Introduction: Darkness has long been considered one of the more powerful civilizations by duelists around the globe. I’ve utilized it in almost every deck throughout my long career, with good reason. They have one-hundred-eleven total cards, tied with Light for the most. That breaks down into 88 creatures and 23 spells.

Black is extremely aggressive in the DM war that broke out with the release of Shadowclash this time last year. They openly oppose the forces of Light and Nature, while calling upon Water and Fire for reinforcements. Hey, that fits perfectly with the M:tG color wheel I keep telling you guys about. Who would have guessed...

Top Cards:

- Bloody Squito                   (3.92)

- Propeller Mutant               (4.50)

- Horrid Worm                   (3.75)

- Locomotiver                    (3.00)

- Mongrel Man                    (4.00)

- Ghost Touch                    (3.85)

- Dark Reversal                  (3.25)

- Proclamation of Death      (4.00)

- Terror Pit                       (5.00)

- Lost Soul                        (4.37)

Those ratings come from past CotD reviews or are my own opinion if that card has never been done before. Together the top black cards have an average rating of 3.96. That puts them far ahead of Light and just behind Water. The creatures weigh in at 3.83 while spells are an impressive 4.09. Overall those are solid scores.

Darkness cards have many separate themes that all fit into one major category: destruction. Whether it be field, hand or grave, black just loves smashing stuff to pieces.  They also tend to sacrifice long term advantage for immediate gain. All together the forces of Darkness can be quite intimidating to face. Let’s break down some of the more important mini-themes now.

Discarding cards from your opponents hand carries the same advantage as draw power, except in reverse. Many black cards can do this effectively. The cheapest available option, Ghost Touch, quickly sets your opponent back. Even nastier are the creatures like Horrid Worm and Locomotiver that can discard and attack all at once. Then we come to the mack daddy of all hand control, Lost Soul. Nothing is sweeter than wiping out your opponent’s entire hand, especially after they just used Merfolk or some other draw power.

Board control is the other main strength of Darkness. There are tons of cards, both creatures and spells, which focus on removing threats. The most well known is probably the Base Set staple Terror Pit. Other powerful choices include Death Smoke, Proclamation, Hopeless Vortex, and Chaos Worm. These are all great for removing fatties like Cryptic Totem or other double breakers. Any Cyberlord is also a common target these days. Never underestimate the effect that field destruction can have on a duel.

A major weakness of black is definitely the high mana curve. It can be a bit slow in the beginning, but that’s why we have more than one civilization. Darkness forms a particularly strong control tandem with Water. Hand advantage early on leads to field presence later. Keep that in mind.

Underrated Picks: The following cards are ones that I believe could easily see more play than they currently do. That doesn’t mean they are godly by any means, just that you might want to give em a shot sometime for fun.

- Vampire Silphy

- Cursed Pincher

- Wailing Shadow Belbetphlo

Each of these three can have a devastating effect on your opponent’s field. With a single shot, Silphy could quite feasibly knock out ten or more weenies. Just be sure that you’re killing more opposing creatures than your own. Pincher and Belbetphlo share the Slayer ability. They will take down any creature that gets in the way. Now let’s wrap up today’s review with my overall impression of the black civilization.

Overall: As a whole Darkness is impressive enough to rank second on my list. Control decks are dominating right now, in large part thanks to the destruction offered by black. I consider them to be an anchor civ along with Water, worthy of 14-20 slots per deck. With the updated standings, you can start to see how things are shaping up.

1. Water (blue)

2. Darkness (black)

3. TBA

4. TBA

5. Light (yellow)

Next week we wrap up Civilization of the Day with Nature and Fire. Make sure you check out the reviews! I sadly will not be able to make the tournament at GQ tomorrow due to a soccer scheduling conflict. Till next time...

Steven Cantrell

Smcman7@aol.com