Ashnod's Altar + Puppeteer Clique + Hardened Academic

Ashnod's Altar

Puppeteer Clique

Hardened Academic

How it works

1. Activate Ashnod's Altar by sacrificing Puppeteer Clique.
2. When Puppeteer Clique dies, its persist ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3. Hardened Academic and Puppeteer Clique trigger.
4. Resolve the Hardened Academic trigger, putting a +1/+1 counter on Puppeteer Clique.
5. Resolve the Puppeteer Clique trigger, allowing you to put a creature card from an opponent's graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
6. Repeat.

This sinister loop revolves around sacrificing Puppeteer Clique to Ashnod's Altar for a steady stream of colorless mana, which simultaneously sends the Clique to the graveyard to set up its persist ability. Because Hardened Academic watches your graveyard closely, any card leaving it triggers a +1/+1 counter placement that effortlessly neutralizes the -1/-1 counter coming back with the Clique. This harmonious cancellation keeps the persist safety net permanently active while letting Puppeteer Clique repeatedly raid your opponents' graveyards for an unstoppable army of stolen threats.