Avacyn Restored Limited Review: Black

Hello everyone and welcome to the review of Avacyn Restored in limited, prerelease time is over and it's time to check out how i think Avacyn Restored limited will do as a stand alone draft format, much similar to Rise of the Eldrazi from 2 years prior, i will explain the ratings down below as always and give my utmost thoughts on each color of the set, remember this limited review will only cover Uncommons and Commons in the set, rares will be a seperate entity and covered in one article.

A - Very Good, draft this at all times in this color.
B - Easily playable, focuses heavily on the color in question
C - Middle of the Road, splashable and semi playable.
D - Sideboard Material, for tough matchups only.
F - Never play this, ever.

Without further ado let's begin

#84) Appetite for Brains - C, Discard normally in limited is very hard to come by, considering most sets only have 1 or 2 discard outlets, but the potential of always hitting a 4 or greater power creature in your opponent's hand is kinda half and half here, don't always expect this to work, even against a Blue player.

#85) Barter in Blood - B, it is so nice to have this back in limited again, removal that is hard to come by since like discard outlets they are few and far bewteen, but when you got no creatures and your opponent has 2, well play this and no one has any creatures, a very welcome piece of removal for this format.

#86) Blood Artist - A, how can i not give a A, first it's a 1/1 for 2, plus when stuff dies and a lot of stuff is going to die in this format, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life, black loves this kind of stuff to say screw you, i'm winning.

#87) Bloodflow Connoisseur - B, a very respectable black vampire that is pretty balanced i feel a 1/1 for 3 mana but you can sacrifice stuff to give it +1/+1 counters each time, it can be done as a instant ability while responding to damage via other spells.

#88) Bone Splinters - A, 1 drop removal that has been seriously missed in this format, so you sacrifice a creature, i'd just sacrifice a token and be done with it, can be a answer to every creature in the format in the early game, most limited players run at least 2 of these.

#89) Butcher Ghoul - B, With undying it gets a B, without undying it gets a C, but thank god for undying, you can most certainly use this as a sacrifice outlet for a turn, bring it back as a 2/2 and go nuts.

#90) Corpse Traders - B, Discard on a body, hell yes, 3/3 for 4 mana, yes 3/3 for 4, it's not often flavor and balance wise there is some balance here, but in this case i would say that isn't true anymore at least.

#91) Crypt Creeper - C, This is your standard run of the mill dude that flavor wise in the set got a reprint, sure it costs 2 mana for a 2/1 but when you sacrifice it you get to exile a card from a graveyard, a interesting choice here but still lack luster for limited, good as a body, but it's ability is meh.

#93) Death Wind - D, Removal that costs a whole load of mana to use is truly sideboard material here, you may sideboard this in maybe once to see how it performs, but usually removal that costs X and a specific color doesn't see that much play in limited, Black Sun's Zenith being the only exception to this rule.

#95) Demonic Taskmaster - A, how can i not rate this as a A rank card in limited, a 4/3 flier that you have to sacrifce a creature at the beginning of your upkeep but if you cannot that's ok it still stays, there is no negative drawback with this guy, draft him high in black.

#99) Driver of the Dead - B, usually when it comes to returning stuff, most players don't expect a mini Reveillark in this format, this is the case, say hello to Driver of the Dead, sure a 3/2 for 4 mana but hey i'll just return my Butcher Ghoul and swing with them next turn.

#100) Essence Harvest - B, Usually with big creatures you expect to have some big finisher in the 2nd main phase of a turn, this is the cast, 4 mana for a X spell where X is the greatest power creature you control, player loses X life and you gain X life, yeah, this is one of those cards most players find unattractive at first, but it grows on you.

#101) Evernight Shade - B, Honestly if you got a creature like this, sure just dump a whole ton of black mana into him, pump him to heights unknown and swing, even for 4 mana and with undying he will just come back again and continue to be a pest, so for the mana cost it's pretty decent here.

#103) Ghoulflesh - C, So a aura that costs 1, gives that creature that is enchanted -1/-1 and makes it a black zombie, hmm interesting but middle of the road material here i would feel.

#105) Grave Exchange - D, it's not often your going to be using a 6 mana return spell that also forces a player to sacrifice a creature, sure it may be late game material but having this in the first turn opener hand is not really going to go well, considering that slot could be used for something else.

#108) Homicidal Seclusion - B, most of the time when you think enchantments, you think something along this line, sure it only triggers when you got 1 creature, but when that one creature is your biggest dude, it gets +3/+1 and lifelink, hello here, busted much.

#109) Human Frailty - B, Black removal that hits humans in this format, i like it, since there are going to be lots of humans in this particular format, this is going to be a sought after piece of removal by black players here.

#110) Hunted Ghoul - B, I like the fact it's a 1/2 plus it's a great attacker that really can't block half the stuff in the format, but for 1 black your going to be attacking with this guy, plus he's a common, plus he's easy to draft, expect to see a few of these on limited tables.

#112) Maalfeld Twins - C, So one of the bombs of this format, a 6 mana 4/4 that when it dies it replaces itself with 2 2/2's, a interesting choice here, it's a middle of the road bomb that needs a look over i would feel for black players.

#113) Marrow Bats - D, Personally i'm not a big fan of a 4/1 flyer that costs 5 mana, considering it's secondary ability is to pay 4 life and it regenerates, it may be good in limited but the toughness factor means it gets shot down too easily.

#114) Mental Agony - C, Spells like this are really interesting for black players, since it always hits directly where it counts, the life total and the hand, for 4 mana you are getting what you pay for, this could potentially be a kill spell too as a end game finisher.

#115) Necrobite - D, i'm not a big fan of deathtouch giving spells, considering when the creature given deathtouch dies it regenerates, but still it's tapped for a single turn, which could cost the game in this format, who knows i gotta look at this one a bit more closely.

#116) Polluted Dead - B, Sure go ahead and kill this, but your losing a land if you do, Stone Rain on a stick is the best term here for this guy, 5 for a 3/3 is also quite nice, i like it more for the after effects of the creature dying still though.

#117) Predator's Gambit - C, A 1 mana aura that grants +2/+1 to a creature is nice, but when you control no other creatures it gets intimidate, interesting this could make or break a match if played correctly.

#118) Renegade Demon - B, I don't care if it is a vanilla 5/3, a beater is still a beater in this format, he's 5 mana, he's balanced to the point where your going to play at least 1 in your deck if you are black.

#119) Searchlight Geist - C, 3 drop fliers that are 2/1's that you need to pay mana for to gain deathtouch aren't that high on my list of cards to draft, still it's a 2/1 beater in the air, i like it but the mana ability turns me off from giving it a B.

#120) Soulcage Fiend - B, You know demons in this set are way cooler then the previous two, sure it's 3 to cast, a 3/2 that when it dies each player loses 3 life, as well as being a common, this is a high draft rating card here folks.

#122) Triumph of Cruelty - B, 3 mana enchantment that triggers at each of your upkeeps and forces a player to discard a card if you control the greatest power creature or are tied for it, sure i have a 7/7 Griselbrand, discard a card please dear opponent, this sounds like a fun card honestly.

#123) Undead Executioner - B, removal on a stick, yeah when it dies target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn, but if it has 2 toughness bye bye, plus it's a 2/2 beater for 4, gee black has some good removal and beaters this set.

#124) Unhallowed Pact - C, Since this is a aura you can enchant other creatures, steal it when it dies and use it against em, a neat little way to do business in black, a good aura and good cost i feel at least.

Alright so that's black for Avacyn Restored, stay tuned tommorow for Red.