Doomsday + Commander's Sphere + Bolas's Citadel + Emergence Zone + Repay in Kind + Lich

6-card combo · B

Verdict

Yes — this Doomsday pile converts a 24-life starting floor into a table-kill through a precise sequencing of Lich and Repay in Kind.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$29.46

Color identity

Popularity

23 decks

Format

Commander

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Doomsday stacks the five-card library: Bolas's Citadel lets the top cards be cast by paying life, Emergence Zone grants instant speed for the final sequence, and holding priority between Repay in Kind and Lich resolving is what makes the kill clean. Lich's replacement effect zeroes out life, and Repay in Kind — still on the stack — then sets every opponent to that same zero. This is a mono-black storm-adjacent shell, typically piloted by commanders like Razaketh, the Foulblooded or Sidisi, Undead Vizier that can tutor Doomsday on demand.

How it works

Prerequisites

Your life total is at least 24. You have not played land this turn.

Steps

Cast Doomsday by paying , searching your library and graveyard for Bolas's Citadel, Emergence Zone, Repay in Kind, Lich, and any other card, exiling all other cards from your graveyard and library, and then placing the remaining cards on top of your library in the order previously listed and losing half your life, rounded up.
Activate Commander's Sphere by sacrificing it, drawing a card.
Cast Bolas's Citadel by paying .
Play Emergence Zone from the top of your library.
Activate Emergence Zone by paying , tapping, and sacrificing it.
Cast Repay in Kind from the top of your library by paying seven life.
Holding priority, cast Lich from the top of your library by paying 4 life.
Lich entering the battlefield, causing you to lose life equal to your life total.
Resolve the Repay in Kind, causing each player's life total to become equal to the lowest life total among all players.

Result

Infinite lifeloss

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

The fifth library slot is a free pick — use it for a second draw spell if Commander's Sphere is unavailable, such as Night's Whisper or Grim Tutor to chain into the pile. There is no real budget substitution for Doomsday itself here; the entire combo is the pile. The 24-life prerequisite is the hard constraint — Doomsday halves life rounded up, Bolas's Citadel and Repay in Kind consume the rest, so enter with less than 24 and the math collapses before Lich resolves.

Doomsday + Commander's Sphere + Bolas's Citadel + Emergence Zone + Repay in Kind + Lich

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

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