Chainer's Torment: A Comprehensive Analysis

Introduction to Chainer's Torment

Chainer's Torment is an Enchantment – Saga card in Magic: The Gathering that rewards aggressive playstyle and lifegain. This powerful card provides a series of increasingly formidable effects as the player gains more life, culminating in a massive black creature token with significant damage output.

Card Mechanics and Interactions

As an Enchantment – Saga, Chainer's Torment has a unique mechanic that allows it to trigger multiple times as the game progresses. When the saga enters the battlefield and after the player's draw step, a lore counter is added to the card. At this point, the player also gains 2 life.

First Iteration (I)

The first iteration of Chainer's Torment triggers at the beginning of your upkeep step, dealing 2 damage to each opponent and granting the player 2 life for their own gain. This effect is quite straightforward but has significant implications in the early game.

Second Iteration (II)

The second iteration triggers after the first iteration, further increasing the player's life total and providing additional lifegain. This effect continues until the third iteration activates, creating a snowball effect that propels the player towards victory.

Third Iteration (III)

The third and final iteration creates a massive X/X black Nightmare Horror creature token with damage output equal to half the player's life total, rounded up. This creature is incredibly powerful and can be used to deal significant damage to opponents or block attacks from their creatures.

Strategic Uses, Combos, and Synergies

Chainer's Torment is at its best in aggressive decks that focus on lifegain and card advantage. Players can use this card to fuel a combination of damage-dealing creatures, removal spells, and other aggressive strategies while gradually gaining life to increase the power of their creatures.

Some popular combos involving Chainer's Torment include:

• Pairing with Venser, Shaper Savant: This combo allows players to generate additional lifegain and card draw, further fueling their aggressive strategy.
• Combining with Liliana, Scourge: The damage output of Liliana, Scourge increases the power and ability of Chainer's Torment, making it even more formidable on the battlefield.
• Using as a Sacrifice Engine: By sacrificing Chainer's Torment to create the Nightmare Horror token, players can generate an opportunity to play more powerful black cards from their deck.

Deckbuilding Roles and Archetypes

Chainer's Torment is typically found in mid-to-late-game Enchantments decks that focus on lifegain, removal, and card draw. These decks often prioritize creatures with high power and toughness, as well as removal spells to clear the way for the Nightmare Horror token.

Some popular archetype ideas include:

• Lifecrafter: A deck centered around maximizing life gain through Chainer's Torment, Venser, Shaper Savant, and other lifegain effects.
• Sacrifice Engine: A deck that uses Chainer's Torment as a means to play more powerful black cards and create an army of creatures.

Format Viability and Competitive Context

Chainer's Torment has been around since the "Amonkhet" set in 2017. In this time, it has become one of the most popular Enchantments – Saga cards in competitive Magic: The Gathering.

As a result, Chainer's Torment has seen significant playtest and tournament success, particularly in the Modern format. Its power level is relatively high, making it a staple in many mid-to-late-game decks that focus on lifegain and card advantage.

In recent years, Chainer's Torment has been paired with other powerful cards to create formidable combos and interactions. Its use in the Modern format is particularly prevalent, where it often finds itself at the center of complex strategies and interactions.

Rules Interactions and Technical Notes

When Chainer's Torment enters the battlefield, its lore counter starts counting up one for every time step that passes after your draw phase. This means you'll need to be mindful of how many times this trigger activates as you play out your turns.

Venser, Shaper Savant Interactions

When Venser, Shaper Savant enters the battlefield or dies, it will increase the power and toughness of Chainer's Torment. The same goes for Liliana, Scourge, which increases its power and ability whenever it deals damage to an opponent.

Sacrificing Chainer's Torment

When you sacrifice Chainer's Torment, you lose access to your Nightmare Horror token's abilities until you draw a card. This can impact how you use this saga in the late game.

Art, Flavor, and Historical Context

The art for Chainer's Torment features a hauntingly beautiful depiction of the Nightmare Horror creature it creates. The creature itself is often depicted as a massive, winged beast with glowing red eyes, symbolizing the chaos and terror that Chainer's Torment embodies.

In terms of flavor, Chainer's Torment represents the cruel and capricious nature of death and sacrifice in Magic: The Gathering lore. As a card, it embodies this theme by offering players a dark reward for sacrificing life to its power.

Chainer's Torment was released as part of the "Amonkhet" set in 2017, which marked a significant shift towards more aggressive, mid-to-late-game playstyles in Magic: The Gathering. Its release was seen as a response to the growing popularity of "control" and "aggro" decks in competitive Magic.

Summary of Key Points

• Chainer's Torment is an Enchantment – Saga card that rewards aggressive playstyle and lifegain.
• It triggers multiple times as the game progresses, increasing its effects significantly with each iteration.
• The third iteration creates a massive black creature token with significant damage output, making it highly formidable in the right situations.

Chainer's Torment is an incredibly powerful and versatile card that can be used to fuel aggressive decks or create complex combos. Its ability to generate life and create a deadly Nightmare Horror creature make it a staple in many competitive Magic: The Gathering formats.

The key points outlined above summarize Chainer's Torment as a powerful Enchantment – Saga card, which rewards aggressive playstyle and lifegain, providing increasingly formidable effects with each iteration.