Price$3.94 – $399.98
Buy on TCGplayerDark Ritual
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Why is this card good?
Dark Ritual is the original fast-mana spell, netting two extra black mana for a single card. In a 100-card singleton format, though, its ceiling is much lower than in 60-card decks.
The problem is consistency: one Ritual without a payoff is a dead card later in the game. It shines in dedicated combo and cEDH decks that want explosive turns — landing a fast Necropotence, comboing off with a storm/ritual chain, or hard-casting an early threatening commander like Yawgmoth or Sheoldred. The faster and more linear your deck, the better it gets.
In casual or midrange black decks, skip it. The ritual effect evaporates after a single turn, and you'd rather run a land or a rock like Charcoal Diamond that keeps producing mana. It's also weak in decks without strong one- or two-card "I win now" payoffs.
Bottom line: premium in cEDH and turbo-combo shells, a trap card in fair black decks.
Related cards
Cabal Ritual
Black burst mana ritual, scales with threshold.
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Bubbling Muck
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Songs of the Damned
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Jeweled Lotus
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Lotus Petal
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Pentad Prism
Stores mana for a later burst turn.
Printings (53)
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Played by these commanders
Abaddon the Despoiler100% of 2
Combos (8)
- Displacer Kitten + Eternal Witness + Dark Ritual
→ Infinite black mana, Cast a subset of spells in your graveyard, Infinite ETB
- Cormela, Glamour Thief + Saw in Half + Dark Ritual
→ Infinite black mana, Infinite blue mana that can only be spent to cast instant and sorcery spells, Infinite death triggers
- Displacer Kitten + Frantic Search + Dark Ritual + Archaeomancer
→ Infinite self-discard triggers, Near-infinite ETB, Infinite draw triggers
- Displacer Kitten + Archaeomancer + Cabal Ritual + Dark Ritual
→ Infinite black mana, Infinite ETB, Infinite LTB
- Displacer Kitten + Frantic Search + Dark Ritual + Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
→ Infinite self-discard triggers, Near-infinite ETB, Infinite draw triggers
- Displacer Kitten + Frantic Search + Dark Ritual + Eternal Witness
→ Infinite LTB, Infinite ETB, Infinite storm count