What makes a good Black planeswalker? Is it their starting loyalty? Their mana cost? Their ultimate ability?
I find looking at a planeswalker‘s synergy and versatility in a deck gives me a better picture. When you consider the initial value generated, and the potential incremental value gained by some of these planeswalkers, It’s easy to see why they are on the list.
The best black planeswalkers offer good value for their initial mana cost. They immediately impact the board and have the potential for value over time. They are reasonably costed, versatile, or synergistic with your deck.
Abilities like creature removal, black card draw, graveyard recursion, and insane ultimate abilities, make black planeswalkers especially fun and you check out some of the best black Planeswalkers on this list.
Black Planeswalkers MTG
1. Sorin Markov
| Recommended Formats: | Commander |
Pros
Cons
| One of the few with Mindslaver effects | Low starting loyalty |
| Lets you control an opponent | |
| Simple to use to devastate the opponent |
Sorin Markov is a casual favorite. The planeswalker’s debut in the 2009 Zendikar. If you’re okay with a low starting loyalty, Sorin Markov can easily set the scene for a victory.
The Mindslayer effect makes this card incredibly attractive, but the basic abilities make him a formidable opponent.
Sorin Markov is especially brutal in the Commander format. Where you start with 40 life.
He gives you an extremely strong effect for only 6 mana. His -3 puts somebody’s life total to 10. Sorin is able to do 30 damage to a player for 6 mana.
Imagine a life gain deck with 200 life, Sorin can help. The card’s power is shown by the unpleasant groans and faces of everyone else.
His +2 loyalty ability gains some life and can ping off small creatures. Small life gain can matter in Black, and that 2 damage might kill off attackers.
Starting at 4 loyalty counters and his plus being +2, his -7 can be reached sooner than most other Planeswalkers.
That -7 lets you control someone for their turn, letting you do some pretty mean things. Playing the wrong spell, targeting the wrong thing, and making a horrible attack: are all things that swing the game in your favor.
Sorin has unique abilities showcasing his value as a card, showing his worth to being slotted into a deck.
Whether he’s taking out weakened opponents with the +2 or brutalizing the higher starting life of commander formats with the -3, he paves the way for a straightforward victory.
2. Liliana Vess
| Recommended Formats: | Commander |
Pros
Cons
| Solid loyalty | Costly ultimate |
| Easy to set up to overwhelm foes |
Boasting very black color-centric abilities, Liliana Vess can compliment all the themes of black.
Her +1 makes an opponent discard, a nice +1 that brings her up to a healthy 6 loyalty that’s hard to kill.
Her -2 tutors for a card and puts in on top, this card selection and manipulation is very strong. You smooth out your draw and can have any answer or threat you like. She can -2 twice before falling to 1, letting you tutor twice theoretically. She is great for finding needed black removal or the missing half to your black combo.
Her -8 is a Rise of The Dark Realms ability you would normally pay 9 mana for. Reanimating every creature can and has been game-winning for players who are able to pull it off.
3. Liliana of the Veil
| Recommended Formats: | Modern, Commander, Legacy |
Pros
Cons
| Low mana cost | Very expensive $ |
| Immediate impact |
This planeswalker list would be incomplete without Liliana of the Veil, and over 66 appearances in pro decks agree.
Planeswalkers are usually very mana expensive. Lower costed planeswalkers can give you an incredible advantage being played early in a game giving you more value.
Costing only 3 mana, your opponents might not yet have the resources set up to kill her. The longer she sticks around the better.
Liliana of the Veil provides good ability rates for only 3 mana. Early disruption like her +1 discard and her -2 creature sacrifice can make it incredibly hard for your opponent’s early game. The early game is where she is best suited – but she can handle herself just fine in the Mid to late game.
Her -6 is unique and extremely powerful. Remember that her -6 counts your opponent’s lands also.
Her early game advantage and ability rates really make her shine.
It might be difficult to find this card at a price that fits your budget, but if you can manage to get your hands on her it is well worth that cost.
This legendary planeswalker does not hesitate to tear your opponent’s hand apart. Whatever plan they had is nullified as they shed cards and sacrifice creatures.
