33 Best Budget Black Commander Staples Under $3 (Plus Upgrade Picks)
Budget black staples
black turns life into cards and has the cleanest cheap creature removal in Commander. Most of its best budget cards cost under a dollar.
- Night’s Whisper, Read the Bones and Phyrexian Arena keep your hand full for very little money.
- Infernal Grasp and Go for the Throat are the best budget kill spells, at around 25 to 50 cents each.
- Black struggles with artifacts and enchantments, so cards like Feed the Swarm are extra valuable.
- All 33 cards were checked at the time of writing: Commander legal, not Game Changers, and around $3 or less.
Black is the color of ambition, sacrifice and power at any price. In Commander that means drawing cards with your life total, killing creatures cleanly, searching your library for answers and bringing the dead back to fight again.
Black also happens to be one of the friendliest colors for budget players. Its core removal and draw spells are reprinted constantly, so many cost less than a dollar. The 33 staples below each cost around $3 or less at the time of writing. We checked all of them for Commander legality and made sure none are on the Game Changers list.
Strengths
Black’s strengths are card draw, creature removal, tutors, sacrifice synergies and reanimation. Aristocrats, zombies, graveyard decks and drain strategies all live here.Weak spots
Its main weakness is dealing with artifacts and enchantments. Black can kill almost any creature, but once a powerful enchantment or artifact hits the table, mono-black has very few ways to remove it. Black also pays for its power with life, so a careless player can draw themselves into a dangerously low total. Keep a few lifegain effects or flexible answers around, and pair black with another color if your table is full of artifacts.Card draw: paying life for cards
Black draws cards by spending life, and with 40 starting life in Commander, that is a trade you can make many times. These are the cheapest ways to do it.
Two mana, draw two cards, lose two life. It is simple and efficient, and it fits in any black deck. Early in the game, the life loss barely registers.
The same deal as Night’s Whisper, but it can target any player. Usually that player is you, though in the right moment it can finish off an opponent who is at two life.
Scry 2 and then draw two for three mana and two life. The scry lets you set up your next draws, so it digs a little deeper than the two-mana versions.
An enchantment that draws you an extra card every upkeep for one life. Played early, it generates a huge amount of value over a long game. Just keep an eye on your life total when the table turns aggressive.
One mana at instant speed: sacrifice a creature and draw two cards. Respond to removal on your own creature and you turn their answer into card advantage. It is also a natural fit in token and aristocrats decks.
Sacrifice an artifact or creature to draw two cards and make a Treasure. That Treasure can be sacrificed to the next one, and the mana helps you cast more spells the same turn.
A 1/3 that draws a card once each turn when one or more other creatures die. In Commander, creatures die all the time, including on your opponents’ turns, so this keeps drawing in almost any black deck.
Whenever one of your nontoken creatures dies, you draw a card and lose 1 life. That turns removal, board wipes, and chump blocks into card advantage. It fits nearly any black deck that plays creatures, and it rewards you for trading away your board.
For three mana you draw one card for each color you spent, and you lose that much life. In a mono-black deck that is usually draw one, but with treasure or off-color rocks it scales nicely. It is cheap, flexible, and sorcery speed card flow.
At the start of your upkeep you draw a card and lose 1 life for each Zombie you control. The Muse is a Zombie itself, so it always draws at least one. In a Zombie tribal deck it becomes a huge engine that keeps your hand full every turn.
Spot removal
Black has the most straightforward creature removal in the game. Most decks want four to six of these.
Two mana at instant speed to destroy any creature, for two life. No restrictions on color or type. It is probably the best budget kill spell available.
Two mana to destroy any nonartifact creature at instant speed. It costs no life, but it cannot hit artifact creatures, so it is a little weaker against artifact-heavy tables.
Destroys a creature or enchantment an opponent controls, and you lose life equal to its mana value. Hitting enchantments is rare in black, which makes this a valuable answer to problems your color usually cannot touch.
