(Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister | Art by Scott M. Fischer)

Hug Minister

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Tombstone StairwellTombstone Stairwell is the only black card that can give each player creature tokens with haste?)

Group Hug. The bastion of Bantbastion of Bant, the Azorius kingmakerAzorius kingmaker, the Jeskai gift-giverJeskai gift-giver, the Selesnya equalistSelesnya equalist, the Temur Snake-oil salesmanTemur Snake-oil salesman, the mono-blue Howling Minemono-blue Howling Mine. The epitome of everything not blackeverything not black.

Or is it?

There's always been one black commander soiling the good name of Group Hug: Seizan, Perverter of TruthSeizan, Perverter of Truth.

Handing out cards and loss of life, he's fit right in with the Underworld DreamsUnderworld Dreams and Fate UnravelerFate Unravelers of the world.

But has Aetherdrift brought us a new contender in black commanders that can buck the Group Hug trend? Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister also hands out cards, only from opponents' libraries.

They also then hand out Treasures to those who cast said cards they don't own. How? By incentivizing our opponents to attack each other, of course!

That, my friends, is everything that Group Hug wants in the world: To give the other players cards and mana they utilize against other players.

So, does that mean that Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister is the new monarch of Group Hug? Well, I suppose that depends on what there is available to help them out, no?

Top 10 Black Group Hug Cards

1. Geier Reach SanitariumGeier Reach Sanitarium
2. [REDACTED] - On Actual List
3. Howling MineHowling Mine
4. Mikokoro, Center of the SeaMikokoro, Center of the Sea
5. [REDACTED] - On Actual List
6. Wandering ArchaicWandering Archaic (Explore the Vastlands)
7. Rankle, Master of PranksRankle, Master of Pranks
8. Dark DealDark Deal
9. Teferi's Puzzle BoxTeferi's Puzzle Box
10. Temple BellTemple Bell

I begin to see a couple of problems. First off, this isn't a list of black cards that are a unique new take on Group Hug we've never seen before.

This is a list of mostly colorless cards that all routinely see play in Group Hug decks. Secondly, all of these are Howling MineHowling Mines, and our commander wants the table to be rewarded with cards for attacking others.

They won't have any reason to do so if they're sitting on a full grip.

In other words, Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister is not Seizan, Perverter of TruthSeizan, Perverter of Truth, nor is it like most Group Hug decks: It doesn't want cards in the 99 to hand out cards. It's got the commander for that.

Top 10 (Non-Draw) Black Group Hug Cards

Much better. Now, what does our mono-black deck want to hand out? Well, mana, for starters. The more mana our opponents have, the more likely they are to want to attack in to get more cards with GontiGonti.

Which brings us to our next thing: Creatures. We want our opponents filled to the gills with creatures, so they can continue to swing in at hopefully not us.

Really though, failing that, there's really not much that we're not okay with, provided that it doesn't draw cards, therefore negating our plan of incentivizing the table to swing at each other until we're in a dominant position.

That's not going to be quite enough to win, which we'll also have to figure out. But we'll leave that to the honorable mentions. For now, let's get to the list!

Criteria: Black cards that affect at least you and an opponent in a positive fashion that is not putting cards into hands. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. TriskaidekaphobiaTriskaidekaphobia

(5,765 Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

I am not a fan of TriskaidekaphobiaTriskaidekaphobia. I never have been. Whether you're looking to gain life or have the table lose life, neither effect is worth four mana for an increment of one.

Yes, yes, you can have players lose the game.

In life swap decks, that cute trick probably even works a good amount of the time when you bring your own life total down to 14 with SeleniaSelenia and then switch life totals with someone.

Any other time? This enchantment sits there the whole game and does absolutely nothing to impact the board state. No thanks.

9. Infernal OfferingInfernal Offering

(5,957 Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

To be honest, we don't love the first half of this card. As previously stated, giving out cards completely nullifies the whole conceit of our commander, and we want our opponents to be swinging in their tokens at our opponents to be drawing more cards, not to be sacrificing them.

With that said, the second half here more than makes up for things. With tons of theft cards like Brainstealer DragonBrainstealer Dragon and Arvinox, the Mind FlailArvinox, the Mind Flail being expensive, we'd love to have some way to cheat them into play, and we'd likely love to have our opponent who has been playing ball to have their huge beater back to keep swinging at opponents.

Seems like a win-win!

8. Virtus's ManeuverVirtus's Maneuver

(6,498 Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

So how do we feel about the same thing, but cheaper? Great! Virtus's ManeuverVirtus's Maneuver also gives us the option to have the players with scary things in their graveyards or Voltron commanders that just aren't getting the message to have them sacrifice a creature instead of bringing one back.

It's a chance to play politics, or use threat assessment, or both. When we do manage to get a big creature into the graveyard, this is going to be one of the best cards in our deck.

7. Balthor the DefiledBalthor the Defiled

(Helms 617 Decks, Rank #1,363; 8,833Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

There's no question about it, we're bending the definition of group hug a bit with Balthor the DefiledBalthor the Defiled.

While the math is good that there will more or less always be a black or red deck at the table in a given pod, the times where this benefits the table even close to what it benefits us will be few and far between.

