Making sure you have something to do on turn one in a game of Commander is a recipe for success. Having access to some great one drops in a Black deck gives you something to do on Turn 1 and when you have a little extra mana to spare.
THE BEST ONE-DROPS IN COMMANDER
Before we kick things off, let’s get one thing straight: most of the best one-drops in the format can be played in basically any deck.
Sol Ring is a gimme, right? And, while Skullclamp is going to perform better in a black or white deck – much like Shadowspear, to be fair – it’s not the kind of card I want to cover today. We’re focused on what’s available for a black deck.
Oh, and one more thing. Darkness is an incredible fog effect that’s rare in black, but you aren’t dropping it Turn 1. Same goes for a card like Kaya’s Ghostform, or even zombie combo piece Gravecrawler. You’re just never running these out in your first turn.
If we were talking best black one-mana spells in general, then yeah – Reanimate and maybe even Unearth would feature. Same for a card like Malakir Rebirth. You take them pretty highly in your deckbuilding, but they’re not really a one-drop for the purposes of this list – you can’t play them Turn 1 in most decks.
For the purposes of this list, a one-drop is a nonland permanent you play as you’re curving out, or a set-up card you can immediately follow up with.
10 BEST ONE-DROPS FOR BLACK COMMANDER DECKS
10. CHANGELING OUTCAST
Changeling Outcast has been played highly in Commander ever since it was first printed. It shows up in decks across the spectrum, wherever you need a good typal creature. It’s especially great in Yuriko, Gisa and Lord of the Nazgul, but it’s also great in mono black decks too.
It offers unblockable attacks which lets it through to trigger all manner of abilities that require creatures to attack or deal damage. Rev, Tithe Extractor, Gonti, Night Minister and Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker all love this one, but I especially like it in Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor.
9. PHYREXIAN RECLAMATION
Phyrexian Reclamation has long been a workhorse in Commander, and there’s nothing slowing it down now. For two mana and two life, you can grab back a creature from your graveyard to your hand, at instant speed. This helps you get around graveyard hate (though it might require another activation on top). This one’s great when you’re sacrificing creatures, playing board wipes, using Exploit or Blitz mechanics, or discarding and milling. All things black decks love to do.
8. VISCERA SEER
Viscera Seer is the highest played one-drop creature in black. There are few cards that offer anything this efficient for a sacrifice outlet in black, and usually you’re paying two mana to get a similar effect (see Umbral Collar Zealot). A free sac outlet that also lets you scry for one mana is a great deal.
7. BLOODCHIEF ASCENSION
Bloodchief Ascension is an enabler for all sorts of decks, and more than just enabling life drain shenanigans, it can be a fearsome combo piece. If you end up dropping a Mindcrank, you can mill and mill until people have no life points left. Unlike Gravecrawler which you want to protect, you do want to run this one out when you can, as it needs to “warm up” by getting quest counters.
6. EXPEDITION MAP
Expedition Map can be played in all sorts of decks, but for black in particular, I like Expedition Map a lot. Black has some of the best utility lands available, and of course a cracking mana engine to dig for, too.
Finding Urborg or Cabal Coffers to make a bunch of mana is always good, and Phyrexian Tower is another of the better lands you can find. Of course, it’s also great to grab a Bojuka Bog in a pinch.
5. STITCHER’S SUPPLIER
Stitcher’s Supplier is a great cheap way to start filling your graveyard from as early as Turn 1. Three cards into the yard for one mana is a good rate, and three more when it dies makes it even better. Whether you sacrifice it or chump block with it, it’s a great early game play.
4. TORTURED EXISTENCE
Tortured Existence – or Tortex, as some might call it – is one of the best black enchantments, especially given the cost to use it. Provided you keep drawing cards, you can’t get better than this. It lets you set up reanimator plays, brings back creatures you’ve sacrificed – or that died – and above all, can be used at instant speed. Phenomenal card.
3. DARK RITUAL
Dark Ritual remains one of the best ways to power out T1 plays now that Mana Crypt is banned in Commander. With a Dark Ritual, you can cheat out a three mana Commander on T1. With a Dark Ritual, you can Entomb and Reanimate, if you happen to have that in your opener. Dark Ritual lets you get set up quickly, which can make all the difference.
2. ENTOMB
While the likelihood of being able to cast Reanimate T1 is very, very low – and the reason it isn’t on this list of best Turn 1 plays – casting the setup card is not. Entomb is a fantastic T1 play, as it lets you tutor whatever piece you need into the graveyard straight away. This sets up for reanimation on a subsequent turn. Entomb is a great Magic card, and there’s only one thing that can potentially unseat it as the best T1 play in mono black.
1. VAMPIRIC TUTOR
Y’all knew it was gonna be Vampiric Tutor, right? This one mana play is arguably one of the strongest cards in the format. You get to tutor at instant speed, meaning you can do it in an opponent’s end step, with full knowledge of the board. Playing this T1 is quite safe, though in cEDH you do need to watch out for cheap and free counterspells. That said, the old adage applies – its better to counter what was tutored for, than the tutor.
It’s worth mentioning Imperial Seal here, as it does roughly the same thing, though it gives folks a whole turn cycle to mess with the top of your library. It’s not a card that sees play outside of higher brackets, and Vampiric Tutor is the better card. But hey, when you want both, you want both.
END STEP
Thus concludes our article series on the best one-drops for each color. Any we didn’t shout out? Let us know.
I’ll leave you with one of my picks for lower Bracket games: Scheming Symmetry. It’s a lot of fun in lower powered games where politics are a bigger part of the fabric.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.