Chainer's Torment MTG Card

Chainer’s Torment provides surprising board impact by creating a sizeable creature from its saga mechanic. Flexible in black-centric decks, its life-manipulating feature complements various gameplay approaches Strategically countered by removal spells and life gain, mitigating its intimidating creature creation.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment — Saga
Released	2018-04-27
Set symbol
Set name	Dominaria
Set code	DOM
Number	82
Frame	2015
Layout	Saga
Border	Black
Illustred by	Vincent Proce

Text of card

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.) I, II — Chainer's Torment deals 2 damage to each opponent and you gain 2 life. III — Create an X/X black Nightmare Horror creature token, where X is half your life total, rounded up. It deals X damage to you.

Cards like Chainer's Torment

Chainer’s Torment stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a saga with the potential to alter the dynamics of the game. This card trails the footsteps of enchantments like Trespasser’s Curse and painful lesson, which both deal damage to opponents while granting the controller a form of advantage. Unlike Trespasser’s Curse, Chainer’s Torment doesn’t target individual opponents each time they summon a creature, but instead escalates over time, setting up for a dramatic effect on the final saga chapter.

Alongside Chainer’s Torment, we can consider the card Bitterheart Witch, which also offers a delayed but inevitable negative effect to opponents by searching for a Curse card on its demise. Nonetheless, Bitterheart Witch delivers its impact in a single instance, whereas Chainer’s Torment builds up the suspense over several turns. Finally, looking at a card like Exquisite Blood, we find a recurring advantage from opponent life loss, though it’s a repeated effect rather than an accumulative one as seen with Chainer’s Torment.

In weighing these comparisons, it’s clear that Chainer’s Torment finds a niche within MTG, offering a merge of anticipation and impact that is somewhat unique among its peers.

Cards similar to Chainer's Torment by color, type and mana cost

Feast of the Unicorn - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Chainer’s Torment offers a unique take on card advantage by enabling you to create a large creature that’s power and toughness are equal to half your life total, rounded up. This not only can surprise your opponent but also gives you a significant board presence.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing resources, the card itself functions as a two-step process. Initially, it chips away at your life total, which could be leveraged in decks that benefit from life-payment mechanics. When it transforms, you get a creature potentially much larger than the mana invested.

Instant Speed: Although Chainer’s Torment is a saga and not an instant, its final effect creates an immediate impact on the game state. Once it reaches the third lore counter, a formidable creature is instantaneously brought onto the battlefield without waiting for summoning sickness or additional costs, thus accelerating your game plan.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Chainer’s Torment necessitates parting with your valuable cards, which can hamstring your strategy, especially if your hand is already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise blend of mana, including black, which could restrict its integration into decks that aren’t tuned to this color’s mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that takes four mana, Chainer’s Torment competes with other impactful cards, and its cost could dampen its appeal when mana efficiency is paramount.

Reasons to Include Chainer’s Torment in Your Collection

Versatility: Chainer’s Torment offers a unique approach to gameplay with its life point manipulation mechanics. It can serve as a tool in black-centered decks that capitalize on life total changes and benefit from both the incremental damage and the final creature reward.

Combo Potential: This card can synergize well with strategies that involve sacrifice and recursion. The final-stage Nightmare creature can be a formidable asset to sacrifice-based decks or those employing reanimation tactics, enabling powerful combinations on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Given that black decks are prevalent in various metas, Chainer’s Torment can enhance strategies aimed at disruption or providing alternative win conditions. Its duality in affecting life totals and providing a creature aligns well with black’s slice of the metagame that thrives on versatility and impact.

How to beat

Chainer’s Torment is a black saga card that can pose a significant challenge due to its ability to create a large creature. While its first two lore counters may not seem immediately threatening, providing incremental life loss, it’s the third that calls for attention, summoning an XX black Nightmare Horror creature token, where X is half your life total, rounded up. To counter this, it is essential to manage the board effectively.

Maintaining removal spells in your hand is a strategic way to thwart the impact of Chainer’s Torment. Cards like Doom Blade or Go for the Throat can dispatch the Horror token the moment it lands on the battlefield, mitigating potential damage. Additionally, life gain strategies can dilute the effectiveness of the saga’s life sapping feature. Utilizing cards like Rest for the Weary or Renewed Faith can offset the life lost and minimize the size of the token created. Finally, enchantment removal such as Disenchant can be used to disrupt the saga before it reaches its full potential. By preemptively managing your resources and anticipating the saga’s progression, you can mitigate the torment that Chainer seeks to unleash.

In summary, smart resource management and anticipating key moments to use removal or life gain are critical strategies in overcoming the potency of Chainer’s Torment in the game.l

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Chainer's Torment MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Chainer's Torment and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Chainer's Torment has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Chainer's Torment card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2018-04-27	A chapter ability doesn’t trigger if a lore counter is put on a Saga that already had a number of lore counters greater than or equal to that chapter’s number. For example, the third lore counter put on a Saga causes the III chapter ability to trigger, but I and II won’t trigger again.
2018-04-27	As a Saga enters the battlefield, its controller puts a lore counter on it. As your precombat main phase begins (immediately after your draw step), you put another lore counter on each Saga you control. Putting a lore counter on a Saga in either of these ways doesn’t use the stack.
2018-04-27	Each symbol on the left of a Saga’s text box represents a chapter ability. A chapter ability is a triggered ability that triggers when a lore counter that is put on the Saga causes the number of lore counters on the Saga to become equal to or greater than the ability’s chapter number. Chapter abilities are put onto the stack and may be responded to.
2018-04-27	If an effect such as that of Anointed Procession causes the final chapter ability of Chainer’s Torment to create two Nightmare Horror tokens, each will deal X damage to you.
2018-04-27	If another effect causes the Nightmare Horror token’s power or toughness to be a number other than X immediately after it enters the battlefield, the amount of damage it deals to you is still X, not its modified power or toughness.
2018-04-27	If counters are removed from a Saga, the appropriate chapter abilities will trigger again when the Saga receives lore counters. Removing lore counters won’t cause a previous chapter ability to trigger.
2018-04-27	If multiple chapter abilities trigger at the same time, their controller puts them on the stack in any order. If any of them require targets, those targets are chosen as you put the abilities on the stack, before any of those abilities resolve.
2018-04-27	In a Two-Headed Giant game, the first chapter abilities of Chainer’s Torment each cause the opposing team to lose 4 life and you to gain 2 life.
2018-04-27	Once a chapter ability has triggered, the ability on the stack won’t be affected if the Saga gains or loses counters, or if it leaves the battlefield.
2018-04-27	Once the number of lore counters on a Saga is greater than or equal to the greatest number among its chapter abilities—in the Dominaria set, this is always three—the Saga’s controller sacrifices it as soon as its chapter ability has left the stack, most likely by resolving or being countered. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack.