"Conflict breeds interest." One of my favorite quotes, and one which I keep repeating to myself in vain when thinking about Morningtide's Black cards. You see, Black in Morningtide is an oxymoron, so there is conflict in itself and thus it should be interesting. Thankfully I'll not be judging the cards' flavor in this article - that's for another, to keep the rage level at a minimum here - but I still can't purge my brain of the hideousness that is Squeaking Pie Sneak.

That said; let us hope there is nothing more ridiculous (flavor-wise) than that.

Now, Morningtide follows in Lorwyn's footsteps bringing plenty of good action to Limited. But can this mere expansion stand up to its predecessor's (some say broken) power, or does the infamous parasitism of Wizards' latest tribal set make its options too limited? All this week, we writers of MDV will be answering those questions and more as we take a first glace at the cards of Morningtide one color at a time. Today, we shall behold the oxymoron that is Black.

Auntie's Snitch - 2B
Creature - Goblin Rogue (R)
Auntie's Snitch can't block.
Prowl 1B (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
Whenever a Goblin or Rogue you control deals combat damage to a player, if Auntie's Snitch is in your graveyard, you may return Auntie's Snitch to your hand.
3/1

Boggarts love to die in suicidal attacks; so by all means, let them! The only downside to such a tactic is that eventually, you will run out of Boggarts. No longer! So long as you have at least one Rogue to whack your opponent with, you can keep replaying this for 1B - a decent price for three damage.

This is a potential powerhouse in Limited, assuming you have the Goblins and Rogues to support it, though in Constructed you'll not get very far casting the same card over and over again.

Grade: B

Bitterblossom - 1B
Tribal Enchantment - Faerie (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 1 life and put a 1/1 black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying into play.

A never-ending supply of Rogues for all your prowling needs. Pesky little buggers, aren't they?

Grade: A-

Blightsoil Druid - 1B
Creature - Elf Druid (C)
T, Pay 1 life: Add G to your mana pool.
1/2

Aw, and we were off to such a good start. Stupid Elves.

Grade: D

Earwig Squad - 3BB
Creature - Goblin Rogue (R)
Prowl 2B (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
When Earwig Squad comes into play, if its prowl cost was paid, search target opponent's library for three cards and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
5/3

This guy's really only good for his prowl ability - and very good at that. However, prowl depends too much on other cards, many of which are generally weak.

Grade: C

Fendeep Summoner - 4B
Creature - Treefolk Shaman (R)
T: Up to two target Swamps become 3/5 Treefolk Warrior creatures in addition to their other types until end of turn.
3/5

"FEAR MY MIGHTY TREE SWAMPS."

(Though how a filthy bog choked full of weeds becomes a huge Treefolk Warrior I will never know. "FEAR MY MIGHTY WEEDS!?" Check this card out in the Top Ten Most Shameful Ways to Die, right next to Death_by_Beebles )

Grade: A-

Festercreep - 1B
Creature - Elemental (C)
Festercreep comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it.
1B, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Festercreep: All other creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.
0/0

2BB for Nausea? Bleh. Decent in Limited, and as a common semi-instant-speed trick it'll see some play. Where is graft when you need it?

Grade: C

Frogtosser Banneret - 1B
Creature - Goblin Rogue (C)
Haste
Goblin spells and Rogue Spells you play cost 1 less to play.
The Frogtossers thread feathers, bones, and trophies from past raids into their standards, believing they fuel the warren with the anger of its victims.
1/1

Hehehehehe.... This may be one of the best Bannerets, if not the best. Firstly, it makes Goblins cheaper, and Goblins are naturally a fast tribe that wants to come out even faster. Especially in Lorwyn, where they keep killing themselves and making you re-cast them. Secondly, as an alternate cost, prowl will be affected by this - and prowl shows up exclusively on Rogues. You already get a sick deal with prowl as is, but add this guy and things just got unfair.

(Thanks to Hardtrack from the forums for clarifying how this works with prowl.)

Grade: A

Final-Sting Faerie - 3B
Creature - Faerie Assassin (C)
Flying
When Final-Sting Faerie comes into play, destroy target creature that was dealt damage this turn.
2/2

Meh. Would be better with flash. So much better. But alas, it is crap. Removal in Limited is always good, however, and so is evasion, so it may see a little play there.

