The Frightful Four wants a deck that hurts every player at once and outlasts the pain. It also suits a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life.
Mana cost
Black ()
Power / toughness4 / 4
RarityRare
Menace
Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, that player loses life equal to that spell's mana value.
Picked for what they do in The Frightful Four's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit The Frightful Four's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryBPlayers write colors as letters: B for black.Group SlugGroup Slug decks hurt every player at the table at once, then make sure they can survive the pain better than anyone else. Typical cards make each player take damage or lose life whenever they draw, cast a spell or tap a land for mana.Open the Group Slug pageGroup Slug / PunisherDeals damage or drains life from every opponent at once, or forces a choice where each option hurts. It usually sits on a permanent and fires over and over rather than doing it a single time. ManabarbsOpen the Group Slug / Punisher pageLife DrainAn opponent loses life and you gain that life from the same effect. Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat. It lets Aristocrats decks win without ever attacking. Every drain card is also tagged Life Gain; this tag is the part where the life comes out of somebody.Open the Life Drain pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats page
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