and targeted enchantment removal in black is just too good to pass up. Plus it hits creatures if it needs to.

[@Eric_The_Cleric]

​@@carloszarraga1990I honestly can't believe it's not in there as well! I use it in my two decks that run black because it allows you to do 3 pretty powerful things, especially for black, at the cost of 6 life or just one or two for even less! For how much Beezy was hyping up people starting at 40 life in Commander, how doesn't BMC make the list but the MDFCs do? It's a value engine that just sits around, not doing enough for people to want to use removal (especially enchantment removal) on it but gains you passive, modular benefits. Don't want to lose 6 life? Pay 1 or 2 and draw or make a treasure. Pay 3 and make a saccable dude or do both the treasure and get the draw. Pay 5 and get a dude and a draw. It's just so good. Though, I must admit that before I was brought to the light by a buddy of mine who does deckbuilding, I was always harping on getting rid of the more passive cards for active ones in my decks and his. He has since slowed my decks down and given me the ability to slow burn a game out, even in decks that rely on big splashy plays and combos like K'rrik or my Shadowborn Apostles demons decks. BMC does everything I need it to to gain me incremental value leading to a nice win.

[@mrjey3434]

I was looking forward to this since i saw the videos for white and blue cards. Awesome series!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Excited to do this!

[@JustRightPinedo]

YES agreed. Great work Beezy I love this series. each of these videos provides a great reference list for good stuff when building

[@metalman22cinco]

To me is crazy that theres no K'rrik, but otherwise I love this list and enjoyed the video. Something about mono black just feels right in my soul

[@nathanwooler8047]

Yes! Mono black is so good and makes my brain happy :)

[@qooq1491]

yawgmoth's will, kirrik, braids, saw in half, black market connections, torment of hailfire, peer into the abyss? so many good cards - but great to finally see the black list!

[@CodeTitan]

22:59?

[@aaronwindham6065]

Thank you so much for all of these greatest cards. Perfect for me to enjoy. Good luck with the channel. Can't wait to see how it grows.

[@hermodnitter3902]

Finally some love for Ritual of the Machine! Probably the most underplayed card in the format...

[@pauldyson8098]

" . . .and not in the fun, Urborg way." Classic.

[@GonzoEDH]

Great content keep it up

[@ericsanchz]

Great vid!!! I will die on the hill that chains of Meph’ is not a difficult card to understand it’s so easy to read and know what it does even with the OG text

[@danmorgan7775]

I thought for sure we'd see Braids, Arisen Nightmare on this list but maybe it isn't quite as good in the 99 as I think it would be. I've only played her as a commander so far. Another recent card I am high on is Hostile Negotiations. That card does work. If you want cards in the bin it's basically four mana draw six at instant speed.

[@mrjey3434]

They said they really like Braids and think it is an overperformer, maybe still not strong enough for this list?

[@Joldrath]

What an awesome video❤ time to go shopping 😂

[@dreamedoutdoll]

Felt a little fast (maybe not a bad thing with 100 cards lol), but really liked the editing!

[@thebrentster2563]

I played it at .75 speed, and it was perfect

[@Wzrd100]

The whole time i was expecting #1 to be "the friends you've made along the way." 😢

[@narwhalcheese]

Does Joe Cherries still get his CEDH deck?

[@MrDeeluv1996]

He is still a nitpicking nerd just won’t be a main host anymore I believe

[@brendans1983]

HA! I always thought i had a dirty, old Damnation from Planar Chaos, but after seeing the picture you used i now realise that is just what it normally looks like!

[@altrekzz9870]

Not sure if the Commander Sealed event is linked in the description. Otherwise great videos as always Nerds! :)

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thanks for the heads up! The description has been updated :)

[@lukalucic6855]

Did....did I miss K'rrik? Or was he not on the list? I always imagined him to be the "blackest" card in mtg as his ability is the most extreme example of what black does best, in the sense "I give my life so that none of you may have one". I respect the list tho, it's really good. If I missed him, someone please correct me.

