Oh....oh my...I just realized that the guild mage's second ability scales with the number of players in a game when you pay an extort trigger. If I am in a 4 player game (me + 3 opponents), I trigger this girl here then cast a spell and pay a single extort trigger I end up gaining 3 life and all my opponent's lose 4 life. That's disgusting. I want 4.
Don't forget to cast that second ability multiple times, to double, triple(etc) it's effect and lead to victories even without Exquisite Blood infinite-ness.
Use Crypt Ghast for extra manas, Play Obzedat, Ghost Council and let him cycle out. Next turn you can pay (2)(B)(B)(W)(W) to trigger the 2nd ability of this card twice, in response to Obzee returning to the battlefield. You gain 2 life, which deals 4 dmg to your opponent. Obzedat can attack now and if you give it lifelink some more of your extra black manas and even if you get blocked they still take 10 dmg from you gaining 5 life. If they don't block they're at 1hp and i'm sure extort has proc'd before so that's probably game.
Best guildmage imho, just super abilities and they're rightly costed. 5/5
Bookmeister
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Can't wait to throw this in my Selesnya deck. With Rhox, Trostoni, Armada Worm, and this gal out I can tap her and 3 mana and throw down Cloudshift for 1 mana and BOOM! I gain 20 and my opponent loses 20.
Curlie-Joe
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
That 2nd ability is just nuts.
Purplerooster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the better guildmages with synergistic abilities. 3.225/5.
Kelptic183
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I think my favorite part of this card is the fact that whatever she's wearing on her face looks way too much like sunglasses to me. I like to imagine that she's Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter's girlfriend.
Taudisban
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@lorendorky I'd love to see the non-Alaran wedges. I feel like Golgari and Simic can play well together, and detain is only going work wonders with battalion. Borzhov also has potential, and Dimir's milling could potentially make a three color frites style reanimator more playable. RUG and WBG don't seem as viable, though.
Ferlord
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Oh no guys, this isn't exactly like Sanguine Bond: This is better.
See? "EACH opponent loses that much life". As in, by some chance that you are playing against 3 other players in EDH and you extort just once, each opponent will lose 4 life instead of one.
My word - that second ability is monstrous. Obviously very good with the new extort mechanic, but has anyone considered what this could do in a soul sisters/martyr deck? Most of those decks already run flagstones of trokair. Swap out 4 plains for 4 godless shrines (which can then be fetched with the flagstones), add in a few of these, plus maybe an immortal servitude or two. All your cards are still white for the purpose of martyr of sands, and the life gain that can be generated by that deck is enough to kill an opponent in a turn or two if you activate this. Maybe not main deck material, but sounds like a solid alternate win condition for the sideboard. Widening the decks mana base also gives access to tide hollow sculler and lingering souls. Awesome.
Exquisite Blood, some Cathedral Sanctifier, and Beacon of Immortality. Just at the top of my head.
Quantumbiologist
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
good excuse to give an opponents creature lifelink if your running Rain of Gore // False Cure or just combos nicely if you have life gaining creatures.
Mistralis
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
That first ability will bring you through the first few turns, and still support you in the last. The second one is amazing late-game, helps finish off opponents with double extort, as you shouldn't really care about lifegain at that point if you're Orzhov. Together, they're amazing- gaining life+opponents losing that+extort And finally, if all else fails, she provides a steady two damage (with lifelink, maybe :D) if your opponent can't block, kill most one-drops, and be a great blocker.
Splizer
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Those two abilities work great with Alms Beast; your life-giving lumberer can now mach your opponent in life gain and help take a butt-ton more away even when it's chump-blocked.
