Skullclamp + Pitiless Plunderer + Stridehangar Automaton + Engineered Plague

4-card combo · B

Verdict

Yes — this 4-card loop draws the library with one mana per cycle and floods the board with near-infinite Thopter deaths in any black sacrifice shell.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$5.69

Color identity

Popularity

1 decks

Format

Commander

Buy required cards on TCGplayer

Engineered Plague reduces the 1/1 Thopter Pitiless Plunderer creates to a 1/0, which immediately dies as a state-based action after Skullclamp equips to it for 1 mana, refunding that mana through the Treasure and drawing two cards. Every iteration generates a new Thopter from Stridehangar Automaton's death trigger, keeping the loop alive indefinitely. Black aristocrats lists running Teysa Karlov, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, or any commander that rewards creature deaths are the natural home.

How it works

Prerequisites

You control a creature with toughness equal to 1.

Steps

Activate Skullclamp by paying , attaching it to a creature with toughness equal to 1.
The creature dies as a state-based action due to having 0 or less toughness, triggering Skullclamp and Pitiless Plunderer.
Resolve the Skullclamp trigger, causing you to draw two cards.
Resolve the Pitiless Plunderer trigger, creating a Treasure token and a 1/1 Thopter artifact creature token.
Activate the Treasure by tapping and sacrificing it, adding .
Repeat.

Result

Infinite card draw; Near-infinite ETB; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Any repeatable source of 1/1 tokens with a toughness-reduction effect can substitute pieces — Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat converts the near-infinite deaths into a kill without needing the full draw chain. If Engineered Plague is removed at instant speed the loop collapses, so redundancy with Necromentia targets or a second anthem-negative effect like Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines is worth the slot in dedicated builds.

Skullclamp + Pitiless Plunderer + Stridehangar Automaton + Engineered Plague

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

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