The Battlefield

Aetherflux Reservoir

$18.75

Exquisite Blood

$15.48

AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Aetherflux Reservoir + Exquisite Blood

Overview

Activate Aetherflux Reservoir by paying 50 life as part of the activation cost (paying life is losing life under ). When that activated ability resolves it deals 50 damage to the chosen target and causes that player to lose 50 life (), which will trigger Exquisite Blood and, when Exquisite Blood's trigger resolves, you will gain that much life ().

Step 1

You activate Aetherflux Reservoir’s activated ability and pay its cost of 50 life; paying life is losing life and you may only do so if your life total is at least 50 ().

Step 2

After paying the cost the activated ability is on the stack and later resolves, causing Aetherflux Reservoir to deal 50 damage to the chosen target; the 50 damage causes that target player to lose 50 life and life totals are adjusted accordingly ().

Step 3

Exquisite Blood sees an opponent lose life and its triggered ability triggers (its trigger is “Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life”). The Exquisite Blood triggered ability goes on the stack and will resolve in turn ().

Step 4

When Exquisite Blood’s triggered ability resolves you gain life equal to the life the opponent lost (you gain 50 life in this case) and life totals are adjusted accordingly ().

Step 5

Net result for one successful activation that resolves and deals damage is that you paid 50 life when activating and then gained 50 life from Exquisite Blood when its trigger resolved, returning you to your pre-activation life total (assuming no other effects).

Resolution

You may pay 50 life to activate Aetherflux Reservoir only if you can pay that cost (); when the ability resolves it deals 50 damage and causes an opponent to lose 50 life, which triggers Exquisite Blood and will cause you to gain 50 life when that trigger resolves (). The net result of one activation (if it resolves and the opponent actually loses life) is that you pay 50 life and then gain 50 life from Exquisite Blood, so you can repeat the activation as long as you can legally pay the 50-life activation cost each time (). Note the warning in Ruling [2012-05-01]: if losing life events (including the payment or the damage) cause your life total to become 0 or less such that you would lose the game before Exquisite Blood's triggered ability can resolve, Exquisite Blood will not save you (Ruling [2012-05-01]).

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