Black Market Connections

Enchantment

LegalCard DrawRank #133

At the beginning of your first main phase, choose one or more —

• Sell Contraband — Create a Treasure token. You lose 1 life.

• Buy Information — Draw a card. You lose 2 life.

• Hire a Mercenary — Create a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. You lose 3 life. (It is every creature type.)

KeywordsHire a Mercenary Treasure Sell Contraband Buy Information

Why is this card good?

Black Market Connections is one of the best three-mana enchantments in black, full stop. The flexibility is what makes it elite: every turn you choose how much value you want, scaling life payment to whatever your board state can afford. - Card advantage that doesn't require an attack or a sac outlet, available to any black deck. - Ramp + fixing via Treasures — fantastic for spellslinger, big-mana, and artifact decks. - A free body each turn that's every creature type, perfect for tokens, aristocrats (free sac fodder), and tribal payoffs. It's a staple in nearly any black-heavy commander deck because it does so many jobs at once. Lifeloss-matters and curse/Vito decks especially love paying life as a resource. When not to play it: ultra-aggressive lifegain-hate metas where every point matters, or decks with zero way to leverage Treasures/tokens and no incidental lifegain. If you can't pay the tax safely, it bleeds you out — but that's rare. Otherwise, just run it.