Still, it will benefit opponents fairly regularly, and aligns with our gameplan. I'd say let's not think about things too much and move on to the next one.

6. Awaken the ErstwhileAwaken the Erstwhile

(9,563 Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

Can discard be group hug? Man, trying to do this in black is weird. Now, I wouldn't expect the average table to thank you for playing Awaken the ErstwhileAwaken the Erstwhile.

In fact, it will probably lead to a lot of grumbling and accusations of a false flag operation, if you described your deck as group hug.

With that said, however, this is easily the best card we've found for what we're trying to do yet.

We want people to need the cards we're giving them in exile with our commander. We want everyone to have a ton of creatures to swing in and get said cards.

This does all of that, in spades. I would go so far as to say that if you did something silly like tutoring in this low-power build, the card you'd tutor for most often would be this.

5. Plague of VerminPlague of Vermin

(10,966 Inclusions, 0% of 2,603,111 Decks)

Those of you who aren't in know may be wondering what this objectively awful card is doing so high up the list, with almost 11,000 inclusions.

Well, as is often the case when it comes to cards that look to be awful but see a lot of play, there's an explanation: It's part of a combo.

With Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain on the battlefield, you can put Plague of VerminPlague of Vermin on the stack and choose to pay all but one life.

When you do so, you'll make that many Rats, causing everyone else to lose that much life, and you to go back to the life total you started with.

You can also do the same with Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats or Corpse KnightCorpse Knight, not to mention with pretty much any Blood ArtistBlood Artist if you have a sac outlet.

Here's the thing: We don't really plan on doing any of that. We're not an Aristocrats deck, and we want our tokens to draw cards off of our commander, the same as we want our opponents to be doing the same.

We don't want something like AyaraAyara in play screaming that we need to be dealt with, we want everyone to be wondering what exactly our angle is, all the way up until we spring it on them.

Which begs the question: What is our angle? We're not going to be one of those people that builds a group hug deck with no win-con, and as much as we might luck into a win with our opponents' cards, that's not something we can really rely on, either.

So how are we going to win the game?

Well, I had a thought about that.

Top 10 Rakdos CharmRakdos Charms in Mono-Black

1. Massacre WurmMassacre Wurm
2. Pact of the SerpentPact of the Serpent
3. Deadly TempestDeadly Tempest
4. Angel's TrumpetAngel's Trumpet
5. Tomb BladeTomb Blade
6. Netherborn PhalanxNetherborn Phalanx
7. Stronghold DisciplineStronghold Discipline
8. Jovial EvilJovial Evil
9. ...

Okay, so that's not as deep a well as we would have liked, but stick with me here: We're giving out creatures left and right.

It's the core conceit of our group hug deck. So what could be better to turn that into a win than then hurting the table based on how many creatures they have?

Well, what could be better is if the specific card we were giving out creatures with was Plague of VerminPlague of Vermin, which will also have opponent's paying bunches of life to make a ton of creatures.

Yesterday, if you'd asked me if there was ever a reason to be playing a seven mana card like Plague of VerminPlague of Vermin, outside of its combos, I would have said absolutely not.

Well, today is a new day, he says as he puts Netherborn PhalanxNetherborn Phalanx onto the stack.

4. Bringer of the Last GiftBringer of the Last Gift

(17,003 Inclusions, 1% of 1,929,611 Decks)

If you're starting to see a theme here among our list, I can tell you that it wasn't intentional. I was merely looking at group hug cards in black that didn't involve card draw, because that's what our deck needed.

It really is just that in black, that seems to directly translate to either giving out creatures, or mass bringing creatures back from folks' graveyards to their battlefields.

Well, add one to the latter pile, because here's Bringer of the Last GiftBringer of the Last Gift, a riff on classic staple Living DeathLiving Death stapled to a creature.

So what do you get for your eight mana, as opposed to five? A 6/6 flier that sticks around through the mayhem of creatures entering and leaving the graveyard and battlefield.

Which isn't nothing! We're not going to be able to win every game with a Stronghold DisciplineStronghold Discipline, so having a 6/6 that can fly over the top to get in crucial damage and continue to draw us cards is going to be a great aid in finishing out games.

Just keep in mind that this isn't a recursion target for anything but that 6/6 body, as you need to cast Bringer to get its effect.

3. ExhumeExhume

(21,987 Inclusions, 1% of 2,603,111 Decks)

Comparing ExhumeExhume to our previous champion of mass recursion, Virtus's ManeuverVirtus's Maneuver, the difference is clear: It's one mana cheaper.

With that said, as much as we're obviously going to be playing both, I think we'll be happier to see Virtus's ManeuverVirtus's Maneuver most of the time.

The extra one mana will often be worth the added flexibility of being able to say no to an opponent with a problem creature in their graveyard or in play, where ExhumeExhume may sit in our hand because we just cannot afford for that Platinum EmperionPlatinum Emperion to hit the battlefield again.

With that said, I think on most boards, we just run this thing out if we've got anything worth grabbing from the graveyard, and are happy to have it.

