Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Kitchen Finks + Thermopod

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Kitchen Finks

Thermopod

How it works

1. Activate Thermopod by sacrificing Kitchen Finks.
2. When Kitchen Finks dies, its persist ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3. When Kitchen Finks enters, it triggers, causing you to gain 2 life.
4. Activate Thermopod by sacrificing Kitchen Finks.
5. When Kitchen Finks dies, its undying ability triggers, returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
6. When Kitchen Finks enters, it triggers, causing you to gain 2 life.
7. Repeat.

This brilliant loop hinges on the clever interaction between two opposing counter mechanics and a lord who changes the rules. When Kitchen Finks enters the battlefield, it gains life, and feeding it to Thermopod sends it to the graveyard, where its persist ability brings it back with a -1/-1 counter. However, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed grants the creature undying, creating a counterbalancing effect; the next time the Finks dies, the +1/+1 counter from undying cancels out the existing -1/-1 counter through state-based actions. Because this reset leaves the creature with no counters on it once again, sacrificing it repeatedly to Thermopod generates an endless engine of red mana, life, and triggers.