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Vizkopa Guildmage

Creature — Human Wizard

{1}{W}{B}: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
{1}{W}{B}: Whenever you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{W}{B}
Color identity
BW
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Iconic Masters
Price
$0.52
EDHREC rank
#4225
Buy on TCGplayer
Vizkopa Guildmage card art
Vizkopa Guildmage closes games on the spot: six mana activates both abilities in sequence, and any life gain after that kills every opponent simultaneously. The cost is real — two mana to arm it, four more to pull the trigger, and it dies to any removal before the trigger resolves — but Exquisite Blood makes the combo available as early as turn five, and Licia, Sanguine Tribune gives you a commander that generates the life gain to fire it without extra pieces.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Licia, Sanguine Tribune

Licia, Sanguine Tribune

40.3% of decks · synergy 0.40

Licia, Sanguine Tribune is the natural home for Vizkopa Guildmage because Licia's built-in life gain from combat and spellcasting repeatedly triggers the Guildmage's second ability, turning every attack step into a potential game-ending drain.

02
Piru, the Volatile

Piru, the Volatile

31.3% of decks · synergy 0.31

Piru, the Volatile deals damage to all non-legendary creatures when it dies, and its own ability gains you life equal to the damage dealt — Vizkopa Guildmage converts that one explosive life gain event into lethal drain across the table.

03
Liesa, Shroud of Dusk

Liesa, Shroud of Dusk

33.4% of decks · synergy 0.27

Liesa, Shroud of Dusk taxes every spell with two life, which means opponents are constantly losing life while you accumulate it — Vizkopa Guildmage turns each incremental life gain trigger during that attrition game into additional drain pressure.

04
Mister Negative

Mister Negative

31.6% of decks · synergy 0.25

Mister Negative proliferates counter-based engines that frequently generate incidental life gain; Vizkopa Guildmage plugs into that flow and converts any proliferate-fueled life gain into a board-wide drain that bypasses combat entirely.

05
Karlov of the Ghost Council

Karlov of the Ghost Council

29.2% of decks · synergy 0.23

Karlov of the Ghost Council rewards life gain triggers with +1/+1 counters and removal, and Vizkopa Guildmage sits in the same shell to ensure those same triggers also drain opponents — both cards scale directly off the density of life gain events in the 99.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Vizkopa Guildmage actually matters: the two-card kill with Exquisite Blood is a well-known line in Orzhov life gain builds, and hitting three opponents simultaneously makes the six-mana activation worth the investment in a way that one-on-one formats never justify. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's legal but irrelevant — six mana across two activations on a 2/2 with no immediate board impact doesn't compete in those formats, and the combo requires a second card that costs three mana and sees no competitive play. Oathbreaker is the only other format where Vizkopa Guildmage is worth considering, specifically as the signature spell or a support piece in a life gain shell where the game goes long enough to assemble the pieces.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.52 bulk tier

At $0.52, Vizkopa Guildmage is bulk — appropriate for a card that sees play in one format and one archetype. It's a safe pickup at this price if you're building Orzhov life gain; there's no reason to expect it to drop further given the combo demand, but no reason to stock up either.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.