[@mrjey3434]

I guess because he isn't that good outside of monoblack? But same with the Swamp mana doubler, idk

[@lukalucic6855]

@@mrjey3434 Yeah, I can understand that. That's why I can agree with Demonic Tutor being the number one. But as you said, they also included some "black only" cards, which makes this even more strange. Oh well :p

[@onurcoskun6284]

As far as i understand it, it's only cards in the 99, so K'rrik doesn't fit i think

[@apao50000]

K'rrik is the most played mono black commander of all time on edhrec. I'd argue he runs Gray Mercant and Contamination better than any other deck, which are on this list. Even if this list is only discussing the 99 and not commanders, K'rrik fits into every monoblack deck because of his mana sink ability.

[@Eric_The_Cleric]

Nah you didn't miss him but I miss him on the list. How can they include his papa Yawgmoth but massacre my boy like this? Tis sad. In all seriousness, as good of a commander as he is and as fun as my deck with him piloting it is to play, and despite how utterly flavorful he is, he doesn't belong on this list by a long shot. He does what black as a color identity does best but he isn't an auto include in many decks like your tutors or reanimation effects are. He's at best a 101 in a lot of mono-black decks and it gets even worse once you start adding more colors to the mix. He's really only good in decks that want to pay life for big splashy dudes like Vilis but even then you're able to do so much more and more easily to cheat stuff like him out: reanimation, Shadowborn Apostles, Bolas's Citadel, etc. K'rrik doesn't really even do much as a commander after about T5 or T6 in my experience since, by that time, you have started looking for closeout combos or have enough of a dominating board presence to win. He can be involved in a lot of combos but even then he simply acts as a way to make your mana stretch futher. Lastly, he's a heavy build-around and much harder for newer players to pilot or see the value in playing him. It took me a couple years of tweaking to get his deck where I wanted it. I'd either lose too much life on a splashy turn and not win then become an easy target to a single swing or I'd durdle for so long that the other players were able to win around me. Finding the balance of having plenty of passive lifegain plus value to keep me rolling was hard and I'm still working. You can't just slam K'rrik into a deck and expect really good performance. He has to be heavily built around, which honestly doesn't put him in my own personal top 100 list just like the Nerds. And this is coming from a guy whose favorite commander is our prickly K'rrik.

[@shanemackay493]

Lol at the "i" in Kamigawa popping in halfway through #58

[@chrisgroves8891]

To bad these aren’t performing well for the amount of effort you put into them. A red and green video would be great hope to see them! :)

[@joshuawenninger6439]

What do you think of Dark Prophecy or Ob' Nixilis, Unshackled?

[@mariodavila4162]

Just a heads up, on the patreon list/tier descriptions, u guys still show a “buy joe cherries a deck” tier just an fyi. 🎉

[@bradwinward1237]

When we gonna get ranked commanders from lotr!! I check every day for that upload😂

[@MikKingify]

Nice! Do red next please!

[@MrPooler11]

Phyrexian arena isn’t a busted card, but the amount of games I’ve squeaked out because of consistent card advantage, I love the card

[@King_Carp]

Are you guys going to rename the buy joe cherries a deck tier ?

[@Mecal00]

Ah yes the brutal black enchantments. I have both Tainted Aether and Lethal Vapors in my Mardu enchantment deck. Good to see they made the list

[@TahuNuva2008]

Ghen, Arcanum Weaver?

[@Mecal00]

@@TahuNuva2008 indeed

[@patricklynch4074]

I heard you mention aristocrat decks a lot, what does that mean?

[@joshdean7523]

Great video and series, but I’d like to see future ones broken into 2 or 4 parts/videos! Nothing but love Beezy! 🐝

[@Wzrd100]

I'd really prefer them broken into 4 or 8 parts

[@jakefeingold1126]

Victimize was one I've always disagreed on, 1.5 Mana per creature reanimated plus a free death trigger is quite strong, even at sorcery speed, and it can be a 2 card combo with buried alive if you have a creature to spare

[@jakefeingold1126]

Definitely as good as persist, if not better

[@Eric_The_Cleric]

T3/T4 (with all land drops): Dark Ritual -> Buried Alive (Reassembling Skeleton; Vilis, Broker of Blood; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse) -> Reanimate the skeleton -> Victimize the skeleton for Vilis and Sheoldred combo by T5. Made better with K'rrik as commander. Plus that's one of the most complicated ways to pull that off, and probably completely inefficient. How about pulling Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Walking Ballista? Two card infinite for the win by T3 off of one card. Victimize is a really good card.

