The Destined Black MageThe Destined Black Mage | Art by Dave Rapoza

It's been a few months since Magic's crossover with Final Fantasy released, meaning it's about time for even more Final Fantasy cards to come out! To pair with Black Mage's RodBlack Mage's Rod and Cornered by Black MagesCornered by Black Mages, we've got one more card to play with: The Destined Black MageThe Destined Black Mage! Let's see what this Wizard can do.

What Does The Destined Black Mage Do?

Part of a series of "Destined" legendary creatures to be released in December, this mage is a super-powered Black Mage in the command zone. Much like the other Destined creatures, this card becomes even stronger when we've got a full party (at least one Cleric, one Wizard, one Rogue, and one Warrior). But, even without a full party, a pinger with deathtouch is still pretty powerful.

I'm reminded of Burakos, Party LeaderBurakos, Party Leader, whose effectiveness also scales with the number of specifically-typed creatures we've got on the board. Speaking of, this Orc's got a slot in our 99!

This deck will focus on casting a ton of noncreature spells to whittle down our opponents' life totals, while also aiming to get a full party on board to speed up that process. We've got powerful noncreature spells, and creatures that provide some sweet utility to go with them. Let's see what this deck can do!

Key Cards for The Black Mage

I'd like to talk about the best creatures we can use to create our party. Even though we're a mono-colored deck, we've still got access to some pretty powerful creatures.

Clerics: Preacher of the SchismPreacher of the Schism is a fantastic value engine all on its own, and will usually act as a better version of Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena with the pings we're throwing around.

The recently printed Elegy AcolyteElegy Acolyte pairs nicely with our commander's ability to give deathtouch to our creatures, making sure that we get value every time our opponents choose not to block our lethal attackers.

And, should we want to bank some cards for one big storm turn, Dream DevourerDream Devourer can help us do that. It's also great that this Cleric costs just , meaning it can hit the board before The Destined Black Mage!

Warriors: Primaris EliminatorPrimaris Eliminator is a fun card, letting us choose between a mini one-sided board wipe and a kill spell. Both of these modes are useful, and the spell's high mana cost is worth it for the Warrior typing it provides.

Jecht, Reluctant GuardianJecht, Reluctant Guardian isn't too interesting on its front side, but the Saga that it has on its transformed side is super powerful. It's a shame that we'll have to sacrifice the Saga after its third chapter, but we've got a few ways to get things back from the bin in this list.

The last Warrior we'll talk about is also the most powerful one in our deck: Kalitas, Traitor of GhetKalitas, Traitor of Ghet. For , we get a graveyard seal effectgraveyard seal effect on a 3/4 lifelinking body, with the ability to make tons of 2/2 tokens over the course of a long game. In a four-player EDH pod, creatures die all the time, making Kalitas even stronger.

Rogues: For the same reason that Kalitas is good, Morbid OpportunistMorbid Opportunist is a great include too. In my experience, this Human Rogue will let us draw at least one card per turn rotation for just .

Rankle, Master of PranksRankle, Master of Pranks is a great way to control the board. All three of Rankle's Prankles are useful at one point in the game or another, and it's nice to have access to an evasive Rogue in our 99.

Ravenloft AdventurerRavenloft Adventurer introduces the initiative, which can further accelerate the game by encouraging our opponents to hit each other in combat. And, our commander can discourage our opponents from attacking us by providing deathtouch to one of our blockers.

Once we've got a full party, it's time to start throwing noncreature spells, and damage, around. We've got 's best card advantage spells, from classics like Night's WhisperNight's Whisper to newer arrivals like StargazeStargaze.

There are even a few ways to cast the same spells over and over again, like TransposeTranspose and Raven's CrimeRaven's Crime. I think Raven's Crime is quietly one of the best spells in this list. It turns any dead late-game draws into more pings with The Destined Black Mage, even if the effect it has on resolution is admittedly minimal.

And, I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus for its ability to turn any four creatures into a full party. This artifact can turn a middling board state into a ton of damage for just , and it triggers our commander on cast!

How Does This Commander Deck Win?

Aside from our commander, this deck's got a few more ways to secure victory. From the same IP as The Destined Black Mage, Fandaniel, Telophoroi AscianFandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian can take huge chunks out of our opponents' life totals if they choose not to (or can't) sacrifice a nontoken creature.

Fandaniel synergizes quite nicely with another one of our win conditions: Professor OnyxProfessor Onyx. This version of Liliana can provide some life drain with her passive ability, fill our graveyard with her +1 ability, and all but end most games with her -8 ability. Her +1, essentially letting us cast Ransack the LabRansack the Lab, is particularly useful alongside Fandaniel and GlamdringGlamdring, another way to turn our already-spent spells into advantage.

Sedgemoor WitchSedgemoor Witch and Black Mage's RodBlack Mage's Rod give us a few more on-cast effects. I wish there were more cards like this for decks to take advantage of, but I know that we're not likely to get more of them until we return to Strixhaven next year. A man can dream, though!

And, if we'd like to become the table's villain, we can cast PhyresisPhyresis or Tainted StrikeTainted Strike. This cuts the amount of damage we need to deal to our opponents down to just 10, which is just four noncreature spells cast with a full party on the board. Plus, these spells cost just and [/mana]B[/mana] respectively, meaning we can cast them before chaining together a few more spells to end the game on the spot!

The Destined Black Mage Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Thanks for sticking around to the end!

Before you go, I wanted to talk about a few more ways to give our commander lifelink. Gaining life every time we ping our opponents is a great way to put the game out of reach entirely for them, and can ensure that we cruise to victory. Multiclass BaldricMulticlass Baldric is a perfect fit here, turning the Black Mage into a protected flying beater. Plus, it's on theme with our deck!

Rush of VitalityRush of Vitality can spare us from a removal spell, and lets us get some extra life as an added bonus. Finally, Gix's CommandGix's Command is one of my favorite cards for -based decks. This sorcery lets us give a creature lifelink, wipe some pests off the board, recur our best creatures, and/or get rid of our opponents' biggest threats.

The fact that we get to choose two of those modes for just is insane, making this card a perfect fit for The Destined Black Mage.

That's all for now, but I'll see you next week for another article!

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