Three mana at instant speed to destroy a creature or a planeswalker. The planeswalker option matters more than you might think, and it is reprinted often enough to stay extremely cheap.
When it enters, each player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker. Edict effects get around hexproof and indestructible, which makes this a great answer to hard-to-target commanders. Pair it with tokens so your own sacrifice costs nothing.
For two mana you choose one: destroy a creature with no counters on it, or remove up to three counters from a creature. The first mode kills most threats outright. The second mode handles counter-based commanders and planeswalker-like creatures, so it is rarely dead.
This instant destroys any creature that is not an Angel, Demon, Dragon, or Horror for just two mana. That covers the vast majority of commanders and big threats you will face. It is clean, cheap, and easy to hold up on an opponent’s turn.
The adventure half kills any creature or planeswalker at instant speed for three mana. Later you cast the Rider itself as a 2/3 lifelinker. Two useful cards in one slot, and it tucks itself into your library when it dies instead of feeding a graveyard.
Board wipes
Black’s best budget wipes come with a twist that lets you get extra value out of the reset.
Five mana to destroy all non-Dragon creatures, or all Dragons if you prefer. In a Dragon deck it is one-sided, and everywhere else it is a solid wrath that hits everything.
Destroys all creatures and makes each player lose life equal to the number of creatures they lost. Against token decks it can be devastating, and if your own board is small, it hurts you the least.
Every creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn for four mana. That clears out most utility creatures, tokens, and midsize threats while your own big creatures may survive. Because it shrinks rather than destroys, it also gets around indestructible creatures with low toughness.
Choose to destroy all creatures or all planeswalkers, then return a creature or planeswalker from your graveyard to the battlefield. The return is limited by how much snow mana you spent, so snow-covered Swamps help a lot. A wipe that brings back your best threat is a big swing.
Pay one black mana to deal 1 damage to each creature and each player, as many times as you like. You control exactly how big the sweep is. It sticks around as long as any creature is alive, so pair it with high-toughness creatures for a repeatable board control engine.
Tutors and recursion
Black can find any card it needs and bring creatures back from the dead. The most efficient tutors are Game Changers, but these budget options still do the job.
Four mana to search your library for any card and put it into your hand. It is slower than the famous tutors, but it is not a Game Changer and costs very little, so it fits casual decks that want to find their key piece.
Sacrifice a creature to return two creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield, for just three mana. If you sacrifice a token or a creature with a death trigger, you come out well ahead.
A 2/2 for four that returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters. It is simple value that refills your hand after removal or a wipe. In sacrifice or blink decks you can reuse that trigger again and again.
Pay two mana and 2 life to return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand. You can do it as many times as you have mana and life. It makes your creatures resilient to removal and gives aristocrats decks a steady stream of fodder.
Finishers
When it enters, each opponent loses life equal to your devotion to black, and you gain that much. In a heavy black deck, it can drain each opponent for ten or more. Blink or reanimate it and it can end the game.
Sacrifice outlets and drain payoffs
Black is the best color at turning its own creatures into value. These cheap outlets and payoffs are the backbone of any aristocrats style deck.
A one-mana creature that lets you sacrifice another creature for free and scry 1. Free sacrifice outlets protect your creatures from exile and steal effects. They also let you trigger death payoffs on demand, which is why this one shows up in so many lists.
Sacrifice a creature for two mana and it gets a +1/+1 counter. It is a little slower than a free outlet, but it grows into a real threat. It can also never block, so treat it as an engine piece rather than a defender.
Whenever Blood Artist or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. It counts every creature on the board, including your opponents’. Board wipes and sacrifice loops turn it into a slow but steady drain that can close out games.
Whenever it or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. Hitting every opponent at once makes it great in multiplayer games. Combined with a free sacrifice outlet and token makers, it can drain a whole table.
Overperformers: strong cards that still cost pocket change
These cards look like upgrades on paper, yet they sell for less than a few dollars. Grab them before you spend money anywhere else.
