, Pay 3 life: Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. That creature is black and is a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
When Chainer leaves the battlefield, exile all Nightmares.
Reanimate the best creatures from any graveyard repeatedly using Chainer's activated ability, paying life as your primary resource. Fill graveyards with self-mill and discard, steal opponents' bombs, then convert those Nightmares into a board that closes the game. You operate as a grindy mono-black reanimator that turns life total into mana value.
Repeatable reanimation from ANY graveyard, including opponents', gives huge card advantage
Mono-black means consistent mana, easy tutors, and access to all the best black ramp and recursion
Life-as-resource scales well in mono-black with drain and lifegain support
Can hate-pick the table's best creatures right out of their graveyards
Triple black plus 3 life per activation is taxing and life loss adds up fast
Chainer leaving the battlefield exiles all your Nightmares, a brutal blowout to removal and board wipes
Color identity locks you out of counterspells and proactive interaction beyond removal
Reliant on graveyards being stocked, so graveyard hate shuts the engine down
Grants lifelink to your whole team, refilling the life Chainer drains while keeping reanimated threats alive.
Add fast mana and black ramp (Dark Ritual, Cabal Coffers, Nykthos) to power out multiple Chainer activations per turn. Lean into protection for Chainer himself (Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots) since his death exiles your whole board, and add a sacrifice outlet plus Mikaeus for an infinite combo finish. Tighten the reanimation suite with Buried Alive, Entomb, and Victimize to maximize value per activation.
Legendary Creature — Human Minion
