Price$35.73 – $47.50
Buy on TCGplayerExquisite Blood
Enchantment
Legal Salt 1.59Rank #506
Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life.
Why is this card good?
Exquisite Blood is one of the most reliable lifegain payoffs in black, and it's a staple in any deck that cares about your opponents' life totals.
The headline is the infinite combo with Sanguine Bond (or Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose): opponent loses life → you gain life → they lose life → repeat until everyone's dead. Both pieces are good independently, so it's a "fair" combo that doesn't feel forced. That makes Exquisite Blood a premier finisher in lifegain, aristocrats, and group-slug decks.
Beyond the combo, it grinds value passively. Any deck with consistent opponent life loss — Edgar Markov, Vito, K'rrik, burn-adjacent builds, or aristocrats with Blood Artist effects — turns this into a steady drip of life that buys you time.
When to skip it: at five mana it does nothing on its own and provides no board impact. Don't run it in pure tokens, stax, or fast combo decks where lifegain is irrelevant. It needs an engine or a combo partner to justify the slot.
Related cards
Sanguine Bond
Infinite combo partner; converts your lifegain into opponent life loss.
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Functional Sanguine Bond on a creature, comboing with Exquisite Blood.
Cliffhaven Vampire
Deals damage on lifegain, combos with Exquisite Blood for infinite drain.
Marauding Blight-Priest
Drains opponents whenever you gain life, completing the combo loop.
Defiant Bloodlord
Vampire version of Sanguine Bond enabling the infinite-loss combo.
Epicure of Blood
Causes life loss on your lifegain, pairing for infinite combo.
Aetherflux Reservoir
Another lifegain payoff that gains life and can finish opponents.
Blood Tribute
Big lifegain/life-loss effect with similar vampiric drain theme.
Printings (6)
Played by these commanders
Clavileño, First of the Blessed100% of 1
Rulings (2)
- 2012-05-01
Damage dealt to an opponent usually causes that opponent to lose life. An opponent paying life also causes loss of life.
- 2012-05-01
If you and an opponent both lose life simultaneously, and this causes your life total to become 0 or less, you'll lose the game before Exquisite Blood's triggered ability can resolve.