Abyssal Nocturnus, rare (first printed in Guildpact, 2006)

Well, it's better than Megrim! This Nocturnus exists to blackjack your distressed opponents, stealing an early victory before they recover from the disruption this card demands to be ran alongside. Immediately it slots in to your typical no-thrills black attack deck, too slow and conservative to be considered suicide. The real fun to be found in the Horror is in its improvement of already fair cards - Nocturnus turns Skullscorch into a mostly guaranteed four damage, Urza's Guilt into nine and Wheel of Fortune into anything up to fourteen! Disrupting Scepter is a good partner for him, and a fine card on its own, but greater humour can be found in him acquiring a partner, specifically any Specter-type creature, and providing that partner with some means to strike first - try a Blazing Specter wearing the Helm of Kaldra or else ensorcelled with Fists of the Demigod. Perhaps that's going a little over-the-top to satisfy an already fair card when greater results can be derived from a simpler pairing - Ill-Gotten Gains, a popular and questionably-balanced card, which both superpowers your Nocturnus and retrieves your Blightnings and Ravenous Rats and whatnot, combating the good your opponent found in the card while bludgeoning him or her half to death. Not bad at all. Can be acquired for about fifty pence a copy.

Abyssal Nightstalker, uncommon (first printed in Portal Second Age, 1998)

Assuredly a surplus card in all but the most queer of circumstances. There are enough better versions of this card (Specters in the Hypnotic, Abyssal, Blazing and countless other varieties) that this Nightstalker wouldn't even have a home in the most monomaniacal of hand-attacking decks. I'll admit that, should you be looking for a Specter-like creature that doesn't fly, you might want to include... no, no, there are Odylic Wraiths and its countless brothers and sisters to consider. Not even particularly exciting in the "resurrect all Night Stalkers" deck. Avoid. Can be acquired, if you must, for about forty pence a copy.

Abyssal Hunter, rare (first printed in Mirage, 1996)

The stall-breaker to Royal Assassin's stall-creator, Abyssal Hunter gets passed over even in casual deck construction time and time again, and that's a terrible shame because he is a powerful card. It has obvious applications like settling creature impasses, slowly clearing the battlefield of clutter like Llanowar Elves with his oversized bowie knife and keeping one large creature locked down for as many turns as you wish, and even before you start combining other cards with him, you'll notice that those are a wide range of useful abilities, particularly in a black card - a colour that seems to have recently lost the power to force a creature to tap. Now then... combine the man with Sadistic Glee or, even more viciously, the off-colour Exoskeletal Armor and he becomes the fish that eats its kin so that he may acquire the volume to eat bigger fish still. Pair him, as many have done, with Royal Assassin himself and you have a deadly duo who decide whether any other man lives or dies. Even placing something as simple as Instill Energy on the Abyssal Hunter creates an outrageously powerful problem for your opponent. Yes, he can be removed from play by many of the choice zaps people play and yes, he probably costs one point of mana too many, but when you are paying for a chance to control a permanent that ruins your opponent's plans to such an extent, one dares to say it might be worthwhile. Can be acquired for about forty pence a copy, in either black or white-bordered form.

Abyssal Horror, rare (first printed in Urza's Saga, 1998)

A creature who needs to be cheated into play, its cost being higher than its apparent power would suggest is necessary. Ideally you'll be able to find a way of placing this Horror directly onto the battlefield for less than 2B, the cost of Stupor - (Hymn to Tourach forced two random discards for the low cost of BB but I think we can all agree on how much of an aberration that was...) Flash, Oath of Druids, Animate Dead and Soul Exchange all come to mind, but in a game of multiplayer, you'll find far weirder ways. Am I being harsh about its uncastability? Of course, you can wait until the middle of a multiplayer game or until near the end of a duel to cast this creature honestly, but its effect on the opponent will be much less disruptive. Indeed, it is unusual among rare black threats that it becomes weaker as time marches on - you could have cast Nightmare or Visara for similar costs! Can be acquired for about thirty pence a copy in black border or twenty in white.