Cauldron of Souls + Zealous Conscripts + Verdurous Gearhulk + Altar of Dementia

Cauldron of Souls

Zealous Conscripts

Verdurous Gearhulk

Altar of Dementia

How it works

1. Activate Cauldron of Souls by tapping it, giving Verdurous Gearhulk and Zealous Conscripts persist until end of turn.
2. Activate Altar of Dementia by sacrificing Zealous Conscripts.
3. When Zealous Conscripts dies, its persist ability triggers, returning itself from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
4. When Zealous Conscripts enters the battlefield, it triggers, untapping Cauldron of Souls.
5. Activate Altar of Dementia by sacrificing Verdurous Gearhulk.
6. When Verdurous Gearhulk dies, its persist ability triggers, returning itself from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
7. When Verdurous Gearhulk enters the battlefield, it triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on itself and Zealous Conscripts, and two +1/+1 counters on any other creature(s) you control.
8. Resolve both Altar of Dementia abilities, causing target player to mill cards equal to Verduous Gearhulk and Zealous Conscripts' power.
9. Repeat.

This clever loop turns the recursion of persist into a game-ending engine by using Verdurous Gearhulk and Zealous Conscripts to continuously reset each other. Cauldron of Souls grants them persist to enable the cycle, while Altar of Dementia turns their repeated sacrifices into a torrential mill that buries your opponent. The true brilliance of the combo lies in Verdurous Gearhulk's entry ability, which distributes +1/+1 counters to effortlessly cancel out the -1/-1 counters left behind by persist, allowing both creatures to safely die and return over and over again.