When most players discuss card advantage in MTG, they think blue – but black is just as powerful, if not more so. While blue can offer valid selection, black excels at drawing hands of cards using resources other than mana. But that begs the question – what is the best MTG black card draw?
The best MTG black card draw is typically a permanent that lets you repeatedly draw cards at a low cost. Most allow you to pay one life per card, but some draw you a card whenever one of your creatures dies. Some cost less than average but require more life to use repeatedly.
Now that we know what to keep aware of when drawing cards in black, we can get to the best examples. This list isn’t in any ranked order since each card is helpful in its right or specific decks. So, read on to learn the best MTG black card draw.
Black Card Draw MTG
1. Phyrexian Arena
Phyrexian Arena is a perfect example of a black card draw – reliable, consistent, but at a cost.
For three mana, you get an enchantment that draws you one card at the beginning of your upkeep. Then you lose one life.
This cost is easily worth it. Commander players use this powerful enchantment in 14% of all EDHREC decks, and it has three Pro Tour and Worlds Top 8 finishes.
Unlike many other persistent, life-drain effects, Phyrexian Arena is so good because of how valuable card advantage is. In a theme we’ll see throughout this list, cards are better than life points.
That’s especially true when you’re depleting your opponent’s life, too – at which black excels.
2. Graveborn Muse
With Graveborn Muse, you can quickly draw four cards per turn.
Here’s how – at the beginning of your upkeep, you draw X cards and lose X life with this creature in play. X is how many zombies you control.
Graveborn Muse is, of course, a zombie. That’s a guarantee of one extra card per turn. And if you’re playing it in a zombie tribal deck – easy to do in black – that number can quickly tick up and give you a winning edge.
Then, it should be unsurprising that this powerful zombie has seen competitive play. During Worlds 2007, a Rock deck (green-black midrange) reached a Top 8 place using Graveborn Muse as a draw engine.
3. Castle Locthwain
Castle Locthwain is a black card draw with a unique edge – it’s a land.
So, while your opponent can kill your other draw engines with Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, or Nature’s Claim, the castle is always safe.
Not only that, but its draw is powerful too. For three mana, you can tap Castle Locthwain to draw a card. But you lose life equal to the number of cards in your hand. However, there’s barely any loss if you draw when you’re hellbent.
No wonder pro players have used Castle Locthwain in an astonishing twenty-seven Top 8 decks across Mythic Invitationals, Players Tours, and other Historic Championships.
4. Necropotence
If you want to draw your entire library, then Necropotence is the enchantment for you.
With this card on the battlefield, you can pay one life to exile the top card of your library face-down. Add that card to your hand at the start of the next end step.
Necropotence has one downside, though. You skip your draw step – so you have to pay life to draw cards. However, drawing as many cards as possible once-off is an excellent route to winning the game.
And Necropotence has won the pros a lot of games. This Ice Age card has thirteen Pro Tour and Worlds Top 8 wins.
It’s popular in Commander, too, despite the restrictive mana cost – it sees play in 8% of all EDHREC decks.
5. Griselbrand
Few creatures are as incredible as Griselbrand by stats alone – this imposing demon is 7/7, with flying and lifelink. However, even those stats pale compared to this legendary creature’s standout ability.
With Griselbrand in play, you can pay seven life to draw seven cards. That’s right. You can refill your hand – as many times as you can afford.
This unique suite of powers has earned Griselbrand a ban in Commander. However, in other formats, it’s seen remarkable success.
It has thirteen Top 8 finishes across Legacy and Vintage Championships and Pro Tours.
6. Sign in Blood and Night’s Whisper
Sign in Blood and Night’s Whisper – a pair of black sorceries, each costing two mana, and each drawing you two cards at the price of two life points.
Together, they’ve seen play in five Pro Tour and Worlds Top 8 decks.
There are no better draw spells for their cost, especially at a common rarity. It is no wonder that these cards are also favorites in the common-only Pauper format, where they power competitive strategies like Black Deck Wins.
The only differences between these cards are their mana costs and their targets. Night’s Whisper costs one black and one generic but only targets you.
On the other hand, Sign in Blood costs two black mana but can target your opponent if you must push damage through.
7. Undead Augur
You get to draw a card and lose one life whenever Undead Augur or another of your zombies dies.
While this ability might not seem incredible, it becomes excellent when we remember that zombies excel at recursion.
Alongside creatures like Cryptbreaker and Gravecrawler, the Undead Augur can become a potent draw engine. Your opponent is powerless to kill your creatures – even by blocking. In that case, they’ll come back and draw you cards along the way.
Undead Augur will have a fit in the deck regardless of which zombie-themed Commander you’re running. Even with few zombies in play, it can pay for itself. After all, players use it in nearly 15,000 registered EDHREC decks.
8. Ob Nixilis Reignited
A potent example of a card draw on a planeswalker, Ob Nixilis Reignited can dominate a game if left unchecked. His first ability has you lose a life to draw a card. His second can destroy any target creature.
These deadly abilities have earned Ob Nixilis Reignited an impressive twelve Pro Tour and Worlds Top 8 finishes in several decks. Every strategy from Orzhov Control to Rakdos Dragons benefits from card advantage and removal.
And that’s without mentioning this planeswalker’s ultimate either. Nixilis can give a target player an emblem at the cost of eight loyalty – they lose two lives whenever any player draws a card. Regardless of the strategy, that’s a death sentence.
9. Grim Haruspex and Midnight Reaper
When another creature you control dies, you get to draw a card if it isn’t a token – and you don’t pay any life to do so either.
Both three mana creatures have this ability, and it’s an excellent inclusion in any aggressive or aristocrat strategy.
With either Grim Haruspex or Midnight Reaper in play, all your creatures become far more valuable – as attackers and as sacrifice fodder. Not only that, but your opponent has to think twice about removing them too, or they’ll draw you cards.
These helpful cards have sixteen Top 8 finishes across several professional-level championships. Notably, all the Top 8 players in the 2018 World Magic Cup played decks featuring the Midnight Reaper.
10. Dark Confidant
Greatness, at any cost – this is black card draw at its purest.
Dark Confidant will either win or lose you the game in only a couple of turns. Here’s why – at the beginning of your upkeep, you exile the top card of your library. Then you lose life equal to its mana value and put it into your hand.
For only two mana, this reliable source of card advantage can set you miles ahead of your opponent as soon as your third turn or earlier with fast mana. You’re smooth sailing as long as you don’t exile any high mana value cards with it.
This speed and efficiency have given Dark Confidant sixteen Pro Tour and Worlds Top 8 finishes, plus its mainstay in cEDH decks.