I'm actually pretty excited to talk about Black. While it's never been my favorite color, my first deck that did well at tournaments was a black/red control deck built around the Torment nightmare horrors. Faceless Butcher in particular has a lot of nostalgia for me, so I'm always interested in building a new black/red control deck. Maybe I can do it this time?
A note; if I don't mention a card, that means I like the flavor but not enough to call it out.
The art and flavor text are great on Blood Reckoning, but I think this would be better served as either a gold or hybrid black/white card. Still, amazing flavor throughout, even the fact that the commander is the one pictured is subtly fantastic. Cower in Fear has similarly fantastic flavor and, not coincidentally, has a quote from Nicol Bolas. I love how they're spreading references to him, and weaving this image of how terrifyingly powerful he is.
Speaking of spreading references around, I like that they're quoting the Commander legends. Vish Kal is quoted in Crippling Blight, which is a fun pseudo removal spell. The reference to Nevinyrral in Disentomb is equally fun, as he's always seemed like an interesting character that I want to see more of. Hell, his disk was referenced in a white card in Time Spiral.
Let's talk about Exalted in Black. On the surface, this flavor doesn't make sense. After all, we've been trained to associate it with angels and chivalrous knights, which don't fit in Black. However, it only requires a slight shift to realize why it fits here. After all, it's easy to see how Exalted can represent selfishness - the creature that attacks takes all the power and glory for itself. This is why Duskmantle Prowler makes sense to me - he is clearly meant to attack on his first turn, running in and grabbing the glory for himself, and then mostly sitting back on the remaining turns. Knight of Infamy has a similar feel, though his success as a flavorful card mostly comes because of his White counterpart. Of course, Black also loves forcing others to be their servants and give them power, as shown on Duty-Bound Dead and Servant of Nefarox. These both have unique, but great flavor. Duty-Bound Dead feels like an old soldier who was forced to stay in service even after he died, while the Servant of Nefarox is clearly someone out for her own gain. As a sidenote, I really like it when they reprint cards like Tormented Soul. It worked well as a Bloodthirst trigger last time, and now it's an ideal choice for Exalted, particularly in the early game.
Nefarox himself is dripping with flavor. His Exalted shows how he's willing to bargain with others for power (when others attack, he's willing to help) but his attack trigger, forcing a sacrifice, clearly shows that he hungers for power and wants all of it for himself. However, my favorite bit of flavor for him is on Diabolic Revalation. The quote is fantastic, showing how eloquent he is and perhaps indicating that he can be persuasive, which you couldn't tell if you just looked at his card. Overall a flavor success. His design also works on its own and in contrast with other cards. Compare him to Sublime Archangel and you'll get a clear look at the difference between White and Black.
Murder seems really powerful. There isn't a whole lot to say about the design, except that I'm glad the included the double black in the casting cost. It was a clear choice to limit the number of decks that can use it, but I still don't think this is going to stay around for too long. Unrestricted creature kill may be too strong at three mana. However, the flavor is a home run. It's rare for a card's flavor to be so powerful that it doesn't need any flavor text, with my favorite example being Day of Judgement. There's just something visceral about the simplicity of "Destroy target creature" and "Destroy all creatures" that would be weakened if you added any more text.
Speaking of Day of Judgement, it looks like Mutilate might be Wrath effect this time. It's an interesting variant, and arguably weaker than DoJ, but you can also fiddle around with it to save some of your creatures, and it's regeneration-proof. An interesting choice for a reprint.
Public Execution has some subtly fantastic flavor, but it isn't a success on all fronts. The name, flavor text and effects all work together remarkably well, but I have a bit of a problem with the art. While a fantastic and striking piece, I'm not sure if it fits completely. The card gives all enemy controlled creatures -2/-0, but only one guy in the picture seems disturbed. A minor strike against an otherwise fantastic card.
Best Flavor: Murder. Yes, yes, it's very simple, but I can't ignore the visceral response it inspired in me - I felt like my stomach had sank when I saw it.
Best Design: Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis. His abilities work really well together on their own, but its his interaction with other cards that make me love him.
Best Overall: Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis. This is mostly because of his flavor in relation to other cards, particularly Sublime Archangel.
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