Whenever another creature you control dies, you create a Treasure token. That ramps you while you sacrifice or trade creatures. It also enables many infinite combos with free sacrifice outlets and recursive creatures.
Worth the upgrade: black staples from $3 to $15
Ready to spend a bit more? These cards cost a few dollars each and give a black deck faster mana, cleaner removal, and stronger recursion.
Every player exiles the creatures in their graveyard, sacrifices all creatures, then returns the exiled cards. If you have filled your graveyard while opponents have not, it is a one-sided wipe and reanimation. Self-mill decks love it.
Pay any amount of life and every creature gets -X/-X for three mana. You choose the size, so you can kill everything or spare your own big threats. It ignores indestructible and is one of the most efficient sweepers in the format.
Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life. It turns every lifelink hit and drain trigger into extra damage. Pair it with Exquisite Blood and any single life gain or loss starts a loop that wins the game on the spot.
Destroy a nonblack creature, and if you control a Swamp you can pay 4 life instead of mana. Free interaction lets you answer a threat while tapped out. It is a strong fit for any mono-black deck full of Swamps.
For a single black mana you return any creature card from any graveyard to the battlefield. You lose life equal to its mana value, so plan around that. It is the fastest way to cheat out a huge creature you discarded or milled.
For two mana this aura returns a creature card from any graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It only knocks off 1 power. Grabbing an opponent’s dead commander or your own discarded fatty is a great deal, and it is the cheapest reanimation you can find.
At the start of each of your main phases you choose any mix of Treasure, a card, and a 3/2 Shapeshifter, paying 1 life per choice. It ramps, draws, and builds a board every turn. Few enchantments give this much value.
Extort for every spell, plus a big bonus: each Swamp you tap for mana adds an extra black mana. In a mono-black deck it roughly doubles your mana. That fuels big X spells and finishers right away.
Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature. It has flash, so you can drop it before blocks or in response to a wipe. In sacrifice decks it locks opponents out of keeping creatures on the board.
Splurge picks: premium black cards
These are the premium staples that define high-powered black decks. Several are Game Changers, which push a deck into a higher bracket, so check your table’s expectations first. Here, 5 are Game Changers (marked in red): one in your list puts the deck in bracket 3 or higher.
You play the top card of your library at any time, paying life instead of mana for spells. Long turns full of free spells follow, and it can sacrifice permanents to drain the table.
At instant speed you reveal cards from your library and put them in hand, losing life equal to each card’s mana value. With a low curve you can draw most of your deck.
Destroy all creatures for four mana, with no extra conditions. It is the mono-black version of the classic wrath. Clean, simple, and always relevant when the table gets out of hand.
Pay two and tap it to add one black mana for each Swamp you control. With a pile of Swamps it produces huge amounts of mana from a land slot. It powers X spells like Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire.
For three mana and 3 life you search your library for any card and put it into your hand. It is a clean, unrestricted tutor.
Pay life to put cards from your library into your hand, as many as you can afford. It turns your life total into a full grip of gas.
You pay X and repeat a punishment X times for each opponent: they lose 3 life unless they sacrifice a nonland permanent or discard a card. Late in the game this strips boards and hands bare. With a big mana pool it simply ends the game.
At instant speed for one mana you put any card from your library on top, losing 2 life and a draw. It finds combo pieces or answers right when you need them.
For two mana you search your library for any card and put it into your hand. No drawback, no restriction, just the best card for the moment.
Honorable mentions
These cheap cards are worth a look if you have the room.
Bitter Triumph (around $0.25): one mana to destroy a creature or planeswalker if you discard a card or pay three life.
Dread Return (around $0.50): returns a creature from your graveyard, with flashback for sacrifice decks.
Exsanguinate (around $0.25): drains each opponent for X and gains you the total. A great late-game finisher.A few popular black staples have climbed above our budget line. Animate Dead, Toxic Deluge and Black Market Connections are all excellent, but each was well over $3 at the time of writing. Watch for reprints.
