Does Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood draw the game?

Asked by vashaclarens 7 years ago

I have a deck with a win-con of Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood. My friend swears up and down that it draws the game because the official rules say that if two cards trigger each other but neither of them says "may", it's an infinite combo and the game is a draw. I say that it's a finite combo that ends once there are no opponents who have life (as 0 life = death is a state based action that happens immediately.

The problem is she literally will not accept anybody's word except for the actual developers of magic, and she won't accept my interpretation of the official rules because of the "inifinite combo immediately draws the game" rule.

Can anybody help me? It's honestly exhausting arguing this with my friend, so I've just pulled the cards from my deck, but I'd rather like to be able to use these cards that i payed for.

Epochalyptik says... #1

104.4b If a game that's 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.

Note the phrase "with no way to stop." If the repeating loop causes your opponent to lose the game (assuming a two-player game for simplicity's sake), the it does have a way to stop: it ends when that player loses and you win.

If there's an extenuating circumstance that would prevent the loop from ending the game after some number of repetitions (e.g., your friend has Platinum Angel and won't lose the game due to the life loss, then the game ends in a draw because the loop repeats and nauseam.

Edit: to add to this, and as you point out, state-based actions are performed each time a player would get priority, including before any spell or ability resolves, so the losing player will be removed and allow the game to end even if abilities are still on the stack.

May 15, 2017 3:15 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #2

You might also suggest to your friend that if the game ended any time two abilities triggered each other, many combo decks wouldn't be legal. The fact that they are is a good indication that they comply with rules.

May 15, 2017 3:17 p.m.

Tyrant-Thanatos says... Accepted answer #3

It only ends the game in a draw if it would go on forever. Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood ends when the opponent dies.

If something changes this fact, say your opponent controlling a Platinum Angel, then it would end the game in a draw.

The official rule is as follows:

104.4b If a game that’s 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 don’t result in a draw.
The important bit is the "no way to stop" part. when the opponent runs out of life and dies, the combo stops. Therefor there is a way to stop it, and the game does not end in a draw.

Edit: Am too slow. Epochalyptik beat me too it.

May 15, 2017 3:19 p.m. Edited.

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