Dragon and 'announcing' the Infinite Loop

[M]

102.6. If the game somehow enters a “loop,� repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw.

Situation:
My opponent has a single Worldgorger Dragon in graveyard.
There are no other creatures in any graveyard.
I have Cloud of Faeries (with cycling) in hand, and two mana open.
My opponent plays Animate Dead.

What happens when he plays the Animate Dead? Is the game a draw immediately upon resolution of the Animate Dead, or do I get priority at some later point? If I cycle my Cloud of Faeries in response to the Animate Dead on the stack, then the game is clearly not a draw, because the loop will now contain an optional action for him. But shouldn't I be allowed to wait and see what he does with the Dragon and the mana? Maybe he has Cunning Wish. Or maybe he has a Compulsion in hand and can win the game only if he can end the loop whenever he wants to. In that case I shouldn't cycle the Cloud, and settle for the draw instead. But since I can't see his hand, I don't even know if he is going for an infinite loop or not, until he tells me so. Can I cycle the Cloud at this point and win? Both seem somehow unfair. But when is the infinite loop 'announced' by the active player, if ever?

[Pyromaniac]

He announces Animate, you'll likely respond with cycling to try and find a counterspell. if you don't, Animate goes on the stack and the loop begins. If he's not forced to do anything he's probably announce that he'll do it an indefinite number of times and the game ends in a draw.

If however, during the loop somewhere, you cycle cloud, his ability to just sit back and do nothing has just stopped, since his animate has another target now, and if it's possible to end the loop, he must.

[DEA]

not quite, actually
in both cases mentioned the faeries go into the graveyard and cause a stoppage

in the case of the infinite loop, i always ask my opponent
1. are you tapping for mana?
this tells me if he's going off or he's going for the draw
2. if so, how much?
i can then let him choke down the mana burn

hth

[M]

in the case of the infinite loop, i always ask my opponent
1. are you tapping for mana?
this tells me if he's going off or he's going for the draw
2. if so, how much?
i can then let him choke down the mana burn

If he is tapping for mana, then he is probably winning anyway.
But what if he isn't tapping for mana. How many times does he have to 'not' tap for mana before announcing his intention to enter the loop? Do I get to cycle the Cloud at this point? And then what if he has Compulsion in hand, couldn't he change his mind about the draw loop, tap for mana, animate my Cloud, cast Compulsion, and win?

[Dante]

The dragon player is in a good spot here.  If he wants to draw the game, he can simply start the loop and not tap for anything each time.  If you don't do anything (like cycle the cloud of faeries), the game is a draw.  

If you do cycle it, since there is now an option for ending the loop, the dragon player could start tapping for mana (if he had a wish or compulsion in his hand), let you know how many times he would be doing that, then animate the cloud and cast away.

Bill

[fluffy]

If the dragonplayer has a compulsion in play, he will win, not even trying to make it a draw. if he has a wish on the hand, he will probably just try to win the game as well, via wish --> stroke. Because if you do not stop him right away he can be pretty sure about you not being able to do anything about his wish either.

So, if he has any of the tools he will win, otherwise you choose if the game will end up in a draw or if the game shall go on with a 1/1 flier on the dragonplayers side of the table.

[Dante]

If the dragonplayer has a compulsion in play, he will win, not even trying to make it a draw. if he has a wish on the hand, he will probably just try to win the game as well, via wish --> stroke. Because if you do not stop him right away he can be pretty sure about you not being able to do anything about his wish either.

So, if he has any of the tools he will win, otherwise you choose if the game will end up in a draw or if the game shall go on with a 1/1 flier on the dragonplayers side of the table.

he was saying, what if the compulsion was in his hand - for example, the Fish player had lethal damage on the table and the Dragon player could only had enough mana to cast animate to try and draw instead of getting another turn - OR - due to wastes and/or null rod, the dragon player only has 1 underground sea as a mana source and the dragon player uses a dark ritual to cast the animate, hoping for a draw because they felt their board position would only get worse while the fish player drew cards......