Grade: C

Maralen of the Mornsong - 1BB
Legendary Creature - Elf Wizard (R)
Players can't draw cards.
At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player loses 3 life, searches his or her library for a card, puts it into his or her hand, then shuffles his or her library.
Maralen sent Veesa, Endry, and Illiona - the Vendillion clique - on the gravest of tasks.
2/3

SCORE! This card has so much going for it, I will forego the fact that it is an Elf, for now. Firstly, players can't draw cards. Period. Harmonize? Sorry. Wistful Thinking? Discard four! Mulldrifter? NO! Bwahahahaha! Say goodnight, Control.

But of course, that's not even half the fun. Every turn, you get any card you want. Sure, your opponent does too, but that's what Aven Mindcensor is for. The beautiful thing is that you don't even need to fill your deck with bombs. Maralen does all the work, draining three life per turn for you and your opponent. All you need to do is protect her and swing the bleeding in your favor; Profane Command comes to mind.

The only bad thing is how easily she's killed. At three toughness with no protection, all your opponent need do is dig up nearly any removal spell with her effect and kill her. And it was almost perfect.... Damn Elves!

Grade: B

Mind Shatter - XBB
Sorcery (R)
Target player discards X cards at random.
Dark thoughts hatch and twist within the mind, straining to take wing.

Oh look, children, it's the disgrunted cousin of Mind Twist! To this, I say... maybe. The big reason Mind Twist was so good is because back in the day, Dark Ritual and other uber mana accelerators were free to play with their friends. Nowadays, Wizards has them shut inside for playing a little too rough. So, this thing is slow. Really slow. The random factor does indeed help, but is it enough? I think not.

Grade: B-

Moonglove Changeling - 2B
Creature - Shapeshifter (C)
Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.)
B: Moonglove Changeling gains deathtouch until end of turn. (Whenever it deals damage to a creature, destroy that creature.)
2/2

Good in Limited. Very good, actually, as it gains the benefits from all your tribal-happy friends, and kills things! Killing is good. I think this one would make good friends with Boggarts. They have similar intellectual levels, are individuality challenged, and really enjoy killing - especially when they can do it more than once. It's a match made in heaven... or hell, as the case may be.

Grade: B

Morsel Theft - 2BB
Tribal Sorcery - Rogue (C)
Prowl 1B (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
Target player loses 3 life and you gain 3 life. If Morsel Theft's prowl cost was paid, draw a card.

It is funny how many of these cards represent evil-doings in such ridiculously harmless ways. "Oh noez, they stole a morsel! A whole morsel! Whatever shall I do?" Then the card turns out to be something like, "This deals 5,000 damage to everything. If you control a Faerie, roundhouse kick your opponent in the face."

Just look at Fodder Launch. You throw a booger at them, and it kills a Rhox no matter how much mana they have to regenerate it and deals five to the face. That's some nasty booger.

So back to this card - it's a semi-miniature Soul Feast, which isn't bad by any means. A difference in six life in nothing to laugh at. It's also common, so there's a good chance of getting plenty of them in Limited. However, if you can manage to cast it using prowl, it's a whole new beast. Two mana takes three life from your opponent, gains you three life, and lets you draw a card. "Morsel Theft." Right.

Grade: A-

Nightshade Schemers - 4B
Creature - Faerie Wizard (U)
Flying
Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Nightshade Schemers, you may reveal it. If you do, each opponent loses 2 life.
3/2

I wonder what they are scheming. It must be something horrible... like Morsel Theft. RUN FOR THE HILLS!

*ahem* So a potential two life from each opponent per turn, plus three flying damage per turn, yeah it's pretty good. Some players may not like revealing everything they draw, especially when playing with sneaky little Faeries, but this is surely a bomb in Limited - provided you have the types to back it up.

Grade: B+

Noggin Whack - 2BB
Tribal Sorcery - Rogue (U)
Prowl 1B (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
Target player reveals three cards from his or her hand. Choose two of them. That player discards those cards.

There's another one! I expected this card to do one damage to something by the name, but no - it's some powerful discard! At its normal cost, it's pretty bad, but with prowl it's like a tuned up Blackmail, and everyone likes Blackmail. Yet that sort of dependancy in a Control deck is not good. I think it would be much more fun to just whack your opponent in the head.

