Blood Cultist
Creature — Human Wizard
: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by this creature this turn dies, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Shards of Alara
- Price
- $0.34
- EDHREC rank
- #16323
Blood Cultist kills creatures for free as long as you keep pinging — it trades incremental damage for outright removal, which is a strong deal on a three-mana body. Kelsien, the Plague is its best home by a wide margin, stacking experience counters while the Cultist cleans up anything that survives a tap.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kelsien, the Plague
Kelsien, the Plague pings a creature every turn, and Blood Cultist converts those pings into kills — the two cards form a tight loop where Kelsien grows an experience counter and the Cultist removes the now-dead target, all at no extra mana cost.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Blood Cultist actually lives — the format's slower pace lets you accumulate ping-damage over multiple turns, and Kelsien, the Plague builds are specifically designed to exploit exactly this loop. In Legacy, Modern, and Vintage it's technically legal but competes with far more efficient removal and creature options, making it a non-starter in those formats. Blood Cultist is a niche piece built for a niche Commander strategy, and outside of that context it doesn't earn a slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.34 bulk tier
At $0.34, Blood Cultist is deep bulk — grab it without thinking if you're building the Kelsien, the Plague deck. Bulk rares at this price don't appreciate meaningfully unless they break into a competitive format, which isn't happening here, so treat it as a cheap functional piece and move on.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.