{"ops":[{"insert":"Sheoldred — Apocalypse Engines: Turbo Reanimator"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Overview"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Sheoldred, the Apocalypse leads this mono-black cEDH attempt aimed at turn-one or turn-two win potential from exceptional opening hands. The list is 100 cards with 30 actual lands plus Boggart Trawler and Malakir Rebirth as additional land faces, within your approved 30–32-land range. Tags: Combo and Lifegain. Its average nonland mana value is now 2.13, down from 2.44, and total mana value fell from 166 to 149.\nThe main plan is to reanimate Hoarding Broodlord, turn its tutors into mana and more tutors, and win with Professor Onyx plus Chain of Smog. Sheoldred remains the commander but need not be cast for the fastest line. Her draw punishment, life gain, and deathtouch support the longer resource game.\nThis is a fringe-commander competitive attempt, not a measured turn-one win rate or a tournament-proven list. One checked opening hand establishes potential, not expected performance every game. Opposing interaction, hate permanents, mulligans, and access to the pieces still determine the result.\nFinish: Professor Onyx + Chain of Smog"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Resolve Onyx, then cast Chain targeting yourself. Onyx's magecraft triggers on the original cast and every copy. Each trigger makes every opponent lose 2 life and gains you 2 life. Resolve Chain, discard what you can, and choose to copy it targeting yourself again. You may continue copying after your hand is empty.\nChoose enough repetitions to eliminate the table. With opponents at 40 life and no prevention, the original cast plus 19 copies gives 20 magecraft triggers, for 40 life loss to each opponent. You gain 2 life per trigger, not per opponent. Copies are not cast, but Onyx explicitly triggers on copies too. You do not need a loyalty activation, an attack, or a library draw.\nThe combo works through draw suppression, but can be stopped by counters, removal, life-loss prevention, or restrictions that prevent its necessary actions. Chain empties your hand, so use protection before committing. Keep targeting yourself rather than handing the copying decision to an opponent.\nExact Turn-One Opening"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Specific seven-card opening: Swamp, Dark Ritual, Entomb, Reanimate, Sol Ring, Unmask, Night's Whisper. The first five cards execute the goldfish win. Unmask may exile the spare Whisper to remove one nonland answer from one opponent; that does not protect the line from every player.\nAssume 40 starting life, no opposing interference or relevant hate, and the searched pieces still available in the library:\nSwamp casts Dark Ritual for BBB. Entomb puts Hoarding Broodlord in your graveyard, leaving BB. Reanimate returns Broodlord, leaving B and 32 life. Broodlord finds Saw in Half in exile."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Spend the last B on Sol Ring and tap it for two colorless. Cast Saw from exile, convoking Broodlord for B and paying the two colorless. The copies find Sacrifice and Yawgmoth's Will."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cast Sacrifice from exile: tap copy A to convoke B and sacrifice the different copy B. Copies retain mana value eight, so you make eight black mana."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Spend three on Will, leaving five black. Spend three to cast Saw from the graveyard targeting A, leaving two black. The new copies C and D find Onyx and Chain."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cast Sacrifice from the graveyard for B and sacrifice C. The pool goes from two to one, then up to nine black. This graveyard cast does not have convoke."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cast Onyx from exile, tapping D to convoke one B and paying the remaining five mana. Four black remain. Cast Chain from exile for two targeting yourself. Two black remain; execute the magecraft loop."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Sheoldred stays in the command zone. The mana ledger finishes at two black and 32 life before the magecraft gains. Convoke can tap creatures that entered this turn. The second Saw copies reduced power and toughness, but the new tokens still have mana value eight and remain black.\nThe first Sacrifice resolved before Will and was available in the graveyard for the second cast. Will then exiles Saw after its second resolution and Sacrifice after its second resolution. No additional replay is assumed. Exiling Chain's discarded cards does not stop its copies. This is a checked sequence, not a full-game simulation or empirical win-rate test.\nRedundancy and Turn-Two Development"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Entomb is the fastest setup. Unmarked Grave also finds Broodlord because it is nonlegendary. Buried Alive provides a slower setup and may find only Broodlord if extra creatures would interfere with Shallow Grave. Putrid Imp discards a Broodlord drawn into hand and can activate immediately.\nSix spells reanimate: Reanimate, Animate Dead, Persist, Shallow Grave, Exhume, and Necromancy. Persist can return nonlegendary Broodlord. Its counter is not itself copied by Saw, although Saw uses the creature's actual power and toughness to set the copies' reduced sizes. Shallow Grave returns the top creature card, not a chosen creature: do not cycle Wraith onto Broodlord before using it. Exhume also helps opponents, so inspect their graveyards first.