Stronghold Rats

Symmetrical discard built on an asymmetrical delivery system. The trigger hits both players each time it connects, which on paper reads as a wash, but shadow is the part that breaks the symmetry: a creature that can be blocked only by other shadow creatures is, in nearly every game, effectively unblockable. So the wheel keeps spinning, turn after turn, both hands emptying at the same pace but with the controller having chosen when to start it and what to hold back. The friction is the body itself, a 2/1 that dies to almost anything that can physically reach it, which most decks cannot, paired with a clock that strips hands rather than dealing meaningful damage. This is a stax piece wearing a creature's clothes. The plan is to land it early, grind both grips down to nothing, and operate from an empty hand more comfortably than the opponent does (effects that thrive in topdeck mode, or that reward an empty hand, turn the symmetry into an advantage). Shadow itself is a vanishingly rare evasion mechanic, an isolated combat subsystem where the only relevant interaction is mirror-matched against other shadow creatures, which is exactly why a fragile body can reliably land the same discard trigger across an entire game without ever being touched.