Shilgengar, Sire of Famine + Restless Apparition + Hardened Academic

Shilgengar, Sire of Famine

Restless Apparition

Hardened Academic

How it works

1. Activate Shilgengar by sacrificing Restless Apparition.
2. When Restless Apparition dies, its persist ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3. Hardened Academic triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on Restless Apparition.
4. Resolve the Shilgengar ability.
5. Repeat.

This fascinating loop turns an infinite cycle of sacrifice and rebirth into a mountain of Blood tokens. Shilgengar, Sire of Famine provides both the initial sacrifice outlet to fuel the engine and the payoff that generates a Blood token every time Restless Apparition is fed to it. Whenever Restless Apparition hits the graveyard, its persist mechanic normally brings it back with a -1/-1 counter, but Hardened Academic steps in with a crucial passive trigger: every time a card leaves your graveyard, it slaps a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control. Because the +1/+1 counter immediately neutralizes the incoming -1/-1 counter through state-based actions, Restless Apparition emerges completely clean and ready to be sacrificed to Shilgengar all over again.