4. Ob Nixilis Reignited
| Recommended Formats: | Pioneer, Commander |
Pros
Cons
| Decent loyalty-to-mana ratio | Useful, but basic |
| Balanced abilities |
Many players overlook the beauty of Ob Nixilis Reignited. His loyalty to mana ratio is generous, and gaining one loyalty to draw a card is a nice payoff in the right situations.
Ob Nixilis Reignited is perfectly costed at 5 mana for what you get.
Starting at a good 5 loyalty his -8 ultimate is a dream come true against control players. Some decks love drawing cards, but all decks draw cards.
That -8 is a slow painful emblem of death to somebody.
Creature removal, card advantage, and value are the name of the game for many black Planeswalkers.
Ob can remove creature threats or draw you into your own threats and answers. Good black Planeswalkers can be value engines while also providing an immediate effect. Ob perfectly matches this goal in a versatile manner for a fair 5 mana.
The -3 ability is basic, but destroying certain creatures proves useful in most cases.
It’s important to pay attention to the verbiage of his ultimate to unlock that full potential. An emblem that saps two life from the target whenever any player draws a card can certainly cause devastation.
5. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
| Recommended Formats: | Commander, Pioneer, Historic, Brawl |
Pros
Cons
| Works well in the right conditions | Really only works in a dedicated vampire deck |
| Two +1 abilities | |
| Ultimate is not costly |
Ignoring the fact that the abilities only work well in a vampire deck, Sorin’s low loyalty is once again overlooked for basic abilities that blend well to settle the field.
It’s easy to stack that lower loyalty with either +1 ability, and you either bulk the field with vamps under your control or deal damage while sapping life.
The -3 ultimate is instantly accessible when you cast Sorin, and it lets you drop a vampire from the grave onto the field. Depending on your deck, you can set up some nice blocks or revamp the boar- literally.
6. Lolth, Spider Queen
| Recommended Formats: | Commander, Historic, Brawl |
Pros
Cons
| Easy to stack up loyalty, even with losses | More limited use |
| Works well to help you catch up |
Lolth is an efficient token generator in any aristocrat creature heavy deck.
Reasonably costed at 5 mana, she actually can’t increase her loyalty counters through any of her active abilities. However, her passive ability makes it whenever a creature you control dies, she gets one loyalty counter.
This is actually amazing in a creature-heavy, sacrifice-themed deck. Her synergy with your creatures dying is insane.
She does work putting out two 2/1 spiders with her -3 ability. They have menace and reach – good attackers and blockers. When your creature-heavy sacrifice deck is running well you can reliably be making those 2 spiders every turn or two.
That amount of 2/1 menace creature tokens adds up to a lot of damage. If nothing else, she provides one extra card a turn with her +0 ability – Making sure you’re always gaining the advantage.
Her -8 can be nice in the same creature heavy deck turning a hit from your 1/1 into 8 damage.
Lolths unmatched synergy with specific decks can make her an extremely powerful planeswalker.
7. Liliana, Heretical Healer / Liliana, Defiant Necromancer
| Recommended Formats: | Commander |
Pros
Cons
| Competent creature to start | Greater reliance on milling |
| Easy to transform |
Liliana, Heretical Healer has a flip trigger that also gives you a useful token, and these work well for long-term plans. This lets you build your presence in the field, which is a nice trade-off for losing her as a creature.
As a Defiant Necromancer, her abilities are pretty standard for a black deck.
The -8 takes advantage of those skills, and if you pay attention, you’ll notice that, as long as these creatures are not exiled, they’ve become immortal.
8. Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
| Recommended Formats: | Commander |
Pros
Cons
| Picks up loyalty easilyLow starting loyaltyOne of few planeswalkers that can serve as commander in EDHWeak ultimate |
So we have a low starting loyalty and weak ultimate. Why is this card on this list?
To start, you’ll rectify that loyalty issue in no time at all. With a +2 that also saps life, the trade is in your favor. Use him in multiplayer to see what this card can really do.
While the -2 forfeits two life, you’re gaining a formidable 5/5 demon token. You can easily forget the -8 ultimate and solidify your stance with these two abilities alone.