[@sambrown9475]

Doom whisper is literally only held back by its mana cost. Pay 2 surveil 2 is nutty in self mill decks

[@christopherstoeffel4811]

obviously the moxfield ad is at 14:47 tbh

[@jesper1029384756]

What does he mean at 47, incarnation technique, that there is no way to respond to the individual copies? I assume he means between milling and putting a card back? Cause everyone can respond between the copies of the spell? Like graveyard hate after the opponent did his copy and before you can do your two instances. (This would be useful to limit the options to just the 5 mulled cards, instead of the entire graveyard.)

[@TahuNuva2008]

Copies go on the stack! Before each item on the stack resolves, all players in turn order get a chance to cast instants or activate abilities :)

[@LouisKing995]

He means that you can target the thing he wants to reanimate as that is all part of the spell, though of course if the grave isn’t empty then you can predict what he might want to reanimate and target something already in the grave. But you can’t wait until after he’s killed but before he’s reanimated, there is no opportunity there.

[@finks1]

For some of the legendary creatures it looks like you used the number of EDH deck they are in as commander not the 99. Otherwise pretty sick list.

[@ivernedit4132]

People keep telling me I can’t look at their hand when I op agent them. Can you or can you not?

[@caseyp5665]

I like this video 🎉

[@batboibob4910]

Is grim hireling on this list?

[@equinox1223]

Glad to say I have all of the top five on your list 🤟

[@thork_tv]

Even If it is Not black I think ghostly pilferer is an underrated discard Outlet. ITS cheap it discards for free and draws cards.

[@jpickens189]

Wow, the disrespect for Yawgmoth's Will.

[@abbygaleforcewind5179]

Thabks for sipprting the trevor project and trans lifeline. Theyre so important, i truly dont know if id be sround today without them.

[@Buchaus]

Day 12 of guessing the Moxfield ad at 16:44 Also something something Grave Titan something something top 5 something

[@peterparadis6788]

Did I miss butcher of malakir?

[@94meiny]

when I saw yawg at n11 i thought next one will be his will but somehow you missed it

[@arthurvandenbergh1881]

With lethal scheme being so high it’s a little surprising to not see pile on anywhere. Those cards are pretty comparable

[@frostbitefps6210]

I think Lethal scheme is much better

[@arthurvandenbergh1881]

@@frostbitefps6210 I also think it’s better but not sooo much better that pile on shouldn’t be on the list and lethal scheme on number 50

[@frostbitefps6210]

@@arthurvandenbergh1881 Pile on is cool for the surveil yes, but connive almost does the same thing but better, the cards end up in your hand and you can still put them in your GY. Also your creatures get counters if you discard non lane

[@frostbitefps6210]

Nonland

[@arthurvandenbergh1881]

@@frostbitefps6210 true, I agree that lethal scheme is better. Keep in mind that if you have zero or one creature for convoke pile on’s effect is better and in some corner cases you want both all the cards in your hand ánd the top card of your deck in which case pile on also provides. That being said, connive 3/4 is obviously a lot stronger than surveil 2, but I think the main draw is the 0 mana removal part, which is why I think pile on also deserves a spot on this list (below lethal scheme!!)

