"Nihilith" is a 4/4 black horror printed as a rare for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Future Sight." This is one of the cards in the Future Sight expansion set that has a lower alternative cost to cast but with a catch. From the looks of Nihilith, this is a good card to have provided that you are playing a mono black deck for the most part. If you know how to use Nihilith's abilities, you will definitely get a lot out of this card.

The converted mana cost for Nihilith is six. You are going to need two black mana and four colorless mana to play the Nihilith. However, a 4/4 creature for six mana does seem to be a bit expensive. However, there is a lower alternative cost of one black mana and one colorless mana to pay for Nihilith. But, you will not be able to use it immediately. By paying the alternative cost, you will give Nihilith "Suspend 7." In that respect, it is Exiled from the game for seven turns with seven time counters. At the beginning of your upkeep step, you remove a time counter from Nihilith. When there are no more time counters on Nihilith, you can play it without paying the mana cost.

What does Nihilith do in the first place?

The first ability is Fear. It means that if you attack with Nihilith and your opponent has neither black creatures nor artifact creatures, then s/he is taking four points of damage. However, this is not the only ability that the Nihilith possesses. The other two abilities kick in if you give Nihilith Suspend 7.

Should Nihilith be suspended, you can remove a time counter whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere. There are plenty of ways of doing this. In a blue and black deck, you can play "Traumatize" or "Archive Trap." Traumatize would "mill" half of an opponent's library. Archive Trap would force an opponent to mill the top thirteen cards of his/her library into the graveyard. These two are surefire ways to removing all the suspend counters from Nihilith.

In a pure black deck, you can play cards such as "Gibbering Descent" which make opponents discard a card during their respective upkeep steps. You can play the various specter cards which make opponents discard cards should they deal combat damage. In short, find ways to send cards to the opponents' graveyards.

If there are a bunch of creatures on the battlefield, you can play "Damnation." Those creatures get sent to the graveyard and you get to remove that many time counters from the Nihilith.

Once the time counters are gone, Nihilith will have Haste. This is the second benefit of suspending Nihilith. You can immediately attack with Nihilith and have it deal four points of combat damage. Overall, Nihilith is a great card to have. Instead of paying the full six mana, you only need to pay two mana and find ways to send cards to the oppoennts' graveyards.

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