Olivia, Mobilized for War + Harvester of Souls + Phantom Train

Olivia, Mobilized for War

Harvester of Souls

Phantom Train

How it works

1. Activate Phantom Train by sacrificing the persist creature.
2. When the persist creature dies, it and Harvester of Souls trigger.
3. Resolve the Harvester of Souls trigger, causing you to draw a card.
4. Resolve the persist creature's trigger, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
5. When the persist creature enters the battlefield, Olivia triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on the persist creature and causing you to discard a card.
6. Resolve the Phantom Train ability.
7. Repeat.

This intricate loop transforms a creature with persist into an engine for endless value by carefully balancing death and rebirth. When you feed your persist creature to Phantom Train's sacrifice ability, its persist trigger and Harvester of Souls's death trigger both go on the stack, allowing you to draw a card while the creature prepares to return. As the persist creature enters the battlefield, Olivia, Mobilized for War steps in to grant it a +1/+1 counter and haste while triggering a discard, which instantly cancels out the creature's -1/-1 counter and resets its ability to die and repeat the cycle all over again.