[@Kurotekken]

Great list, but no art depicting a planeswalker is "vastly superior"

[@kritique777]

necron death mark followed up by revel in riches. These two are not the same. lol

[@brodymorales3520]

Yessss

[@the_names_rob]

Suprised not to see malakir rebirth

[@exellin8111]

It is there at 7:35

[@douglasfoley2060]

15:47 have a friend who doesn’t care that we hate Tergrid, and plays it anyway. Yet he gets super pissed when no one lets him keep it on the board. It’s fun watching him get salty and angry. Lolz 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@psychophipps]

One criminally overlooked black card in EDH is Pestilence. An absolute house of an enchantment from the olden days of Alpha. BB and 2, spend a black to deal 1 damage to each player and each creature. If no creatures are in play at the end of a turn, destroy Pestilence.

[@RunninOnYT]

Did I miss Yawgmoth's Will or something? Anyway I can imagine putting together a list like this can be rough.

[@Wzrd100]

It's easy. And excluding Yawg was the easiest part. 😮

[@elipetrou9308]

Banned lmao

[@ThatGuy.3349]

@@elipetrou9308bargain is banned not will

[@alexilike36]

Nice dood

[@marcoottina654]

28:01 it ispires me to share (most of) my mono black 60-card format deck: -) Oriq Loremage : entomb on a stick? repeatable and for free? and for EVERYTHING? nice -) Ghoulcaller Gisa : sac creatures to get even more fodders -) Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar: draw a bunch of cards from a sacrifice -) Whisper, Blood Liturgist: sacrifice 2 creatures to reanimate, even herself! -) Priest of Forgotten Gods: sacrifice 2 creatures to draw a card, add BB and both edict and make losing 2 life to all opponents! -) Skirsdag High Priest: while you are sacrificing, just TAP it and 2 other creatures to create a massive 5/5 Demon with Flying! Nice for the other sacrificers up there -) Rodolf Duskbringer: a €-expensive reanimating angel, but oh boy if he slams! -) Bloodline Keeper: I'm experimenting with this pricy, but free token producer -) Nested Shambler: a 1/1 for B that creates X squirrels = to its power? fodders! :D -) Transmogrant's Crown: underlooked replacement for Skullclamp, giving +2/+0, nice for those power-mattering cards up there! -) Ayara, First of Locthwain: who would have thought of a card mentioned here to drain life and draw cards? -) Piper of the Swarm & Glass-Cast Heart: a small token each turn for 1B / B + 1 life -) Night Clubber: play her with blitz to kill small creatures, attack, sacrifice her if needed, and take advantage of that card draw! -) Yarok's Fenlurker: ETB -> each opponent EXILE a card from the hand, for just BB ? and can mana-sink to grow bigger too? lovely -) Raffine's Silencer: ETB connives and can kill if she dies with enough power -) Victimize: 2 for 2? nice :D

[@yanncatt]

Wait where is K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth???

[@patricklynch4074]

Cant believe grave titan was 101, barely missed the list

[@imprisonedmike]

Moxfield Ad Guess: 12:34

[@RooStefano]

nice

[@hillelmerkin8498]

Did I miss patriarchs bidding?

[@andrewrockwell1282]

Like 5th or something. Guessing Moxfield... 21:45

[@NitpickingNerds]

Wonderful guess!

[@marlonlam6959]

ranking lotr commanders? :(

[@Joshue.Kaylee]

Beezy: #69 nice.

[@sambrown9475]

Crypt ghast is baller when casting odd costed spells. it guarantees a free extort

[@teferitoots8043]

Also does not work in a mono black deck!?

[@sambrown9475]

@teferitoots8043 yes it does. The extort text is reminder text which doesn't affect color identity

[@teferitoots8043]

@sambrown9475 got it, thank you for that!

[@sambrown9475]

@@teferitoots8043 happy to help 😁

[@obadijahparks]

The feeling when you own every card here except like the two 1200.00$ cards..... 😅

[@BlueFox571]

Interaction to appease the algorithm gods

[@meatrace]

It would have been great if you trolled everyone and put Grave Titan at #1

[@crazycasey824]

My guess? Probably at 15:36

[@crazycasey824]

Oof, only like 9 min off 😂

[@nelsikegaming]

I took out 6 copies of demonic tutor from most of my decks. I am so TIRED of tutoring it took me 3 years to discover it's the most boring thing in commander. Had a Wilhelt combo deck that had all the best tutors in Dimir and a Meren deck that had a TON of ETB tutors and combos and every game felt the same and then something clicked. Took them all out and now my decks are much better (but obviously not as strong).

