Scuzzback Marauders + Bartolomé del Presidio + Hardened Academic

Scuzzback Marauders

Bartolomé del Presidio

Hardened Academic

How it works

1. Activate Bartolomé del Presidio by sacrificing Scuzzback Marauders.
2. When Scuzzback Marauders 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 Scuzzback Marauders.
4. Resolve the Bartolomé del Presidio ability.
5. Repeat.

This loop relies on a clever interplay of counters to turn your graveyard into a revolving door, fueled by Bartolomé del Presidio as the dedicated sacrifice outlet. Whenever you sacrifice Scuzzback Marauders, its persist ability brings it right back with a -1/-1 counter, but Hardened Academic steps in with a crucial passive trigger: as the Marauders leave the graveyard, it places a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control. Putting that counter on the Marauders immediately cancels out the -1/-1 counter through state-based actions, resetting the persist loop so you can repeat the process indefinitely.