Infinite Death
A black/white (Orzhov) combo deck, designed to be a brutal counter to aggro decks. It gets its name from the infinite interaction that takes place between the two cards Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood. Due to the mana needed to cast these enchantments, some control elements are necessary to ensure you can reach that point. This deck is a little unusual, as it has 0 creatures. Many decks have a lot of offensive spells/abilities that target creatures. So, NOT having any creatures means that all those cards in their deck, that serve that purpose, are wastes of space (Murder, for example). That, in and of itself, could be considered a control element. You could be making certain cards in your opponent's starting hand completely useless, giving you an instant card advantage. Of course, if you go in for round #2, that trick probably won't work a second time. In my years of experience with this deck, I can assure you that people usually make some huge side-board swaps, and come back prepared to deal with that aspect of the deck (swapping cards like Despise to Duress). Anyway, here's the breakdown:
Win Condition
Seems like the best place to start. As already mentioned, this deck revolves around the Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond
combo. Once both of these enchantments are on the battlefield, any life you gain, or any life your opponent loses, instantly ends the game. Even if your opponent (somehow) has 1,000 life, and you have 1 life, the result of this combo will steal every single point of life they have, until they hit 0.
Control Elements
A combo I've used in a couple decks, Holy Day + Isochron Scepter
is the bane of any deck that relies on combat damage to win, IE most decks. So long as you keep two mana up during every enemy turn, you can prevent them from dealing any combat damage to you, indefinitely. I've personally stalled other decks for 5+ turns, preventing them from doing anything meaningful, while I waited to draw an essential card. Does not prevent "burn" spells that deal direct damage, nor abilities that behave in a similar way.
The scepter combo may act as a metaphorical dam, while the opponent continues to add more creatures to the battlefield. Wrath of God allows you to wipe out every creature they have, effectively resetting the execution of their game-plan.
Nettlevine Blight is not something that you want to rely on, but it can be the nail in the coffin in late game; slowly eating through your opponent's creatures and lands.
Pacifism is your answer to decks that manage to play powerful creatures early, though it is effective at any phase of the game. Another tool in the ol' toolbox, to counter decks that rely on combat damage.
Supporting Cards
Diabolic Tutor: Very simple, with obvious advantages. If you're one card away from doing something significant, this card can fill in that gap.
Reviving Dose: A nice, dual-purpose card that can be used to end the game (once both enchantments are out), or delay your opponent's victory by gaining some life, while getting an extra card in your hand.
Sacred Nectar: Another way to end the game, or just gain some life to buy yourself time to execute your game-plan.
Exsanguinate: Another way to end the game, or delay your opponent by stealing life from them. The advantage of this one is its variable cost, making it a nice mana-sink if you have nothing else to do in late game. The advantage to this spell is that you can double either its damage, or the amount of life it steals, if you have one of your two enchantments on the board. If cast with Sanguine Bond in play, it does 2x the damage. If cast with Exquisite Blood in play, it does 2x the healing.
Weaknesses
Surely, no deck in this game is both legal AND perfect, and this deck is no exception. Any spell or ability that can destroy artifacts or enchantments is going to make things tough for you. Return to Nature is like holy water to this vampire-like deck. If someone has Platinum Angel on the battlefield, your combo can be delayed. Of course, decks that are heavy with "counter-spells" can also give you a hard time. Blue and Green are, generally, the most threatening colors to this deck.
Final Notes
Delay. Delay. Delay. Delay. Kill.
That is the best way to think of, and play, this deck. It only strikes once but, when it does, that's the end. It should be noted that, while I listed your healing spells as an option to "delay" your opponent, you should hang on to (at least) one of them, as you'll need it to finish things off. You don't want to finally get Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood into play, only to realize you have no healing spells to trigger them.
If you wanted to improve the deck, but make it illegal in Modern, you could swap out Diabolic Tutor for Demonic Tutor. Much more powerful, doing the same thing for half the mana cost. I took it out in order to make this deck legal in Modern.
What Do You Think?
I welcome any/all thoughts and criticisms. If you have any idea of how to improve this deck, let me know. If you like it, and think it's a good idea, please click on that "Upvote" button. :)
