The Jolly Balloon Man + Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor + Zealous Conscripts

The Jolly Balloon Man

Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor

Zealous Conscripts

How it works

1. Activate a mana-producing creature by tapping it, adding at least 1.
2. Activate The Jolly Balloon Man by paying 1 and tapping it, targeting the mana-producing creature.
3. Ertha Jo triggers, copying The Jolly Balloon Man's ability, targeting Zealous Conscripts.
4. Resolve the copy of The Jolly Balloon Man's ability, creating a token copy of Zealous Conscripts that is a 1/1 Balloon with haste.
5. When Zealous Conscripts enters the battlefield, it triggers, untapping The Jolly Balloon Man.
6. Resolve the Jolly Ballon Man ability from step 2, creating a token copy of the mana-producing creature that is a 1/1 Balloon with haste.
7. Activate the mana-producing creature token by tapping it, adding at least 1.
8. Repeat from step 2.

This clever loop thrives on Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor doubling activated abilities that target creatures, turning a single use of The Jolly Balloon Man into a dual-target spectacle. By aiming the original activation at your mana producer and the copied ability at Zealous Conscripts, you generate an accelerating army of hasty threats. Each time the Zealous Conscripts token enters, its trigger untaps The Jolly Balloon Man to keep the engine roaring, while the parallel copies of your mana source provide the fuel needed to pay for it all.