2. Patriarch's BiddingPatriarch's Bidding

(82,394 Inclusions, 3% of 2,603,111 Decks)

I think we can all see where this is going as we enter our second riff on Living DeathLiving Death in out top ten list. Patriarch's BiddingPatriarch's Bidding cares about creature types, however, which we don't, so I think it's fairly easy to say that we'll be skipping on this one for the real thing.

1. Living DeathLiving Death

(137,175 Inclusions, 5% of 2,603,111 Decks)

Half board-wipe, half mass-recursion spell, Living DeathLiving Death can be a tricky card to play around. As for its power, however, there are few doubters.

With full graveyards, this thing can be a complete game changer. In the early game, it can be just another board wipe.

For our purposes, it will get rid of masses of tokens we've been handing out if they start to get out of hand, while also bringing back some hopefully huge theft creatures for us to press our advantage with.

So, call it versatile, call it complex, call it precarious, we're going to call it in the deck.

Honorable Mentions

Tombstone StairwellTombstone Stairwell was actually the last black, non-draw hugs card I could find, but it being at the bottom of the list is a bit of injustice.

Once we've filled some graveyards, this thing will be throwing out dozens of tokens for folks to swing in with, and provided we can make those swings go in our opponent's direction, that's good news for us.

That said, all of our Rakdos CharmRakdos Charm effects are sorcery speed, so this is a risky maneuver. Luckily, there is a decision point in the cumulative upkeep, so if things aren't going as well as you'd like, you can simply not pay!

There are also a few contenders from the colorless side of the spectrum that we skipped over, so I'm gonna give them a few words here.

On the mana side of things, Marching DuodroneMarching Duodrone is doing everything we want to be doing in swinging in and handing out Treasures like they're candy.

There are some other cards doing just the back half of that, like Bucknard's Everfull PurseBucknard's Everfull Purse and Tempting ContractTempting Contract, but that little bit of aggro makes all the difference, in my opinion.

On the handing out tokens side, maybe the best card in our deck is Genesis ChamberGenesis Chamber. Every creature turning into two creatures is already pretty good, even before you consider that folks will have more creatures than usual because of our commander giving them extras from their opponent's decks.

There's been a slow simmer of screams and gnashing of teeth underlying this whole article, though, and I'd like to address the banshee in the room, if I might. "What if people don't just not swing at us?!?!" I can hear being shouted at computer screens everywhere.

Well, you're right. "Kill the group hug deck" is a mantra for good reason, and it's because of exactly the thing we're doing here: Playing nice until we've got everyone right where we want them. Experienced and/or cynical players are going to see right through our nonsense, ignore the possible cards and Treasures, and come right at our face.

And they're right to do so, so what are we going to do about it?

Pillowfort options are so bad in mono-black that the list usually more or less ends at No MercyNo Mercy. There is some help in colorless lands like Glacial ChasmGlacial Chasm and Maze of IthMaze of Ith, but overall here, there's just not a lot to go on.

Except the whole idea of our deck is to pressure life totals, right? Enter Hissing MiasmaHissing Miasma and Revenge of RavensRevenge of Ravens. Now, at first glance, Hissing MiasmaHissing Miasma might seem like the better option here, being only three mana and doing the damage.

If you played in Throne of Eldraine limited, however, you will remember Revenge of RavensRevenge of Ravens, and it will not bring back happy fuzzy feelings.

The reason is that it made combat almost impossible for anything but huge creatures. 1/1's were totally negated, only causing you damage. 2/2's made you feel like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, as you do the math and realize that you're dealing the opponent the same amount of damage you're dealing yourself.

In short, Revenge of RavensRevenge of Ravens makes any kind of go-wide strategy into an impossibility, or at least a logistical nightmare. And for the deck that's handing out a bunch of 1/1's and 2/2's, that makes it the best card in our deck.

Speaking of our deck...

This hilarious pile of nonsense adds up to a lot of fun, but not a lot of power, as you might expect. As a result, after the Brackets were published during the making of this article, I decided not to include the Game Changer card Glacial ChasmGlacial Chasm, as it bumped an obvious Exhibition 1 deck up to an Upgraded 3 deck on the back of one card.

And honestly, I would call that the system working, because I do know that in the games where I got Chasm, low-powered tables would have sat there and not done anything until the cumulative upkeep got so bad that I had to sack it. That's no fun for anyone.

As for how the deck plays, it's a blast. Theft makes every game different for everyone involved, there's constant politicking as everyone figures out who they can attack to get cards and when they should unite against you, it's just some good, old-fashioned beer and social Magic: The Gathering. So if you can find a Battlecruiser Exhibition table to play it at, I suggest it.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite black group hug card? Does it draw cards? Are you building Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister, and if so, is it as group hug?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table that appears to be slowly sinking as we're playing?

DougY

Doug has been an avid Magic player since Fallen Empires, when his older brother traded him some epic blue Homarids for all of his Islands. As for Commander, he's been playing since 2010, when he started off by making a two-player oriented G/R Land Destruction deck. Nailed it. In his spare time when he's not playing Magic, writing about Magic or doing his day job, he runs a YouTube channel or two, keeps up a College Football Computer Poll, and is attempting to gif every scene of the Star Wars prequels.