The Destined Black Mage
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
Deathtouch
, 
: Another target creature you control gains deathtouch until end of turn.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, The Destined Black Mage deals 1 damage to each opponent. If you have a full party, it deals 3 damage to each opponent instead.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Final Fantasy Commander
- Price
- $16.56
- EDHREC rank
- #11165
The Destined Black Mage is a build-around that pays off immediately when its partner condition is met — the on-board impact is real and arrives without setup tax. The catch is that it's essentially stapled to The Destined Warrior; outside that pairing, the card loses most of its identity.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Destined Warrior
The Destined Warrior is the reason The Destined Black Mage exists in Commander — 90% of Destined Warrior decks run it because the two cards form a single engine, each half amplifying what the other does.
Kuja, Genome Sorcerer
Kuja, Genome Sorcerer reaches for The Destined Black Mage in roughly one in five builds, using it as a supporting piece in a black-heavy spell-value shell where its triggered effects generate consistent advantage.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where The Destined Black Mage actually lives — it's legal and purpose-built for the multiplayer singleton environment, where its partner synergy and incremental value have room to compound over a longer game. In Vintage and Legacy it's technically legal but sees no meaningful play; those formats move too fast for a creature that asks you to assemble a two-card relationship before it does its best work. Oathbreaker is the one fringe format worth mentioning, since the tighter deck construction can actually highlight the Destined pairing more cleanly than a 99-card list.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If the partner synergy is the draw, there's no clean budget replacement — The Destined Black Mage is doing something specific enough that generic black value creatures don't replicate it. For players who want the solo half of what it offers, a cheaper black creature with a comparable triggered ability fills the slot functionally, but you're accepting a meaningful power-level dip in exchange for the savings.
Price Context
Current price
$16.56 mid tier
At $16.56, The Destined Black Mage sits in the mid tier — notable enough that it's a real line item in a budget build, but not so expensive it's out of reach. It holds value as long as The Destined Warrior remains a popular commander; if that archetype cools off, so does the price floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- The Destined Warrior
- Kuja, Genome Sorcerer
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.