Sheoldred // The True Scriptures
Menace on a 4/5 Praetor that forces each opponent to sacrifice a nontoken creature or planeswalker as it lands would be a fine top of the curve on its own, an edict in the lineage of the mono-black sacrifice spells that have punished creature decks since the earliest sets. But this is a two-stage payoff, and the second stage is gated on attrition: the flip cost only activates once an opponent has eight or more cards in their graveyard, which reframes the card from a standalone threat into a reward for letting the game grind long enough that everyone has committed a board and spent a hand. The Saga side escalates in cruelty and, crucially, feeds itself. Chapter I removes a creature or planeswalker from each opponent, Chapter II forces each of them to discard three and mill three, and Chapter III drags every creature card from all graveyards onto your side of the board. The sequencing is the whole trick: Chapter II fattens the graveyards that Chapter III then plunders, so the Saga stocks the pool it later loots. When it completes, it exiles and returns front-face-up, resetting the loop. It is a design that treats the graveyard not as a resource opponents hoard but as a shared reservoir you empty for yourself, and the cruelty is procedural: it makes opponents spend, then takes what they spent.
Rules text
: Exile Sheoldred, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery and only if an opponent has eight or more cards in their graveyard.
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(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — For each opponent, destroy up to one target creature or planeswalker that player controls.
II — Each opponent discards three cards, then mills three cards.
III — Put all creature cards from all graveyards onto the battlefield under your control. Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield (front face up).