[@brendans1983]

I'm with you, took all mine out about a year ago. They made me feel like I was trying too hard to win.

[@nelsikegaming]

@@brendans1983 Yes that and games almost always played out the same way. I would always get the same card and do the same thing. It got old. I'd rather find ways to draw or dump my cards in the graveyard for value, the randomness of it makes it fun. The decks that still run them usually tutor for urborg and cabal coffers 95% of the time and I tell people because I don't want them thinking I'm about to get combos (another thing I've removed from casual decks).

[@TheAmazingSpiderman87]

Something tells me Black likes sacrificing, more testing is required.

[@RazgrizAce67]

Seems like black has the most pairs of cards with nearly identical effects.

[@JustRightPinedo]

This list is secretly an aristocrats primer...

[@FelipeLundgreen]

No Orcish Bowmaster 😢.

[@energetek661]

The only correct #1 is Grave titan!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Ah yes, of course! He’s absolutely on this list

[@TristanEason6]

Beezy!

[@shoresy6927]

#1 Swamp

[@andrewvela6107]

I got this. 24:56 😎

[@fancytoxicsoda]

"Number 69! Nice." ❤

[@bennycostello2472]

Aw yes who could forget the best black commander, demonic tutor.

[@ryanbrooks-kc5bl]

K’rrik?

[@shagnastyfo20]

14:32

[@Urd-Vidan]

No K'rrik?

[@gtfawaynotnow]

I used to think demonic tutor was the best until I came across a card I never heard of that is a wincon for any combo deck, especially mono-black or black primary decks. It’s called ‘insidious dreams’, it averages around $5 and it is instant speed. It’s a 4 mana cmc and but with a twist. Part of the cc is however many cards you discard relates to how many cards you can tutor for. You arrange your cards on the top of the deck in any order. Provided you can draw additional cards OR just make the top card ‘bolas’s citadel’ and you can cast all the cards in 1 go. In my opinion ‘Insidious Dreams’ is the best tutor in the format.

[@tylercraig5633]

Dark Ritual should be waaaaay higher imo

[@reymarkable]

“69…nice” lol

[@2rare2die26]

Where the heck is Balthor the Defiled, the greatest not only black card, but Dwarf in all of MTG?!

[@highlander7462]

Squee > Liliana

[@luckylarue7885]

Chup 40 spots better than deathmark? I prefer deathmark 🤷‍♂️

[@HellSpawnofDarkness]

I WAS HERE

[@NitpickingNerds]

NICE

[@samogburn2662]

Where is grave titan??????

[@NitpickingNerds]

Clearly he’s at #1, just wait!

[@MilkieBeargames]

This list is invalid without Grave Titan

[@frankmart3339]

Soul shatter is my favorite answer for koma

[@alimustafa4923]

4:51 "We" 😞

[@aklepatzky]

Yeah theres 2 people fyi

[@nickstatt7341]

What I've learned is that I shouldn't Murder for power, I should Murder for fun. Everyone knows Murder is bad, but who knew you could do other things too? *This comment does not condone actual murder or Murder the spell.

[@mistysowards7365]

Wow no drama, village rites.....

[@YoonnsMTG]

i think you mixed the popularity of legendary creatures on EDHrec, you put the number of decks with them as a commander instead of the number of decks with them. Kokusho is in 34158. Doesn't change anything about the quality of the video, of course, i'm just nitpicking !

[@cjballa9681]

Finally we speed through the intro and get down to business this is how I like to see the channel move forward from here on out.

[@douglasfoley2060]

You should change the channel name to “the nitpicking nerd” since Joe has left.

[@obadijahparks]

Grave titan is number zero.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

This list is lacking Grave Titan, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined ;p LOL

[@arrowodd7695]

Dark Ritual ranked in the 90s okay? Not accounting for 'cedh power' skews this list heavily. Title should of been "My favorite 100 black cards"