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Martyr of Sands. Because why play fair when you don't have to. >.<
If you are a cokehead Timmy for Lifegain, here is a skeleton list:
In no way tweaked, since it's relying on broken-ish interactions anyway. BtW, for Nighthawk, there is a one-drop White Enchantment that lets it block an additional creature that I'm too lazy to look up. I'm putting it in my EDH deck because Gaurdian of the Gateless has done so well for me I want another. :)
Thornhillforge
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
One time, me and a bunch of my friends were playing a gigantic 12 or so player game. I was playing a sneaky Azor's Elocutors deck. I had forged a strong alliance and was about to start getting filibuster counters. When all of a sudden one of the players I had payed no attention to announced that we had all lost infinite life, and he had gained infinite life times twelve. Exquisite blood is evil in big games. If anyone loses life or if he gains life, we all die. Fun fun.
GhostCounselor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
IMO, this is the best of the guildmages in RtR/GC. The mana cost is very efficient and fair for such abilities, and if done right (and helped by cards like Crypt Ghast)) you can absolutely obliterate people in games you otherwise would have lost. The synergy between the two abilities is perfect for the color combination, and fits perfectly with the guild mentality of taking life. I'm definitely a fan. A must have.
AtArms
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Necropotence + Venser's Journal + this in EDH, sweet. Also Hydra Omnivore with, say, Loxodon Warhammer + this (EDH again, of course), epic things.
nabit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
... so i got into a 7 man free-for-all today... killed everyone except 1 person who surrendered turn 6. dealt 14 damage each in that turn. ended with 43 health(while getting focused). This card also works good in combination with Rhox Faithmender assuming you didn't get exquisite blood out. ***ed off everybody at the table too...
TowerDefender
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Crypt Incursion or Gnaw to the bone in a mill or self-mill deck / hoof re-animator as an alternate win-con ?!! Edit: just not when it is just Lingering Souls , other instant token generators in their gy
Shadowcaster3975
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Now that Dragon's maze is out.
Guildmage second ability + Debt to the deathless for 5 = WIN for {6 C}{B}{B}{B}{W}{W}{W}.
Sunspring Expedition! While probs a bit less reliably bonkers than some of the other suggestions here - I made a decent semi-creatureless control/combo deck that builds up Expeditions, Golden Urns and other pop-for-lifegain permanents, then slams the Guildmage down for 5 and pops everything. It's less resilient than using Sanguine Bond as a win-con, but it feels more fun somehow.
As a couple other folks mentioned, Tainted Sigil is a star player in that build as well. It'll double your damage for each one on the field (usually 2, by the time I get the Guildmage down!) and in multiplayer, with even one Sigil on the board, unless life totals have got out of hand, you can kill all your friends by popping a single Elixir of Immortality.
SebastianH
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card's second ability played with Crypt Incursion ensures a win if you are using a mill deck.
NobuTheBard
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
1. Necropotence, or any other card that allows you to pay a large amount of life without a mana cost. You won't actually need to draw the cards. If you have more life than any given opponent, pay as much as the opponent with the highest life has life remaining.
2. Activate Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability. This costs {1}{W}{B}.
3. Sacrifice Children of Korlis to gain all of your spent life back, dealing that much damage to all opponents.
(Optional: if you didn't have a life lead) 4. Phyrexian Reclamation, or any other spell that returns a creature from your graveyard to your hand or play (but this one is cheap and repeatable). Return your Children to your hand for {1}{B} and 2 life, play them again for {W}. Sacrifice them again to double up on damage (+2 if you used Phyrexian Reclamation), and get a huge lead on all opponents.
It's complicated, but a lot of components can have other non-ideal things take their place, merely increasing the mana cost required to manage it. Once the pieces are on the board it operates at instant speed. Most importantly, it tends to get overlooked compared to Sanguine Blood and such combos. Not bad for a combo with a rare, an uncommon, and a common. I use it in a casual Extort Commander/EDH deck.
kinghydra510
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So what exactly IS a guildmage? I mean what do they do in the guild?
