The Golgari Swarm, a guild known for its focus on life, death, and the cyclical nature of existence, has consistently produced some of the most potent and strategically diverse cards in Magic: The Gathering. Black and green, when combined, offer a unique blend of discard spells, reanimation tactics, powerful creatures, and insidious enchantments. This article delves into the best black card green cards in MTG, exploring their strengths, synergies, and the impact they've had on various formats. From early game control to late-game powerhouses, the Golgari color combination provides tools to outmaneuver opponents at every stage of the game. Whether you are building a commander deck or a modern deck, the blend of black and green will always deliver powerful options.
Golgari Grave-Troll: The Dredge Engine
The black card Golgari Grave-Troll is arguably one of the most impactful cards ever printed for dredge strategies. Its ability, "Dredge 6," allows you to replace your draw with milling yourself for six cards and returning the Grave-Troll to your hand. This creates a loop where you can consistently fill your graveyard with creatures, lands, and other valuable resources. Decks built around the Grave-Troll aim to quickly populate the graveyard and then utilize reanimation spells or cards that benefit from a large graveyard, like Stinkweed Imp or Life from the Loam. The Grave-Troll's resilience and graveyard-centric nature make it a powerful tool in any deck looking to exploit the graveyard as a resource, often leading to explosive turns and overwhelming board states. The impact it had on competitive play led to it being banned in several formats, a testament to its power.
Deathrite Shaman: Versatile Mana Dork
Deathrite Shaman is a one-mana planeswalker in disguise. This incredibly versatile card can act as a mana dork, a life drain, or a graveyard hate piece, depending on the situation. Its ability to tap for mana of any color using a land card from any graveyard can fix your mana in multicolor decks. The ability to exile a creature card to drain an opponent for two life offers reach and disruption, while exiling an instant or sorcery card to gain two life provides a lifegain buffer against aggressive strategies. Deathrite Shaman’s adaptability made it a staple in multiple formats, including Legacy and Modern, until it was eventually banned in Modern due to its sheer power and efficiency. Its low mana cost and multifaceted abilities made it a must-include in any black-green deck seeking early-game control and flexible utility.
Assassin's Trophy: The Universal Answer
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Assassin's Trophy is a premium removal spell that answers almost any threat your opponent can present. For just two mana, it can destroy any permanent, including lands, creatures, planeswalkers, and enchantments. While your opponent does get a basic land in return, the sheer versatility of Assassin's Trophy makes it invaluable in decks that need to answer a wide range of threats. Its instant speed allows you to react to problematic permanents at any time, disrupting your opponent’s plans and maintaining board control. In formats with diverse and powerful permanents, Assassin's Trophy is a crucial tool for keeping the game balanced and ensuring you have answers to whatever your opponent throws at you. This black card has become a staple in any deck utilizing both black and green.
Abrupt Decay: Uncounterable Removal
Abrupt Decay is another powerful removal spell that excels in dealing with early to mid-game threats. It can destroy any nonland permanent with a converted mana cost of 3 or less, and it cannot be countered. This uncounterability is crucial in matchups where counterspells are prevalent, ensuring that you can reliably remove key threats without worrying about interference. Abrupt Decay is particularly effective against cards like Aether Vial, Chalice of the Void, and other disruptive permanents that can hinder your strategy. Its cost efficiency and uncounterability make it a valuable tool in any deck looking to control the early game and disrupt the opponent’s board state. The fact that it can’t be countered is what makes this black card a very important tool.
Tarmogoyf: The Ever-Growing Beater
Tarmogoyf is a classic example of a creature that grows in power as the game progresses. Its power and toughness are determined by the number of different card types in all graveyards. This means that as players cast spells, discard cards, and mill themselves, Tarmogoyf becomes larger and more threatening. In formats like Modern, where graveyards tend to fill up quickly, Tarmogoyf can easily become a 4/5 or larger for just two mana, making it an incredibly efficient and resilient beater. Its ability to scale with the game state makes it a staple in midrange and control decks that aim to establish board presence and outmuscle the opponent in the mid to late game. It is a threat that your opponent can not ignore.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth: Reanimation Commander
Meren as Commander
Meren of Clan Nel Toth is a powerful Commander that excels in reanimating creatures from your graveyard. Her ability triggers at the end of each of your turns, allowing you to either return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield or put an experience counter on yourself, depending on whether you sacrificed a creature that turn. As you gain experience counters, the creatures you reanimate become more powerful and resilient. Meren decks often focus on self-sacrifice strategies, using creatures like Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton to consistently trigger her ability and build up experience counters. She also works well with value creatures that have "enter the battlefield" effects, allowing you to repeatedly reuse their abilities. Meren’s ability to generate card advantage and maintain a strong board presence makes her a formidable Commander in the right hands.
Grist, the Hunger Tide: Insect Planeswalker
Grist's Unique Design
Grist, the Hunger Tide is a unique planeswalker that starts as a creature while in your library or graveyard. This unusual characteristic allows you to use creature-based synergies to find her, such as creature tutors or cards that benefit from creatures in your graveyard. Once on the battlefield, Grist’s abilities focus on creating insect tokens, milling cards, and sacrificing creatures for removal. Her +1 ability creates insect tokens, providing chump blockers and sacrifice fodder. Her -2 ability mills cards and creates more insects, fueling graveyard strategies. Her -5 ability allows you to sacrifice creatures to destroy creatures or planeswalkers, providing valuable removal. Grist’s versatility and unique design make her a compelling addition to any deck that benefits from graveyard synergies and token strategies. This black card offers a fresh take on what a planeswalker can be.
Witherbloom Apprentice + Chain of Smog: The Combo
The Deadly Combo
The combination of Witherbloom Apprentice and Chain of Smog creates a devastating two-card combo that can quickly drain your opponent’s life total. Witherbloom Apprentice’s ability triggers whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, causing each opponent to lose 1 life and you to gain 1 life. Chain of Smog allows you to discard a card to copy it. By targeting yourself with Chain of Smog and repeatedly copying it, you can trigger Witherbloom Apprentice’s ability multiple times, draining your opponent’s life total while gaining life yourself. This combo is particularly effective in Commander, where opponents start with a higher life total. It's a simple and efficient way to win the game with minimal resources. Decks built around this combo often include tutors to find the necessary cards and protection to ensure the combo goes off without interruption. Make sure to consider this powerful black card combo when building your Golgari deck.
Conclusion: The Power of Golgari
The black-green color combination offers a wealth of powerful and versatile cards that can excel in a variety of strategies. From graveyard manipulation and reanimation to efficient removal and resilient creatures, the Golgari Swarm provides the tools needed to control the board, disrupt the opponent, and ultimately emerge victorious. Whether you're building a competitive tournament deck or a casual Commander deck, the cards discussed in this article represent some of the best black and green cards MTG has to offer. Embracing the cyclical nature of life and death, these cards embody the essence of the Golgari Swarm and offer a unique and rewarding play experience.
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