Too true. And, Ed would probably consider using alchemy a loophole too ;) And, if he couldn't use alchemy... well, he still knows the chemical make-up of all kinds of things; I'm sure he could MacGyver some terrifyingly awesome solutions. ...I'm thinking of a "Mustang challenged him not to" situation here, but, you know, CoS needed some chemical MacGyvering too.

--(...Especially if he could pull a loophole on the Gate. That would be epic.)--

Yes! Especially given all of Dante's loophole abuse of the Gate.