Grade: C

Offalsnout - 2B
Creature - Elemental (U)
Flash
When Offalsnout leaves play, remove target card in a graveyard from the game.
Evoke B (You may play this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it comes into play.)
2/2

For those of you who are not familiar with the term "offal," it is one of the many synonyms of poop. This is a Poop-Snout Elemental. *smacks my forehead*

Flavor Grade: S (for another delightful synonym of poop)

But not looking at the flavor... if I can stand to do such a thing for very long... yeah this card blows - at instant speed. Can I go now?

Grade: D+

Oona's Blackguard - 1B
Creature - Faerie Rogue (U)
Flying
Each other Rogue creature you control comes into play with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
1/1

Rogues are awesome. So much better than Elves. And Goblins. And Poop-Snout Elementals. It's a good thing Black has these... Faeries. Ugh.

Grade: A+

Pack's Disdain - 1B
Instant (C)
Choose a creature type. Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each permanent you control of that type.

Pretty. It probably will not kill many Treefolk, but everything else is as good as gone. At instant speed. And it's common. Sweet.

Grade: A

Prickly Boggart - B
Creature - Goblin Rogue (C)
Fear
"Not now chief, I'm in the zone"
1/1

A nice cheap way to ensure prowl, in addition to Nightshade Stinger. Beyond that, it's just as good Fodder as any other Goblin.

Grade: B-

Pulling Teeth - 1B
Sorcery (C)
Clash with an opponent. If you win, target player discards two cards. Otherwise, that player discards a card.

Only very playable with clash, and so it's not very playable, unless you intend to build a theme deck out of these ridiculous sounding cards.

Grade: B-

Revive the Fallen - 1B
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card in a graveyard to its owner's hand. Clash with an opponent. If you win, return Revive the Fallen to its owner's hand.

Same as above, except possibly very much better! Only possibly, though.

Grade: B

Scarblade Elite - BB
Creature - Elf Assassin (R)
T, Remove an Assassin card in your graveyard from the game: Destroy target creature.
"Rejoyce Eyeblight, in your last hours above the earth, those who bury you will finally make you beautiful."
2/2

I think I see a pattern forming with these Assassins. This is the second Black Assassin so far, and both of them kill creatures. Intriguing! And, like most Assassins, they are quite costly. But resuable removal is invaluable in Limited, especially when it's outright destruction (take that you stupid tree!).

Grade: B

Squeaking-Pie Grubfellows - 3B
Creature - Goblin Shaman (C)
Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Squeaking-Pie Grubfellows, you may reveal it. If you do, each opponent discards a card.
3/2

GOD DA- *beep*

Maleficent is currently out of his mind. Feel free to leave a message, and he will get back to you when he is next available. In his absence, his imaginary friend Poot will continue with this article. *beep*

Uh-llo there everybody! I'm POOT! And I don't exist! (Well that's what Mal keeps telling me - but he's mean like that!)

So wha-do we have 'ere? Squeaking-Pie Grubfellows?! HAHAHA! Squeaking-Pie! That's funny! It reminds me of this one time mah good pal Mal baked me a pie. It was a chocolate pie! With gummi worms and chunks 'o stuff; man was that good! Tasted just like the dirt I ate when I was a boy!

But it looks like this fella can cause a lot of trouble! Soon you'll have yer buddies runnin' right outta cards, then they won't have any! Too bad they won't have many by the time you get 'em, unless maybe you get that Banneret guy! Hey that's a combo!

Grade: C+

Stenchskipper - 3B
Creature - Elemental (R)
Flying
At end of turn, if you don't control a Goblin, sacrifice Stenchskipper.
6/5

Ooooh he must really like how them Boggarts smell! 'Cause if you don't have any, he won't hang around anymore! Aww. But he's a mighty big feller! Jus' too bad them Boggarts are always dyin' - there's always a lot of 'em though!

