Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight + Highspire Artisan + Phantom Train

Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight

Highspire Artisan

Phantom Train

How it works

1. Activate Phantom Train by sacrificing Highspire Artisan.
2. When Highspire Artisan dies, its persist ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3. When Highspire Artisan enters, its fabricate ability triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on it.
4. Resolve the Phantom Train ability.
5. Repeat.

This elegant loop hinges on Isilu, Carrier of Twilight—the transformed back side of Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn—granting persist to your nontoken creatures, which allows Highspire Artisan to cheat death by returning with a -1/-1 counter whenever it falls. Once Highspire Artisan is back on the battlefield, its fabricate 1 ability triggers to place a +1/+1 counter on it, which immediately neutralizes the existing -1/-1 counter through state-based actions so the cycle can repeat indefinitely. You fuel this engine by feeding Highspire Artisan to Phantom Train's sacrifice ability, turning the train into an animated Spirit artifact creature while stacking infinite death, sacrifice, entry, and leave-the-battlefield triggers along with unbounded +1/+1 counters.