\nNecromancy may be cast at instant timing, with its cleanup sacrifice condition. Shallow Grave's returned creature is exiled at the next end step. Saw copies are separate permanents and do not inherit those particular delayed removal instructions. Removing Animate Dead or Necromancy can force the returned creature to be sacrificed.\nInfernal Tutor pairs with LED: cast Tutor and hold priority, then activate LED to discard your hand and make mana. If your hand is empty when Tutor resolves, it searches for any card. A Broodlord discarded to LED can be returned by the reanimation spell Tutor finds. Without hellbent, Tutor requires a matching card in hand and is much weaker in singleton.\nMana and Resource Engines"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ornithopter and Memnite are zero-mana artifact bodies for metalcraft, sacrifice costs, bargain, and generic convoke. They are not combat payoffs. Culling the Weak needs B from another source and a creature. Sacrifice makes mana from mana value; sacrificing a zero-mana creature makes zero.\nChrome Mox needs an imprint, Diamond needs a discarded land, and Opal needs three artifacts. Keep Bauble around if required for metalcraft; its activation draws at the next turn's upkeep, not immediately. Vault of Whispers gives untapped black and an artifact at the cost of exposure to artifact shutdown. LED is not ordinary mana for casting a card from your hand: it discards your hand as a cost.\nBroodlord gives convoke only to spells cast from exile while a Broodlord remains in play. Graveyard casts do not automatically get convoke. New creatures can convoke, but a creature sacrificed to a spell cannot also convoke that same spell. Use different copies in the first Sacrifice step.\nThe base retains 17 Swamps and four black fetches. City is sacrificed when another land enters; Crystal Vein sacrifices itself for its burst. Caverns is strongest from an opening hand when you are not starting. Saga gives a slower plan and finds eligible fast mana, Bauble, or a zero-mana body. Each MDFC land face costs 3 life to enter untapped. There are 30 actual lands, with 32 possible land plays including MDFCs.\nNecropotence, Ad Nauseam, and The One Ring are the main resource engines. Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Wraith, and Bauble provide actual draws. Sheoldred triggers only on actual draws: Necropotence, Ad Nauseam, and Onyx's +1 put cards into hand without drawing them.\nBroodlord, K'rrik, Onyx, Ad Nauseam, and Wraith still make Ad Nauseam risky. Wraith cycles for 2 life, but has mana value five when revealed. Preserve life and stop early when needed; Sheoldred does not refund Ad Nauseam loss. Life-gain triggers resolve after the draw effect, so survive that effect before relying on them.\nNecropotence exiles discarded cards through its trigger. Do not discard Broodlord with Imp and expect to cast a sorcery reanimation spell before that trigger exiles it. An instant timing exception needs its own legal window and mana.\nInteraction and Weaknesses"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Discard and Defense Grid open windows; neither guarantees safety from a full table. Imp's Mischief redirects an eligible single-target spell. Withering Boon counters a creature spell and costs 3 life plus mana. Identify which opponent holds the relevant answer before spending resources.\nAgent, Voidwalker, Bowmasters, and Lantern disrupt resource plans. The new Onyx/Chain line has no conflict with your own Voidwalker's opposing-graveyard replacement. Lantern's entry trigger needs a legal graveyard target when available: avoid exiling your essential combo card. Its sacrifice ability can clear opposing graveyards without clearing yours.\nDismember and Bitter Triumph answer black creatures that Snuff Out or Pact cannot. Feed the Swarm answers enchantments; Deluge can clear creature locks but kills your creatures too. Pay Pact's upkeep cost. Flute stops the named card's nonmana activated abilities and increases casting cost; it does not stop entry triggers such as Oracle's.\nThe Broodlord route fails through relevant graveyard locks, search denial, ETB suppression, or removal and counters at key points. Hard-casting Onyx plus Chain is a route around some graveyard and ETB locks if you reach eight mana before discounts. Mono-black still has limited stack interaction and artifact removal.\nMulligans and Testing"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Seek an untapped black source, acceleration, setup or a tutor, reanimation, and enough mana to start the chain. Reanimation without a way to put Broodlord in the graveyard is incomplete. Broodlord in hand needs Imp or an appropriate LED line rather than a library-only setup spell. Keep slow value hands only when the pod offers time.\nTrack real mulligans, black-source failures, tutor access, hate, and interrupted attempts. This version is narrower and more explosive, with fewer backup finishes and some late-game draw power exchanged for early setup. Turn-one/two potential is not a reason to run an exposed combo into interaction.\nSources"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Updated November 9, 2026. Current Oracle text and Commander legality checked. Bracket 5 records competitive intent, not a certified win rate.\n"},{"attributes":{"link":"https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list"},"insert":"Commander banned list"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"link":"https://scryfall.com/card/mom/110/hoarding-broodlord"},"insert":"Hoarding Broodlord"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"link":"https://scryfall.com/card/dsc/153/professor-onyx"},"insert":"Professor Onyx"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"link":"https://scryfall.com/card/ons/132/chain-of-smog"},"insert":"Chain of Smog"},{"insert":"\n"}]}