Chthonian Nightmare + Eternal Witness + Capture of Jingzhou

3-card combo · BGU

Verdict

Yes — this 3-card loop locks the table out of the game with infinite extra turns in a Sultai shell.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$1.52

Color identity

BGU

Popularity

12 decks

Format

Commander

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Chthonian Nightmare bounces itself and reanimates Eternal Witness for 3 energy each loop; Eternal Witness recovers Capture of Jingzhou from the graveyard, and the extra turn that Capture grants gives the pilot the main phase needed to cast Chthonian Nightmare again. The prerequisite is a nontoken creature with mana value 3 or less — Eternal Witness itself satisfies that once the engine is running, so after the first cycle the loop is self-sustaining.

How it works

Prerequisites

You control a nontoken creature with mana value 3 or less.

Steps

Cast Capture of Jingzhou by paying , causing you to take an extra turn after this one.
Move to your next turn.
Cast Chthonian Nightmare by paying .
When Chthonian Nightmare enters the battlefield, it triggers, causing you to get .
Activate Chthonian Nightmare by paying , sacrificing a creature with mana value 3 or less, and returning Chthonian Nightmare from the battlefield to your hand, returning Eternal Witness from your graveyard to the battlefield.
When Eternal Witness enters the battlefield, it triggers, returning Capture of Jingzhou from your graveyard to your hand.
Cast Chthonian Nightmare by paying .
When Chthonian Nightmare enters the battlefield, it triggers, causing you to get .
Activate Chthonian Nightmare by paying at most , sacrificing Eternal Witness, and returning Chthonian Nightmare from the battlefield to your hand, returning a creature with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Repeat.

Result

Infinite turns; Lock

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Walk the Aeons is a cheaper functional replacement for Capture of Jingzhou if the 5-mana cost is a bottleneck, though it requires land sacrifice to set up. Any creature that recurs an instant or sorcery from the graveyard fills the Eternal Witness slot — Mnemonic Wall and Archaeomancer work, though their mana value of 4 means the sacrifice step needs a separate 3-or-less target already in the graveyard.

Chthonian Nightmare + Eternal Witness + Capture of Jingzhou

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

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