That is what I thought, seeing as the loop is technically not infinite.

I don't know what FNM judges Camerony670 spoke with, but I personally used my similar build (Life is a Resource) last Friday, abusing the combo to place second, without a single peep from opponents or judges.

i dont get 4x the crypt ghast. without any high drops, by the time he's out there probably isn't a lot left in your hand, right? hes a combo piece with mana reqs off the goldmage and extort but still that to seems like a weakest of the combo aspects in the deck. Dont get me wrong I'm stoked this looks sweet and i dig crypt ghast but theres a lot of other things id rather see than 2 crypt ghasts, i (personally) see it as more of a 2 of than a 4 of

I used to have it as a two of and I think I might drop one or two of him and add Griselbrand . But, he works very well if I cast him on turn 4, I can then proceed to play Exquisite Blood and activate the guildmage's ability after I attack all on turn five. If I have four swamps out, I can even pay extort and win the game right there, especially because his ability stacks if two are on the field and I will never have trouble activating the guildmage's second ability and casting other spells on the same turn, so very very useful. But like I said, I probably will drop at least one of him. I'm also considering High Priest of Penance , so I'll have to make more cuts to make room for him.

lol if you were planning on winning with the infinite life loop, you CAN win with it, so long as you can kill 1 of the effects before it resolves. Viskopa won't work because 1ce his effect is activated, it'll continue after his death, but Keening Apparition or Cursebreak will stop Exquisite Blood 's eff from working meaning the loop will stop. It's a bit situational but it WILL get you the awesome loop and win rather than just drawing.

Those cards would not be worth adding to my deck because they are so situational. Also, Exquisite Blood stops working when the opponent's life reached zero, so the loop would end on its own because they cannot lose any more life once their life total hits zero.

the eff does not stop once their life hits zero it is a mandatory action therefore it would continue ifinitely causing the game to end in a draw.

I don't even care about whether or not it is an infinite combo. I like the idea and if it is an infinite combo, which I do not believe it is, a draw is a good fallback. While playing this deck, I have found that I gain so much life, I can take most attacks and simply kill them with my creatures and use either Exquisite Blood or Vizkopa Guildmage individually if you think it would cause a draw. I still like the deck idea, and I am not going to argue whether or not the combo is infinite.

I agree the cards i said were situational... VERY situational... but maybe side in some Keening Apparition s when playing agaisnt a deck that runs enchants and just troll ur opponent by using it's eff when you have the right conditions if you want. I never meant with those suggestions that this combo is viable, but it's worth considering for the sideboard

Check out Travis Woo's Black Tide its on channel fireball and you tube with a demonstration. Its a little better at doing what your deck dose. My version is Black Tide of darkness The premise is you use heartless summoning to get crypt ghast out early and you copy it with either evil twin or clone and as your tapping mana you are gaining that many black mana symbols in your pool which you use for extort. Chromatic lantern is what makes it work better but you have to see the video on YouTube, it shows in depth this deck gets to like 6 lands and after dropping Griselbrand at 5 and never gives your opponent another turn.

Vault of the Archangel ? does all the work of the frontline medic guildmage and nighthawk combo mentioned above

By leaving my lands at 22, I need all of them to be colored and as many dual lands as I can have because this deck is not exactly the lowest mana cost and I can't afford to get screwed if I pull a colorless land. My other options would be to eliminate other actual cards for Vault, which I am not willing to do. But thanks fir the suggestion anyway.

I would like to inform everyone that I have contacted Wizards of the Coast and confirmed that Vizkopa Guildmage and Exquisite Blood do not form an infinite combo. This is an official combination and this deck works one hundred percent the way it is supposed to. Here is a copy of the email:

Discussion Thread Response Via Email (Support Agent) 04/16/2013 07:52 AMHello, Magic Fan!

Thanks for writing in. By having Exquisite Blood in play and activating Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability, an "infinite combination," or game ending loop, does not result. What happens is this: Say you gain life -- this will put Vizkopa Guildmage's ability on the stack. Once this resolves, Exquisite Blood's ability will trigger. Once that resolves, Vizkopa Guildmage's ability will trigger and so on. Since they don't infinitely trigger all at once, the enemy would end up losing the game due to life loss.

I suggest taking a look at comprehensive rule 104.4b and read about loops: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/. It reads "If a game thats not using the limited range of influence option (including a two-player game) somehow enters a loop of mandatory actions, repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action dont result in a draw."

Since there is a way to stop (player loses), this would not be a loop that would result in a draw. Please let us know if you have any further questions!

We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

To login to your account, or update your question please click here.

AaronOnline Response CrewWizards of the Coast1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)425-204-8069 (From all other countries)Monday-Sunday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST

Like the deck! Even if you don't get you combo with Exquisite Blood and Vizkopa Guildmage then you will have hopefully gained so much life as to just outlast you opponent. +1!

