Hollowborn Barghest

The whole engine hangs on a condition most decks spend the game avoiding: an empty hand. Hellbent-era payoffs usually rewarded the empty grip with a discount or a one-shot bonus on a single spell; this inverts the structure into a recurring clock that fires on both upkeeps, ticking two life off each opponent every turn you stay in topdeck mode and another two off any opponent who runs themselves dry. That symmetry is the wrinkle. The second trigger does not care whose deck the body is in: an opponent who empties their own hand under pressure starts bleeding to your demon dog whether you set that up or not. The tension is that the payoff and the cost point the same direction. Seven mana buys a 7/6 that idles on your upkeep while you hold cards, and dumping your hand is exactly what most threats this expensive are supposed to refill. The drain pays off only inside a shell that has already committed to the empty grip as its plan: discard, burn, and a curve that wants to be hellbent by the time this lands as a finisher. The upkeep timing is what closes the trap, because both damage triggers check before either player draws and switches them off. Run on fumes and the triggers tick; hold cards and the 7/6 just swings while the drain sits idle.