Kenrith, the Returned King + Smothering Tithe + Doubling Season + Parallel Lives

4-card combo · WUBRG

Verdict

Yes — this 4-card loop decks opponents out by forcing repeated draw triggers they can't answer while Smothering Tithe pays for every activation.

Cards required: 4
Cheapest stack total: $30.46
Color identity: WUBRG
Popularity: 227 decks
Format: Commander

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Kenrith, the Returned King's draw ability costs 3U; with Smothering Tithe, Doubling Season, and Parallel Lives all on the battlefield, each opponent draw that goes unpaid creates four Treasures, exactly refunding the next activation. The combo asks opponents to either hold up 2 mana every single turn or die to a self-sustaining draw loop — in the late game, that's usually a death sentence.

Recipe

How it works

Prerequisites

An opponent cannot pay for Smothering Tithe's trigger. Eventually the opponent will lose the game due to drawing from an empty library. You can repeat this loop with other opponents that also cannot pay for Smothering Tithe's trigger.

Steps

Activate Kenrith's fourth ability by paying , causing an opponent who cannot pay for Smothering Tithe's trigger to draw a card.
Smothering Tithe triggers, causing you to create four Treasure tokens due to Doubling Season and Parallel Lives.
Activate the Treasures by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
Repeat.

Result

Infinite draw triggers for any number of opponents; Infinite card draw for any number of opponents

Variations

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

The engine needs all four permanents, which makes it fragile against targeted removal — losing either Doubling Season or Parallel Lives halves the Treasure output below the 3U threshold and stalls the loop entirely. Replacing one of the doublers only works if the other is already on board; the cleaner fix is running Smothering Tithe in a dedicated Kenrith shell with enough protection like Counterspell or Deflecting Swat to keep the pieces alive through a single loop.