Everyone please check out my new deck Growth Problems and Assassins (Advice Appreciated). As I said it's new so it'll need some reconstruction, thanks!

Lovely deck, +1 from me. I can recommend Vault of the Archangel and High Priest of Penance they work very well in my deck Exquisite Extort, still looking for advise on that and will update deck list soon.

Have you though about any of the new Dragon's Maze cards like Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts or Blood Baron of Vizkopa ? I am also tempted to add some other shock lands to splash either Red for Boros Charm or Green for Putrefy and Ready / Willing the lifelink deathtouch indestructible combo is Sweet with high priest and thy Anything at all when your surprise blocking with the Ready half.

Thanks for the +1. I have considered Vault, but decided in the end that I need to have essentially all colored lands seeing as I have have fewer than usual for my average CMC, and that is also why I included as many dual lands as I could. Though Vault is great, it unfortunately cannot ft into my deck.

High Priest of Penance , however, is a different story and I am definitely looking to incorporate that card into my deck. I have been thinking about it for a while now and I would like to include two of him, but I still need to choose two cards to cut for him.

I have not yet considered Dragon's Maze cards, and I will probably not for a little while at least because the decks works well as it is. Unless something comes up that I MUST HAVE in my deck or a new threat arises where I need to alter my deck build, I will probably not try to incorporate Dragon's Maze in for a little while.

Very nice deck, but how does it do against a fast mill?

Thank you. Of course all decks have their weaknesses. Milling is really an issue for any deck except a very quick aggro deck. It does alright. That is definitely a tougher matchup and very frustrating. I will definitely Oblivion Ring their Jace and that slows down the milling a lot. For those types of decks, I really just try to get off that game ending combo. I'm considering adding in Nevermore in the sideboard and naming some of their key cards like Snapcaster and Mind Sculpt .

Nice deck, I really think the life drain mechanics is the quintessential Orzhov. I'd really like to try some of those cards in my deck, but they're just too expensive (Obzedat, Ghost Council , Geralf's Messenger , and especially Griselbrand )

Is there anything new u can add with the arrival of Dragon Maze?

Immortal Servitude may serve your Geralf's Messenger well, if you have no Thrull Parasite ability available? Specially if combined with Blood Artist & your Vizkopa Guildmage / Rhox Faithmender combo.

I'm working on a similar themed deck (my first standard deck), lemme know what you think: Life Into Death (STD)

Get rid of the four Exquisite Blood and bump Blood Artist and Geralf's Messenger up to four each. Those two cards are both stalls in the best way. They're incredible, and only having two of each is limiting yourself. Also, lower Rhox to three copies and add a second Griselbrand , you'll rarely ever see him if you're only running one, and he's your end-game win-con. Good luck. :]

Thanks, and I would like to add another Griselbrand , but it is Exquisite Blood that activates the game winning combo, so I need them in there. I would, however, like to up the Blood Artist and I think I'll drop Thrull Parasite to do it.

The reason I say to drop Exquisite Blood is because Wizards of the Coast has banned the Exquisite Blood Vizkopa Guildmage combo from play, under the reasoning of it being an "uncontrolled" infinite loop, because neither you, nor your opponent can stop it once it starts. It's also too high of a drop to be counting on. It just slows down this otherwise quick deck. Thrull Parasite is a good one drop, with Extort, which is always nice, and it is definitely useful to remove that +1/+1 from Geralf's. I wouldn't dump the Thrull, but that's just me.

I actually contacted Wizards of the Coast and their reply was:

Response Via Email (Support Agent) 04/16/2013 07:52 AMHello, Magic Fan!

Thanks for writing in. By having Exquisite Blood in play and activating Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability, an "infinite combination," or game ending loop, does not result. What happens is this: Say you gain life -- this will put Vizkopa Guildmage's ability on the stack. Once this resolves, Exquisite Blood's ability will trigger. Once that resolves, Vizkopa Guildmage's ability will trigger and so on. Since they don't infinitely trigger all at once, the enemy would end up losing the game due to life loss.

I suggest taking a look at comprehensive rule 104.4b and read about loops: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/. It reads "If a game thats not using the limited range of influence option (including a two-player game) somehow enters a loop of mandatory actions, repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action dont result in a draw."

Since there is a way to stop (player loses), this would not be a loop that would result in a draw. Please let us know if you have any further questions!

We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

To login to your account, or update your question please click here.

AaronOnline Response CrewWizards of the Coast1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)425-204-8069 (From all other countries)Monday-Sunday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST

So in fact, it is a perfectly legal, game-winning, finite loop. I might put Thrull Parasite back in, I'm working it out.

Just to add a bit to the discussion, the combo itself isn't that unstoppable. There are ways to prevent it (my combo's been stopped more than once). The more people are using this combo, the more other players will figure out ways to stop it (Skullcrack comes to mind).