The Jolly Balloon Man + Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor + Deceiver Exarch

The Jolly Balloon Man

Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor

Deceiver Exarch

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 Deceiver Exarch.
4. Resolve the copy of The Jolly Balloon Man's ability, creating a token copy of Deceiver Exarch that is a 1/1 Balloon with haste.
5. When Deceiver Exarch 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 delightful loop turns Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor into a magical multiplier for The Jolly Balloon Man, letting you double up activation targets whenever you craft a new Balloon. By pointing one half of that copied ability at Deceiver Exarch, the resulting token enters the battlefield and untaps The Jolly Balloon Man so the whole process can begin anew. Meanwhile, the other half of the copied ability duplicates your chosen mana-producing creature, generating the exact funds needed to sustain the activation cost on the next iteration.