Risen Necroregent

This 5/4 sits at the far end of a bargain most black finishers never have to make: it wants you to already be winning before it pays out. Speed climbs only on turns where you drain or connect, so the counter creeps from its opening tick to the max of four only after you have applied real pressure three separate times. That structure inverts the usual black grind. Rather than a static value creature that plods along regardless of the board, this one hands you tokens as compensation for aggression already spent, not as the fuel to start being aggressive. Cross the threshold and each of your end steps spits out another 2/2 Zombie, so a single threat that stuck becomes a board the opponent has to answer again and again. The ceiling is genuine but conditional. Against a fog plan or a ground stall where you simply cannot make an opponent lose life, the counter stalls short and you are holding a plain 5/4 with dormant text. Against anything already sliding backward, it compounds a lead you built with your own attacks. It is a payoff priced for a game tilting your way, offering nothing to a game that refuses to tilt.