Price$0.96 – $19.31
Buy on TCGplayerZulaport Cutthroat
Creature — Human Rogue Ally
LegalRank #233
Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
1/1
Why is this card good?
Why it's good: Zulaport Cutthroat is the gold standard "drain on death" payoff and a staple of aristocrats decks. It turns every creature death into a reliable drain that hits all opponents — meaning in a four-player game, each death pings for 3 total damage. Combined with sacrifice outlets and recurring fodder (Blood Artist, Bastion of Remembrance, etc.), it stacks into lethal swings without needing combat.
Who wants it: Any sacrifice/aristocrats commander — Teysa Karlov (which doubles the trigger), Meren, Korvold, Yawgmoth, Chatterfang. It's also a combo finisher: pair it with a free sac outlet plus a creature that returns itself (Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar) for infinite drain.
When NOT to play it: Skip it in decks without consistent creature death — voltron, spellslinger, or go-wide token decks that never sacrifice anything. It's purely a payoff, not an enabler, so it's dead weight without sac outlets or fragile bodies to feed it.
The lifegain is incidental upside; the real value is multiplying death triggers.
Related cards
Blood Artist
Nearly identical aristocrat drain on any creature death.
Bastion of Remembrance
Enchantment version of the same drain effect, harder to remove.
Cruel Celebrant
Drains opponents when your creatures die, same role.
Falkenrath Noble
Drains on any creature death, including opponents'.
Corpse Knight
Pings on creatures entering rather than dying, complementary drain.
Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
Drains on ETB and death, two-way aristocrat payoff.
Midnight Reaper
Card draw engine on nontoken creature deaths in aristocrats decks.
Massacre Girl, Known Killer
Death payoff drawing and enabling sacrifice synergy.
Printings (12)
Played by these commanders
Anowon, the Ruin Thief100% of 1
Jirina Kudro100% of 1
Hazel of the Rootbloom100% of 1
Nalia de'Arnise100% of 1
Dina, Essence Brewer100% of 1
Rulings (1)
- 2021-03-19
If another creature you control dies at the same time as Zulaport Cutthroat, its ability triggers for that creature.