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Bloodthirsty Aerialist

Creature — Vampire Rogue

Flying
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Foundations Jumpstart
Price
$0.31
EDHREC rank
#6327
Buy on TCGplayer
Bloodthirsty Aerialist card art
Bloodthirsty Aerialist turns every life gain trigger into a +1/+1 counter on a flying body, and in dedicated life gain decks that clock adds up fast. The cost is real — three mana for a 2/3 that does nothing the turn you play it without a second piece — but Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose both generate enough incidental life gain that Bloodthirsty Aerialist snowballs into a legitimate air threat within a turn or two.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

43.7% of decks · synergy 0.42

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose converts every point of life gain into opponent life loss, which means every damage trigger also feeds Bloodthirsty Aerialist's counter ability — the two cards are essentially reading off the same trigger list.

02
Astarion, the Decadent

Astarion, the Decadent

31.9% of decks · synergy 0.30

Astarion, the Decadent drains opponents for life on attack, generating a steady stream of life gain events that stack +1/+1 counters on Bloodthirsty Aerialist turn after turn without any additional infrastructure.

03
Dina, Soul Steeper

Dina, Soul Steeper

16.9% of decks · synergy 0.16

Dina, Soul Steeper pings opponents whenever you gain life, so Bloodthirsty Aerialist slotting in adds a parallel payoff — the same triggers that grow the Aerialist also deal damage through Dina.

04
Licia, Sanguine Tribune

Licia, Sanguine Tribune

14.5% of decks · synergy 0.14

Licia, Sanguine Tribune rewards front-loading life gain in a single turn, and a stacked Bloodthirsty Aerialist presents an evasive threat that pressures opponents while Licia does her cost-reduction work.

05
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

11.8% of decks · synergy 0.11

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic generates life gain every upkeep from the command zone, giving Bloodthirsty Aerialist a reliable counter per turn cycle even when the board is otherwise empty.

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 Bloodthirsty Aerialist is actually built for — life gain synergies are common enough that the Aerialist can reliably accumulate counters across a long game, and flying lets it close out matches that would otherwise stall. In Modern and Pioneer it's strictly outclassed: three mana for a conditional payoff creature doesn't compete with the speed of those formats, and life gain decks there lean on Soul Warden and Ajani's Pridemate lines that close games faster. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters for obvious reasons. Bloodthirsty Aerialist is a Commander card through and through — evaluate it only in that context.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.31 bulk tier

At $0.31, Bloodthirsty Aerialist is bulk, and there's no pressure driving that price up. Pick it up freely — it's the kind of card that sits in bulk boxes at every LGS.

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Sources

Mentioned

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