When building a Magic: The Gathering Commander deck, one of the first things a player must ask themselves is how they'll ensure that they have steady and consistent mana production despite having a 99-card singleton deck. The answer to this is often including ramp spells that aid and even quicken the generation of mana in a Commander deck.

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While green may have the strongest and most varied collection of ramp spells under its color umbrella, black has a decent handful of ramp cards in its repertoire. Generally speaking, this takes the form of ritual spells as well as cards that generate mana whenever a creature dies.

Updated on October 18, 2024, by Ryan Hay: Ramping in Magic has never been easier thanks to all sorts of unique cards that add mana or gives you alternatives in different ways. Black has been surprisingly good at adding extra mana to your mana pool, though the means are sometimes a bit more painful than other means. This time around we're taking a look at some under appreciated ways of adding mana with a few great picks for your Commander deck.

13 Bubbling Muck

Get That Mana Now

A slightly limiting card but one with plenty of potential, Bubbling Muck is a one-mana sorcery from Urza's Destiny that can turn a few mana into tons.

After you resolve this spell, any player, yours and your opponents, can pump out an extra mana anytime any player taps a Swamp for mana. Effectively, this card is an inverse version of High Tide, which also sees a fair amount of play depending on the format.

12 Phyrexian Tower

Creatures For Mana

Phyrexian Tower is a legendary land that can tap for one colorless mana. However, you can tap it and sacrifice a creature to generate two black mana. This is particularly useful in sacrifice decks that benefit from killing their own creatures.

However, Phyrexian Tower can be useful in just about any black Commander deck, as it always gives you an option to trade in a creature for a quick mana boost. Also, it's a reusable ability, giving it an advantage over a card like Culling the Weak.

11 Songs Of The Damned

Turn Your Graveyard Into Mana

Song of the Damned is pretty much tailor-made for graveyard builds. It is a one-mana instant spell that gives you one black mana for each creature card in your graveyard. This is a one-time use given that it's an instant spell, but, if it's used correctly, it can potentially put you in a position to win the game.

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Graveyard decks that rely on dredge abilities to fill their graveyards can make great use of Songs of the Damned. A mono-black deck won't have access to something like Golgari Grave-Troll, but it can still use Stinkweed Imp and Golgari Thug to give some punch to Songs of the Damned.

10 Marshland Bloodcaster

Turn Your Life Into Mana

Sometimes the best way to ramp up in Magic is by expending another resource, like your life total. Marshland Bloodcaster lets you do just that, exchanging mana for life total when you go to cast your next spell.

You need to tap Marshland Bloodcaster and spend two mana to get the ability to work, so you'll have to wait a turn and ensure you have enough life to pay when you cast that next spell. So long as you do, you can bypass the mana cost for an easier resource.

9 Dark Ritual

Turn One Mana Into Three

Dark Ritual is a card that dates all the way back to Alpha (and has been reprinted countless times), and it's still one of the best ritual spells in the game. It is a one-mana black instant spell that pays out three black mana. It does more for black than Pyretic Ritual and Desperate Ritual do for red, and there's not really any other card like Dark Ritual in the game.

Dark Ritual is a must-have in a mono-black deck, as it can just sit in your hand until you're ready to use it. If you draw it off the top, odds are you'll have some use for it to cast a big demon or a smattering of cheaper spells.

8 Black Market Connections

A Three-For-One Deal

One of the more consistent ways to generate mana in Magic, Black Market Connections gives you one of three choices when the game starts. You can pick:

  • Create a Treasure Token and lose one life.
  • Draw a card and lose two life.
  • Or to make a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token in exchange for three life.

You can keep pumping out resources turn after turn, but be aware that if you start getting low on life, there's not much you can do to stop it with Black Market Connections since it is guaranteed to trigger at the top of each turn.

7 Revel In Riches

A Bounty Board Enchantment

Revel in Riches is a five-mana black enchantment. It creates a treasure token whenever a creature an opponent controls dies. If you control ten or more treasures at the beginning of your upkeep while you have Revel in Riches out, you win the game.

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It's not often that a card doubles as a win condition and a mana generator, but Revel in Riches fits the bill quite well. It can also be combined with other treasure token generators to more consistently give you the win. However, Revel in Riches is still good in a mono-black deck with plenty of removal spells.

6 K'rrik, Son Of Yawgmoth

Blood Mana

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth isn't a ramp spell in the traditional sense. It doesn't generate mana, create mana-producing tokens, or search your deck for any lands. Instead, it makes it so that all black mana symbols in a spell's mana cost double as Phyrexian mana symbols. This means that spells that cost black mana can be paid for with two life for each black mana symbol in its cost.

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K'rrik himself costs seven mana, but three of that cost is Phyrexian black mana. K'rrik is a 2/2 legendary Phyrexian horror minion with lifelink, and he gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a black spell. All of this adds up to the fact that, while K'rrik may not be a traditional ramp card, he still makes your spells cheaper by replacing mana costs with Phyrexian mana.

5 Pitiless Plunderer

Grave Robbing Has Never Been So Rewarding

Pitiless Plunderer is a four-mana black human pirate with a power and toughness of 1/4. Whenever another of your creatures dies, Pitiless Plunderer creates a treasure token. This is primarily useful in black decks that focus on sacrificing their creatures, but it can still get some mileage from black decks that use other tactics.

Pitiless Plunderer can also easily create an infinite loop with cards like Gravecrawler, as any free sacrifice effect can kill Gravecrawler and allow Pitiless Plunderer to generate a treasure token. With Zulaport Cutthroat, Blood Artist, or Syr Konrad, the Grim, this is a win condition. With Phyrexian Altar or Ashnod's Altar, this can generate infinite mana.

4 Nirkana Revenant

A Double Thread

Much like our next entry, some of the best cards in mono black beds have some strong ways to get around. Tapping a Swamp for mana gives you double the amount of mask counters on it.

To be sure, Nirkana Revenant will all but ensure that it will keep itself safe by doubling up on all your mana needs and giving you an outlet for all that extra mana. On the appropriately picked option, you'll can get double the mana of items like Nickana Replacements.