<p>My best guess is <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Keeper%20of%20the%20Dead">Keeper of the Dead</a>, a black uncommon from before 8th edition with an activated ability, and its art is decently similar to Bog Initiate. Saying this has &quot;an ability set similar to Cromat&quot; is a stretch, but it's by far the best match I could find from an art perspective and its repeatable removal could make it highly sought-after especially if inexperienced players neglect to enforce the extra conditions well.</p>
<p><a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Knight%20of%20Stromgald">Knight of Stromgald</a> is an uncommon mono-black creature from before 8th edition, with multiple activated abilities, and its art shows a single human standing upright centered in front of a monochrome background.</p>
<p><a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nightscape%20Master">Nightscape Master</a> is a rare mono-black creature from before 8th edition, with multiple activated abilities using different colors of mana and its art depicts a single humanoid (technically a zombie, not a human). This a stretch to say the art is &quot;similar to Bog Initiate&quot;, but its ability set is more similar to Cromat than the others.</p>
<p>Lastly, <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Avatar%20of%20Woe">Avatar of Woe</a> is a rare mono-black creature originally printed before 8th edition, which has the same <em>artist</em> as Bog Initiate in its initial printing if &quot;similar to Bog Initiate&quot; was more a matter of art style than composition. It has several abilities, though they aren't very similar to Cromat's, and I could see it feeling overpowered if playing casually with friends at school.</p>
<p>If none of these is correct, here is <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&amp;dir=asc&amp;order=released&amp;q=oracle%3A%22%3A%22+type%3Acreature+color%3E%3DB+%28game%3Apaper%29&amp;unique=art" rel="nofollow noreferrer">all black creatures with activated abilities, with alternate arts shown separately</a> sorted oldest to newest. The card you are looking should be somewhere in there unless your &quot;ability set similar to Cromat&quot; description was wildly inaccurate.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-31T19:53:46.400Z
2023-09-01T15:15:37.310Z
2023-09-01T15:15:37.310Z
Kamil Drakari
<p>I'm looking for a Magic The Gathering card that was very sought for back in high school. It was certainly not later than 8th edition era, black colored creature. I remember the art was something similar to <a href="https://scryfall.com/card/inv/95/bog-initiate" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bog Initiate</a> but it had an ability set similar to <a href="https://scryfall.com/card/apc/94/cromat" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cromat</a>, so it must have been at least Uncommon.</p>
<p>Can anyone help me out?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-31T14:45:04.980Z
Are you asking what it was called / looked like, or are you asking where you can buy one?
Chenmunka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-31T15:22:24.460Z
I can only find two black creatures other than Cromat from before 8th edition that had at least 3 activated abilities, and neither has art that looks very much like Bog Initiate to me: [Vaevictis Asmadi](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/185/vaevictis-asmadi) and [Wandering Mage](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/186/wandering-mage).
murgatroid99
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-31T19:08:07.260Z
What does "similar to cromat" mean here? Does that just mean multiple activated abilities, or that the abilities didn't require tapping, or that all the abilities had off-color activation costs?
Arcanist Lupus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-01T05:21:07.767Z
[There are 190 black creature cards printed before 8th Edition that have an activated ability whose rarity is uncommon or above.](https://scryfall.com/search?q=date%3C8ed+t%3Acreature+c%3Ab+fulloracle%3A%2F%5E%5B%5E%22%5D%2B%3A.%2B%24%2F+r%3E%3Du&unique=cards&as=grid&order=usd&dir=desc)
Cain Goldhardt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-01T13:55:49.120Z
'ability set similar to chromat' is incredibly vague,
Andrew
<magic-the-gathering><identify-this-game-piece>
Identify a pre-8th edition black creature card
amyspark
# Identify a pre-8th edition black creature card

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-08-31)

I'm looking for a Magic The Gathering card that was very sought for back in high school. It was certainly not later than 8th edition era, black colored creature. I remember the art was something similar to [Bog Initiate](https://scryfall.com/card/inv/95/bog-initiate) but it had an ability set similar to [Cromat](https://scryfall.com/card/apc/94/cromat), so it must have been at least Uncommon.

Can anyone help me out?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering, identify-this-game-piece

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you asking what it was called / looked like, or are you asking where you can buy one?  
> **username_2**: I can only find two black creatures other than Cromat from before 8th edition that had at least 3 activated abilities, and neither has art that looks very much like Bog Initiate to me: [Vaevictis Asmadi](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/185/vaevictis-asmadi) and [Wandering Mage](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/186/wandering-mage).  
> **username_3**: What does "similar to cromat" mean here? Does that just mean multiple activated abilities, or that the abilities didn't require tapping, or that all the abilities had off-color activation costs?  
> **username_4**: [There are 190 black creature cards printed before 8th Edition that have an activated ability whose rarity is uncommon or above.](https://scryfall.com/search?q=date%3C8ed+t%3Acreature+c%3Ab+fulloracle%3A%2F%5E%5B%5E%22%5D%2B%3A.%2B%24%2F+r%3E%3Du&unique=cards&as=grid&order=usd&dir=desc)  
> **username_5**: 'ability set similar to chromat' is incredibly vague,  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2023-08-31. Score: 5

My best guess is [Keeper of the Dead](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Keeper%20of%20the%20Dead), a black uncommon from before 8th edition with an activated ability, and its art is decently similar to Bog Initiate. Saying this has "an ability set similar to Cromat" is a stretch, but it's by far the best match I could find from an art perspective and its repeatable removal could make it highly sought-after especially if inexperienced players neglect to enforce the extra conditions well.

[Knight of Stromgald](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Knight%20of%20Stromgald) is an uncommon mono-black creature from before 8th edition, with multiple activated abilities, and its art shows a single human standing upright centered in front of a monochrome background.

[Nightscape Master](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nightscape%20Master) is a rare mono-black creature from before 8th edition, with multiple activated abilities using different colors of mana and its art depicts a single humanoid (technically a zombie, not a human). This a stretch to say the art is "similar to Bog Initiate", but its ability set is more similar to Cromat than the others.

Lastly, [Avatar of Woe](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Avatar%20of%20Woe) is a rare mono-black creature originally printed before 8th edition, which has the same *artist* as Bog Initiate in its initial printing if "similar to Bog Initiate" was more a matter of art style than composition. It has several abilities, though they aren't very similar to Cromat's, and I could see it feeling overpowered if playing casually with friends at school.

If none of these is correct, here is [all black creatures with activated abilities, with alternate arts shown separately](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&dir=asc&order=released&q=oracle%3A%22%3A%22+type%3Acreature+color%3E%3DB+%28game%3Apaper%29&unique=art) sorted oldest to newest. The card you are looking should be somewhere in there unless your "ability set similar to Cromat" description was wildly inaccurate.


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