9. Liliana, Death’s Majesty
| Recommended Formats: | Commander, Pioneer, Historic |
Pros
Cons
| Nice starting loyalty | Costly reanimation |
| Easy to clear opponents with ultimate |
Liliana is doing her best when she’s raising the dead, and she plays the role well in Death’s Majesty. While the most obvious use for this card is in a zombie deck, it doesn’t take much for the ultimate to clear your opponent’s creatures while leaving your own team untouched.
This Liliana provides great zombie and graveyard recursion support. Black is the main color for zombies, her +1 creates a relevant creature type for black decks while also protecting her from attackers.
She can immediately use her -3 upon entering to reanimate a creature from your graveyard. Many black decks already utilize powerful reanimation themes, making this Liliana a perfect fit.
Her -7 can be a one-sided black board wipe. Played in the right deck that cares even a little about zombies and reanimation she can be a house of a card.
The milling with the first ability can really pay off by using the -3 to pull a strong card back to the field as a black zombie, alongside its original colors.
10. Liliana, Untouched by Death
| Recommended Formats: | Historic, Pioneer |
Pros
Cons
| Brutal in zombie decks | Mostly useful in zombie decks |
| Fast ultimate |
It’s not often you cast a planeswalker with an immediately available ultimate. In this form, Liliana can take a highly populated graveyard and turn the field, easily turning the tables on a losing game.
Even if most of your zombies sit in your control, the -2 ability can null the use of your opponent’s creature until the end of the turn. This makes a difference when you’re up against a heavy blockade or established defense system.
11. Liliana, Dreadhorde General
| Recommended Formats: | Commander, Brawl, Historic |
Pros
Cons
| Great Passive ability | -2 Makes you sacrifice creatures |
| Creature Removal |
Released in 2019 during the War of the Spark expansion, Wizards of the Coast pushed at that time for planeswalkers to be more relevant.
Protecting your planeswalkers over time provides you with more value. This Liliana’s +1 creates a 2/2 zombie token body that can defend her. Her -4 ability acts as further protection through creature removal.
Her static ability draws you a card whenever a creature you control dies, really setting her apart as a planeswalker and creating a powerful draw engine for your deck. Static abilities like this are rare and work to complement her other abilities. She draws off her own 2/2 zombie tokens dying.
It can be surprising to see how many cards one Liliana, Dreadhorde General can draw you.
She creates a strong board presence, clearing the board or making tokens. If she lives long enough for her mouth-watering ultimate, your opponents should call it quits. Her -9 clears most of their boards. This means their lands too – setting your opponents to one land is magnificently brutal.
She works extremely well in any black aristocrat-style creature deck. She even slots great into other decks, currently being in an amazing 6% of all black commander decks. (Source)
12. Liliana of The Dark Realms
| Recommended Formats: | Commander |
Pros
Cons
| Helps to hit land drops | Ultimate is less impactful in the Late-game |
| Creature Removal |
Liliana of The Dark Realms offers versatility. Versatility to answer a creature or mana fix.
It hurts your game plan a lot when you miss a land drop. So, her +1 grabs you a swamp to stay on pace with everyone.
Her -3 lets you give +X/+X to a creature or -X/-X where X is your swamps in play, this is usually seen as creature removal.
Having an ultimate to fantasize over, her -7 essentially gives you 4 times your mana. Emblems never go away, you will be drowning in mana for the rest of the game.
That level of mana advantage lets you play more magic than your opponents pushing you leagues above everyone else.
Coming down relatively cheap for 4 mana she provides immediate versatile effects, synergizing with many black decks.
What Is the Best Black Planeswalker?
The best black Planeswalker is Liliana. Liliana has the largest number of black planeswalker cards printed in Magic The Gathering and a number of Liliana Planeswalkers have been played at MTG Pro Tour events.
Which Liliana Planeswalker Is Best?
The best Liliana planeswalker is Liliana of the Veil. Liliana of the Veil has seen play in over 66 MTG Pro Tour decks and has seen more competitive play than any other Liliana planeswalker card printed by Wizards of the Coast.