Show all 51 picks as a table
| Card | Role | Tier | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night’s Whisper | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Sign in Blood | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Read the Bones | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Phyrexian Arena | Card draw | Budget | ~$2.50 |
| Village Rites | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Deadly Dispute | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Morbid Opportunist | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Midnight Reaper | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Painful Truths | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Graveborn Muse | Card draw | Budget | ~$2.75 |
| Infernal Grasp | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Go for the Throat | Removal | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Feed the Swarm | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Hero’s Downfall | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Plaguecrafter | Removal | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Heartless Act | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Power Word Kill | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Murderous Rider | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Crux of Fate | Board wipe | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Deadly Tempest | Board wipe | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Languish | Board wipe | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Blood on the Snow | Board wipe | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Pestilence | Board wipe | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Diabolic Tutor | Tutor / Recursion | Budget | ~$1.25 |
| Victimize | Tutor / Recursion | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Gravedigger | Tutor / Recursion | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Phyrexian Reclamation | Tutor / Recursion | Budget | ~$3 |
| Gray Merchant of Asphodel | Finisher | Budget | ~$0.75 |
| Viscera Seer | Sacrifice | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Carrion Feeder | Sacrifice | Budget | ~$1.75 |
| Blood Artist | Sacrifice | Budget | ~$2.75 |
| Zulaport Cutthroat | Sacrifice | Budget | ~$1.25 |
| Pitiless Plunderer | Sacrifice | Budget | ~$3 |
| Living Death | Recursion | Upgrade | ~$3.25 |
| Toxic Deluge | Board wipe | Upgrade | ~$4.75 |
| Sanguine Bond | Finisher | Upgrade | ~$5.5 |
| Snuff Out | Removal | Upgrade | ~$5.5 |
| Reanimate | Recursion | Upgrade | ~$6.75 |
| Animate Dead | Tutor / Recursion | Upgrade | ~$7.25 |
| Black Market Connections | Card draw | Upgrade | ~$11 |
| Crypt Ghast | Ramp | Upgrade | ~$13 |
| Dictate of Erebos | Removal | Upgrade | ~$14 |
| Bolas’s Citadel | Card advantage | Splurge | ~$8.5 |
| Ad Nauseam | Card draw | Splurge | ~$10 |
| Damnation | Board wipe | Splurge | ~$17 |
| Cabal Coffers | Ramp | Splurge | ~$21 |
| Grim Tutor | Tutor | Splurge | ~$23 |
| Necropotence | Card draw | Splurge | ~$34 |
| Torment of Hailfire | Finisher | Splurge | ~$35 |
| Vampiric Tutor | Tutor | Splurge | ~$51 |
| Demonic Tutor | Tutor | Splurge | ~$62 |
When to upgrade
When you are ready to invest more in a black deck, the usual first upgrades are faster tutors, stronger repeatable draw and more efficient wipes. Several of the most famous ones, such as Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor and Necropotence, are Game Changers. Check our Game Changers list before buying so you know how each card affects your bracket.
When you are ready to see where your list stands, paste it into our free Deck Checker. It highlights any Game Changers and estimates your bracket in a few seconds, so you can upgrade without accidentally pushing the deck into a higher bracket than your table enjoys.
Starting from a preconstructed deck? Our precon upgrade guides show which cards to cut first and where cheap staples like these make the biggest difference.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best budget black removal in Commander?
Infernal Grasp is the top pick. It kills any creature at instant speed for two mana and costs around 25 cents.
Is Diabolic Tutor a Game Changer?
No. Diabolic Tutor is not on the Game Changers list at the time of writing, so you can play it in Bracket 1 and 2 decks.
How does black deal with enchantments?
With difficulty. Feed the Swarm is one of the few cheap black cards that can destroy an enchantment. Many players add a second color for more answers.
Will paying life for cards get me killed?
Not if you are careful. Use draw spells early, when your life total is high, and slow down once you drop below 15 or so.
