An excellent choice for any black deck, but a must for a draining deck.
4 of these + Drain Life + any lands you may have out = one quick game.
Akureyi
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Absolutley a MUST for any black deck, and a valuable spell even if you just have a 'splash' of black.
I heard that this card was restricted to two in a dekc (or something like that) but haven't found any details about it. Any confirmations?
Guest1334148255
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
AMAZING! You can play Hypnotic Scepter in the first turn! Also, you can play Dark Ritual with Culling the Weak, sacrificing a creature at your first turn (that you played using the other 2 black mana dark ritual provided), and then you can use Temporal Extortion! Have fun!
rubber
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's of course off-limits in standard and extended, but beyond that I think it's unrestricted.
Behalter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lolx with the current T2 its understandable why it would be restricted, its an insanley powerful card, but as previously stated essential to any and all black decks.
AlphaNumerical
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
Dark Ritual is only legal in Eternal Formats (Vintage, Legacy) and certain MTGO formats. In those formats, it is unrestricted in any way.
Also, cards are practically never restricted in Standard.
Correct first turn plays with Ritual include Duress + Hymn To Tourach, Duress + Oona's Prowler, etc. You want to make SURE that your opponent can NOT do anything to stop your mad first turn rush. A first turn Bolt or Swords to Plowshares on a Hypnotic Specter means your opponent will likely win due to both card and tempo advantage.
Of all the 1 for 3 cost drops (Giant Growth,Time Walk, Lightning Bolt, and the lame Healing Salve) this is the either the 2nd or 3rd best of all of them depending on how you look at it. I love getting big creatures out scary fast when you have an opening hand with two of these.
Silverware
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When they brought lightning boltin M10 I don't know why they didn't bring back this as well. I mean sure its good, but it really is on par with lightning bolt (which I see in every red deck I play against).
Gaussgoat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Awesome card, wish it was still in Standard formats. Absoultely a card that goes in every deck I make with black in it.
faisjdas
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Any black deck that can legally have him puts in 4 copies, no questions asked.
daekoaram
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is the bomb! I summoned Sorin Markov in turn three because of this :) two thumbs up!
Diachronos
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(7 votes)
Some people underestimate what Dark Ritual can do for you. I know someone who got 3 in his starting hand; he used them to drop Phage the Untouchable on his first turn.
uberschveinen
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Somebody actually rated the Ritual under 5?
TheSuperbloop
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
If a card is so good that EVERY deck of its color could benefit from it, it deserves a maximum rating
5/5 Stars.
xd4
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Type your comment here.
Lateralis0ne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A great combo with this works in a few ways with different cards:
swamp, dark ritual, thoughtseize/duress, extirpate
or
swamp, dark ritual, hymn to tourach, then extirpate.
Find a key combo piece, then remove all of them from the game. Works rather well, more often than seems likely, too.
XTwistedsoulX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think 4wallz said time walk when he ment to say ancestral recall
TheStud
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want this in standard!!!
iaiji
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
whoever rated Dark Rit under 5 is a blithering idiot.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
how is this card so cheap? it's super unfair! I run four in my monoblack deck. I've played Ob Nixilis, the Fallen on turn one!
EDIT: I lost $600M and got my kneecaps smashed up. I'm in a warehouse somewhere...for the love of God, somebody help me!
psychichobo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I used to think this was awesome only in one-on-ones, since early boost plays in multiplayer tend to get murdered horribly first and sit there with a lot of card disadvantage.
But it really saves a lot of Daemon Decks where you're struggling to get that quick 7-8 mana for Griselbrand or Reiver Demon. Seriously, I've found myself praying for this thing to turn up way more than I legitimately should...
jfre81
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Here's the reason why old black creatures seem so overcosted, to people who weren't around the game then.
Skyrex
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card would devastate Modern, but oh my god do I wish they would reprint this wonderful thing.
Mudada
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Probably one of the best cards ever printed for the game. My favorite combo is Dark Ritual, then Torpor Orb, and to finish it off... Phyrexian Dreadnought. The look on an opponents face when they see a Turn One 12/12 Trample... Priceless.
Lazrbeams
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Who said this benefits every black deck in existence? That's not true at all, aggro and tempo decks can't afford to run the innate card disadvantage of dark ritual, especially if the spell you ritualed to cast is countered. Control decks don't want it because it's used to provide early game boosts, when you want to be controlling things and using your mana for counters (not black mana) Ritual is a niche card, it's a damn good niche card in tendrils of agony based decks, and other combo decks relying on gaining large amounts of mana and dumping your hand to win in the first turn or 2, but it doesn't go in EVERY deck that can run it. An example of that would be big brother ancestral recall where every deck wants to run 4. It's not broken, it's just really good.
Comments (29)
4 of these + Drain Life + any lands you may have out = one quick game.
I heard that this card was restricted to two in a dekc (or something like that) but haven't found any details about it. Any confirmations?
Also, you can play Dark Ritual with Culling the Weak, sacrificing a creature at your first turn (that you played using the other 2 black mana dark ritual provided), and then you can use Temporal Extortion! Have fun!
Also, cards are practically never restricted in Standard.
Correct first turn plays with Ritual include Duress + Hymn To Tourach, Duress + Oona's Prowler, etc. You want to make SURE that your opponent can NOT do anything to stop your mad first turn rush. A first turn Bolt or Swords to Plowshares on a Hypnotic Specter means your opponent will likely win due to both card and tempo advantage.
A bit of a stretch, but surprisingly effective.
5/5 Stars.
swamp, dark ritual, thoughtseize/duress, extirpate
or
swamp, dark ritual, hymn to tourach, then extirpate.
Find a key combo piece, then remove all of them from the game. Works rather well, more often than seems likely, too.
EDIT: I lost $600M and got my kneecaps smashed up. I'm in a warehouse somewhere...for the love of God, somebody help me!
But it really saves a lot of Daemon Decks where you're struggling to get that quick 7-8 mana for Griselbrand or Reiver Demon. Seriously, I've found myself praying for this thing to turn up way more than I legitimately should...
Ritual is a niche card, it's a damn good niche card in tendrils of agony based decks, and other combo decks relying on gaining large amounts of mana and dumping your hand to win in the first turn or 2, but it doesn't go in EVERY deck that can run it. An example of that would be big brother ancestral recall where every deck wants to run 4. It's not broken, it's just really good.