DeathFromAbove-1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guildmage screams "Kill Me" Oh you didn't hear it? =) This guildmage scares the shit out of me
bobw123
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Kinghydra510 Guildmages are just the average spell casters for the guild. Not as powerful as more important commanders or planeswalkers, but they still are able to use magic, not just weapons.
thePROJECTION
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How to kill everyone in multiplayer: step 1: play guildmage step 2: play gray merchant step 3: activate second ability step 4: Proceed to not have friends
You can easily do this with 4 or 5 lands if you have crypt ghast out.
Comments (37)
Use Crypt Ghast for extra manas, Play Obzedat, Ghost Council and let him cycle out. Next turn you can pay (2)(B)(B)(W)(W) to trigger the 2nd ability of this card twice, in response to Obzee returning to the battlefield. You gain 2 life, which deals 4 dmg to your opponent. Obzedat can attack now and if you give it lifelink some more of your extra black manas and even if you get blocked they still take 10 dmg from you gaining 5 life. If they don't block they're at 1hp and i'm sure extort has proc'd before so that's probably game.
Best guildmage imho, just super abilities and they're rightly costed. 5/5
See? "EACH opponent loses that much life". As in, by some chance that you are playing against 3 other players in EDH and you extort just once, each opponent will lose 4 life instead of one.
So start seeing goofy mana-ramp
The second one is amazing late-game, helps finish off opponents with double extort, as you shouldn't really care about lifegain at that point if you're Orzhov.
Together, they're amazing- gaining life+opponents losing that+extort
And finally, if all else fails, she provides a steady two damage (with lifelink, maybe :D) if your opponent can't block, kill most one-drops, and be a great blocker.
If you are a cokehead Timmy for Lifegain, here is a skeleton list:
Martyr of Sands x 4
Elixir of Immortality x4
Chalice of Life x4
Vizkopa Guildmage x4
Tainted Sigil x4
Vampire Nighthawk x4
Basilisk Collar x4
Ajani Goldmane x4
Isolated Chapel x4
Godless Shrine x4
Marsh Flats x4
In no way tweaked, since it's relying on broken-ish interactions anyway. BtW, for Nighthawk, there is a one-drop White Enchantment that lets it block an additional creature that I'm too lazy to look up. I'm putting it in my EDH deck because Gaurdian of the Gateless has done so well for me I want another. :)
Exquisite blood is evil in big games. If anyone loses life or if he gains life, we all die.
Fun fun.
Guildmage second ability + Debt to the deathless for 5 = WIN for {6 C}{B}{B}{B}{W}{W}{W}.
Made even easier to ramp into with the mana rocks from this block.
As a couple other folks mentioned, Tainted Sigil is a star player in that build as well.
It'll double your damage for each one on the field (usually 2, by the time I get the Guildmage down!) and in multiplayer, with even one Sigil on the board, unless life totals have got out of hand, you can kill all your friends by popping a single Elixir of Immortality.
2. Activate Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability. This costs {1}{W}{B}.
3. Sacrifice Children of Korlis to gain all of your spent life back, dealing that much damage to all opponents.
(Optional: if you didn't have a life lead)
4. Phyrexian Reclamation, or any other spell that returns a creature from your graveyard to your hand or play (but this one is cheap and repeatable). Return your Children to your hand for {1}{B} and 2 life, play them again for {W}. Sacrifice them again to double up on damage (+2 if you used Phyrexian Reclamation), and get a huge lead on all opponents.
It's complicated, but a lot of components can have other non-ideal things take their place, merely increasing the mana cost required to manage it. Once the pieces are on the board it operates at instant speed. Most importantly, it tends to get overlooked compared to Sanguine Blood and such combos. Not bad for a combo with a rare, an uncommon, and a common. I use it in a casual Extort Commander/EDH deck.
This guildmage scares the shit out of me
step 1: play guildmage
step 2: play gray merchant
step 3: activate second ability
step 4: Proceed to not have friends
You can easily do this with 4 or 5 lands if you have crypt ghast out.