Rowan, Scion of War + Stensian Sanguinist // Exsanguinate + Immolating Souleater
How it works
- Activate Immolating Souleater by paying life.
- Repeat step 1 as desired.
- Activate Rowan by tapping it, reducing the cost of all black and/or red spells you cast this turn.
- Cast a copy of Exsanguinate, choosing for X to equal the amount of life you've lost this turn, but paying a total of due to Rowan.
- Resolve Exsanguinate, causing each opponent to lose X life, and you to gain life equal to the life lost this way.
This clever combo turns self-inflicted damage into a devastating swing by leveraging the synergy between life loss and mana reduction. First, you repeatedly pump Immolating Souleater using its Phyrexian red mana cost to intentionally drain your own life total, fueling the incredible cost-reduction ability of Rowan, Scion of War when you tap her as a sorcery. With your red and black spells suddenly discounted by the massive amount of life you just lost, you can cast Exsanguinate (accessed via Stensian Sanguinist's prepared side) for a minimal cash outlay of black mana while pumping its X value sky-high. Resolving the spell forces your opponents to lose massive amounts of life while simultaneously padding your own life total, finishing the game in one grand alchemical stroke.