MtG: are there any black planes that aren't horrible?

[foobar1969]

And by "not horrible", I mean:

Imagine you are a sane, mild, & educated human commoner living in the MtG multiverse. One day you do something helpful for a powerful planeswalker, who then shows you all of the known planes, offers to describe any of them, then transport you and your family (spouse, children, & a parent, all of whom you love) to the plane (or named sub-plane) of your choice. Are there any black-dominated ones that you honestly could choose as your new home?

Definitely horrible: Dark Barony, Grixis, Innistrad, Phyrexia, Shadowmoor, Urborg.

[Wraith]

Tricky question, but I think the answer is 'no' because, when you get right down to it, ANY Plane that is predominantly aligned to a colour is a horrible place. Phyrexia is Black and monstrous, but then Kamigawa is White and ruled by a totalitarian regime and as Green as Lorwyn is, the Elves (and worse) will still eat your face with Darwinian glee if you trespass there. People only think of Black Planes as "bad places" because corpses and decay are obviously unpleasant, while manipulated slavery (Blue) and chaotic abandon (Red) are arguably just as bad in different ways.

It would be far better to go to a place in balance. Dominara or Shandalar would be your best bets, followed maybe by Ravnica; since while there are Black-aligned areas they are also all dual-colour so the worst excesses of each are reigned in and then also policed by their nearby neighbours. Or maybe even somewhere absent of colour altogether; Mirrodin was a reasonably nice (if orderly and predictable) place before it became New Phyrexia, and a similar Plane absent of excesses of mana could be appealing.

[Blackhawk748]

Innistrads not definitely horrible. Cuz im pretty sure it gets much better after Sorin Markov takes over, plus it had a fair amount of organizations dedicated to protecting people, so theres that.

[Divayth Fyr]

Innistrads not definitely horrible. Cuz im pretty sure it gets much better after Sorin Markov takes over, plus it had a fair amount of organizations dedicated to protecting people, so theres that.
Innistrad is horrible. The only brief time when it got decent for normal people was when Avacyn was in power, and even then the spells that made her ensured the monsters will survive and continue to pray on the populace. When she got locked in the Helvault, the defenders weakened so much, that humanity almost got overrun. And now there is no Avacyn, so the organizations lost their greatest weapons, while a whole new kind of threat appeared (Eldrazi spawn).

[Ebon_Drake]

If we're allowed regions rather than full planes (which seems fair since the OP mentioned Urborg) then Otaria circa Odyssey isn't all that bad. Most of the bad stuff that goes down in Odyssey block is due to the Mirari and the Mer Empire, not the Cabal per se. The Patriarch ran a pretty tight ship. Most, if not all, of the pit fighters we see are either house fighters, professionals, or willing amateurs. There are a few indications of slavery going on, but it doesn't seem overly widespread; it's more just indicative of Black's general amorality. The Cabal are something of a pyramid scheme, but they mostly just care about making money and don't seem particularly oppressive towards the population at large. I think they turned out to be some long-term scheme by Kuberr in the end, but who honestly cares about Onslaught block's nonsense story? Live under the Cabal during the few hundred years before that all came to a head and you'll do alright.

IIRC I think Baron Sengir was actually a pretty alright ruler? Obviously people wouldn't want to live in the Dark Barony if they had a choice, but from what I remember he also kept a fairly tight control over his dominion and was more about oppression than the slavering, random slaughter kind of despotism seen with Crovax on Rath. You'd run the nightly risk of getting bitten by a vampire and I think his long-term aim was to turn everyone to fill out his army and invade another plane, but on a day-to-day level there are worse places you could be.

The aetherborn on Kaladesh weren't in any way dominant, but they were super-chill and just wanted to party and live life to the max. They're a great example of what a "positive" Black plane could look like.

Really though, one of the biggest motivations in Black is self-determination. Life sucks for the common folk who just sit around and put up with their lot, but (in Black's view) that's because they lack the necessary drive, ambition and ruthlessness to succeed. Black sees life as for the taking and if you're determined enough to fight and claw your way to the top of the pile then you've got it made - at least as long as you can stay at the top. Regardless of what you make of the Cabal, they're a great example of that. Obviously there are those extreme planes that are inky black tarpits of death that no sane person would choose to live on, but that's because the dominant figure on that plane has exerted their will to make them according to their own liking. Old Phyrexia was absolutely how Yawgmoth wanted it to be. Ulgrotha is exactly how Baron Sengir wants it to be (pesky Serra worshippers aside). Lorwyn/Shadowmoor was how Oona wanted it to be. Amonkhet is exactly how Bolas wants it to be. If you don't think those places are where you'd want to live, Black says get off your lazy arse, fight your way to the top and damn well make them how you want them to be.

If you want to have a decent enough life as a mild commoner, then stick to White and Green. They're all about equality and looking after the bottom rungs of society. However, if you want to truly live life to the full and are prepared to strive for it then Black is the way to go.

[Giggling Ghast]

Well, it's not precisely a plane, but Takenuma Swamp on Kamigawa was liveable. It also produced Magic's first Black-aligned hero, whose descendant handed Nicol Bolas his only resounding defeat.