Grade: B+

Stinkdrinker Bandit - 3B
Creature - Goblin Rogue (U)
Prowl 1B (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
Whenever a Rogue you control attacks and isn't blocked, it gets +2/+1 until end of turn.
2/1

Lots of stinky guys around here! Eh! Wow these Rogues sure are cool! They gots them some Ninja skills! Judo-CHOP! Yeah, baby! You wanna be attackin' with them a whole lot, I tell you what, then it'll get more of 'em prowlin' around and gettin' bigger; that's big trouble for the bad guys!

Grade: B-

Violet Pall - 4B
Tribal Instant - Faerie (C)
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Put a 1/1 black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying into play.

Wut! This card sucks! I don' even kno-

"Hey, YOU! You don't exist, get out of here!"

Mal, you're back! Hows it been buddy?

"Other than the temoporary loss of sanity...? It sucks."

Well I dunno what all that means but GOOD!

"Yeah, well, beat it, I got an article to finish here."

But don' you wanna hang out er somethin'? We can go fishing!

"Fishing? It's winter, and it's frickin cold outside..."

Ice fishing!

"Bah; YOU DON'T EXIST!"

Stop sayin' tha- *pop*

Sorry about that folks. Where were we? Ah yes, Violet Pall. Death by purple gloom, in other words. At instant speed, this is sure to see play in Limited. And being common, you'll see plenty of it. Beyond that, they'll save you money on your heating bill once you get a nice bon fire started with them.

Warren Weirding - 1B
Tribal Sorcery - Goblin (U)
Target player sacrifices a creature. If a Goblin is sacrificed this way, that player puts two 1/1 black Goblin Rogue creature tokens into play, and those tokens gain haste until end of turn.

Dual purpose FTW! Edict cards are great, and in a Goblin deck this is a neat way to get yourself two 1/1 hasty creatures - especially when facing another Goblin deck. With all the effects that are likely to happen when a Boggart dies, what with their damnable Shenanigans, this should see play both in Limited and Constructed.

Grade: A

Weed-Pruner Poplar - 4B
Creature - Treefolk Assassin (C)
At the beginning of your upkeep, target creature other than Weed-Pruner Poplar gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
3/3

Ah, our third Assassin... and it kills creatures. Little ones. Pretty nice in a Treefolk deck when you're trying to weed out those annoying chump blockers - especially in Limited.

Grade: B

Weirding Shaman - 1B
Creature - Goblin Shaman (R)
3B, Sacrifice a Goblin: Put two 1/1 black Goblin Rogue creature tokens into play.
All boggarts have an auntie, but they don't all have a mum.
2/1

Very costly ability, which is a no-no in most Goblin decks. However, it is potentially infinite creatures; just add unlimited mana and it's Boggart mating season all over again! Not a particularly pleasant image, but it will be worse for your opponent, I assure you.

Grade: C

Wow, I really went through all that? And I only lost it once? I think I am improving!

So to sum it up, most of these Black cards are decent, especially in Limited, as I suspected. They take the parasitism even further than Lorwyn, including classes as well as tribes, yet some of them should work well with non-Lorwyn cards. Not many, though. There aren't a lot of stand-alone cards that can be used in general, thanks to the tribal theme, but definitely watch for Maralen in a Johnny deck near you.

The good part about everything being in theme, however, is that all the crazy interactions will mean a heck of a lot of fun in various forms of Limited, so if you have any friends, go ahead and crack open a box together and start drafting. If not... just don't ask me to be your friend.

On the tribes: There are never enough Shapeshifters; Faeries are even more annoying than before, bordering dominating; Goblins have a bit more power this time around (though probably not enough to contend with the others); the Black Treefolk still aren't very good, with the exception of Fendeep Summoner; and Elementals got shafted. At least in Black, which isn't their color anyway. Oh, and Elves suck. Always.

As for the classes, Rogues have a lot of cool things going on, but are probably too dependant on combat damage to be a serious contender. Fun, nonetheless. Assassins are somewhat depressing; I really would have liked to see one that killed players instead of creatures, but oh well. The best class here seems to be the Wizards - all two of them. Both are quite powerful; I can hardly wait to see what the Blue ones do.

But that's not until Thursday, with Amadeus and Luther. Next up is more Boggart fun, and hopefully a comeback for the Elementals, when Tynion and Luther go over the Red cards of Morningtide. Stay tuned and whatever you do, don't play Elves!! (Except maybe Maralen. She's cool.)

~Maleficent~

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