It's been a rough year of Magic: The Gathering for Black cards enjoyers. Izzet has been the top dog for most of the year, and it seems like we're seeing an emergence of Simic decks right now due to Badgermole Cub and Ouroboroid.

Sure, after every rotation there are the dedicated who keep insisting that it is FINALLY going to be Dimir's time to shine, but even in that case the deck is mostly Blue creatures. It feels like Black has been passed by for Red as the best color to fight early game creatures, and its inability to equitably fight the aggressive decks has pushed it to the backburner.

Lorwyn Eclipsed is going to change that. I think Requiting Hex is going to brink the clack cards back to the top tables.

Back in Black | ECL Standard | Travis Hall

• Creatures (20)
• 1 Deep-Cavern Bat
• 1 Keen-Eyed Curator
• 1 Overlord of the Balemurk
• 1 Preacher of the Schism
• 1 Lluwen, Imperfect Naturalilst
• 3 Icetill Explorer
• 4 Badgermole Cub
• 4 Formidable Speaker
• 4 Moonshadow

• Instants (6)
• 2 Bitter Triumph
• 4 Requiting Hex

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Esper Origins // Summon: Esper Maduin

• Enchantments (5)
• 2 Hollowmurk Siege
• 3 Earthbender Ascension

• Lands (25)
• 5 Forest
• 5 Swamp
• 2 Ba Sing Se
• 2 Escape Tunnel
• 3 Restless Cottage
• 4 Fabled Passage
• 4 Overgrown Tomb

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This is the first deck I want to explore once Lorwyn Eclipsed arrives, as it grows of an existing deck I've been playing (see my article from November) but takes it in a new way. Black decks are subtly well positioned now that we have Requiting Hex. Speaking of...

Card choices

Let's get the comparison out of the way up front. This is not Fatal Push. Fatal Push is the premier removal spell in Pioneer, and is good enough to see Modern play. While I think it would be fine to reprint in Standard (because it would be harder to trigger the Revolt Clause), I can understand the reticence to do so. That said, there's a lot of room for a card to exist at being, "Not quite Fatal Push" and I think Requiting Hex is just about the perfect power level for Standard. This gives Black a powerful tool to fight the early game, and it's kinda overdue. This is the kind of card that subtly shapes the way a format plays out, as it (along with Spell Snare, let's not forget that bomb being dropped on the format) makes playing a 3-drop a better proposition than a 2-drop for many decks.

I think people are either forgetting about this card or undervaluing it because it was spoiled months ago. This is my pick for the best card in Lorwyn Eclipsed, and I think there's a very real chance that it will need to be banned at some point in its Standard lifespan. If your deck can profit from the discard effect in any way (as this one can with Esper Origins or putting lands in the graveyard for Icetill Explorer), then this becomes one of the best tutors we've seen in some time. Players are already using Nature's Rhythm, and this will be much, much better. It allows Green decks to main deck powerful, "toolbox creatures," like Keen-Eyed Curator and Deep-Cavern Bat. It allows us to skimp one cards like Icetill Explorer and still hit them reliably. And, don't sleep on the untap ability, as it can be paired with (yep) Badgermole Cub to provide even more mana acceleration.

This might not be the correct deck for this card, but I really want to try it out in a shell with Icetill Explorer and fetch lands like Fabled Passage. Even cards like Esper Origins can start taking counters of this on turn two, and it shouldn't be difficult here to get this into "must kill" range in a couple turns.

Pairing this with Earthbending provides a steady stream of card advantage, though the +1/+1 counter + Menace ability can end a game in a hurry as well. With the Blight mechanic, this could become a very reliable card draw engine (since it doesn't care what kind of counter you add to the creature). I've been impressed with this card over the last month, and it's possible I should have more copies in the deck.

At this point, there's not much else to be said. This is battling Ouroboroid for the title of best Green card in the format, and is seeing play in multiple decks. A format-defining all-star that you practically have to talk yourself out of playing if you're in a Green deck.

I've spoken highly of this card since it was first spoiled and I think we're just now beginning to see how powerful it can be in the right shells. When paired with Icetill Explorer to hit the four land drop requirement, this can get out of hand quickly, while also providing a solid body (that pairs well with Badgermole Cub) to dump the counters onto. The trample it provides is what pushes it over the top. I think this is going to be a Standard staple moving forward.

I'm old, I played Worm Harvest. I loved Worm Harvest. I will definitely play, "Worm Harvest on a stick" and this card fits into this deck very well, providing some early game card selection, fueling your graveyard with lands for Icetill explorer or dumping an early Esper Origins. But, late game, it becomes a must kill threat, as it only takes a couple activations of this to flood the board with worms.

I think the most exciting thing about this deck is the many different ways you can take it going forward. Maybe we try this with Ouroboroid? Or Mightform Harmonizer? The sideboard really opens up with Formidable Speaker, and Requiting Hex holds down the early game well enough that you should be able to start looking at four and five-mana creatures as a viable strategy. Cards like Strategic Betrayal and Duress are still there to shore up difficult matchups.

It really feels like we might be on the verge of a renaissance for Black decks, and I'm excited to see how this Standard format shapes up in the... month... we have until the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set arrives!

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social