The Black Gate
The Black Gate: Legendary Land - Gate, Tales of Middle-earth Commander. As The Black Gate enters, you may pay 3 life. Prices and printings on Mana Grove.
- Mana value
- 0
- Type
- Legendary Land - Gate
- Colour identity
- Black (B)
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
- Released
- 2023-06-23
- Collector number
- 80
- Artist
- Marc Simonetti
- Commander rank
- 1,199 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Build around this card with Grover
About The Black Gate
The Black Gate is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black legendary land from Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC), a Commander product released in June 2023. It is collector number 80 in that set, with art by Marc Simonetti. As a land, it has no mana cost. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless and Gladiator. It has been printed in 2 sets, from Tales of Middle-earth Commander (2023) to The Hobbit Eternal (2026). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $10.79 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-02).
Card text
As The Black Gate enters, you may pay 3 life. If you don't, it enters tapped.
{T}: Add {B}.
{1}{B}, {T}: Choose a player with the most life or tied for most life. Target creature can't be blocked by creatures that player controls this turn.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $10.79 (as of 2026-11-02).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of The Black Gate by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Legacy | Legal |
|---|---|
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
Other printings of The Black Gate
The Black Gate has been printed in 2 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Hobbit Eternal (HOC) #47 | Mythic | 2026 |
| The Hobbit Eternal (HOC) #87 | Mythic | 2026 |
| Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC) #490 | Rare | 2023 |
| Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC) #160 | Rare | 2023 |
Official rulings
Two official rulings apply to The Black Gate, newest first.
- The creature that was targeted by The Black Gate's last ability can't be blocked by any creature the chosen player controls, including creatures that weren't on the battlefield when The Black Gate's ability resolved.
- The chosen player needs only to have the most life or tied for most life as The Black Gate's last ability resolves. After the ability resolves, any changes in life total won't affect which creatures can block or be blocked that turn.
Similar cards
Other land cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.
In these precons
The Black Gate is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.