Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight + Marionette Apprentice + Phantom Train

Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight

Marionette Apprentice

Phantom Train

How it works

1. Activate Phantom Train by sacrificing Marionette Apprentice.
2. When Marionette Apprentice dies, its persist ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3. When Marionette Apprentice enters, its fabricate ability triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on it.
4. Resolve the Phantom Train ability.
5. Repeat.

This clever loop turns Phantom Train into a relentless sacrifice engine, chewing through Marionette Apprentice over and over by feeding it to the Vehicle. Because Isilu, Carrier of Twilight (the back face of Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn) grants your other nontoken creatures persist, every time Marionette Apprentice hits the graveyard, it bounces right back with a -1/-1 counter. That dying trigger also immediately prompts Marionette Apprentice's own death-loss ability, draining your opponents to zero while its fabricate ability steps in to drop a +1/+1 counter on it upon re-entry—canceling out the persist counter so the whole gruesome cycle can start anew.