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Vein Ripper

Creature — Vampire Assassin

Flying
Ward—Sacrifice a creature.
Whenever a creature dies, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{3}{B}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
mythic
Set
Murders at Karlov Manor
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#2493
Buy on TCGplayer
Vein Ripper card art
Vein Ripper hits the table and immediately taxes every opponent's removal, sacrifice, and combat math — six power with ward (sacrifice a nontoken) means killing it costs more than most decks want to spend. Pair it with Warren Soultrader and you get a repeatable sacrifice outlet that drains the table while Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad turns each assassination into a cascading death trigger.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

41.7% of decks · synergy 0.38

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad assassinates creatures and stacks corruption counters, and Vein Ripper converts every death in that engine into a drain-one-gain-one for each opponent — the two cards reward the same behavior and compound fast.

02
Massacre Girl, Known Killer

Massacre Girl, Known Killer

35.5% of decks · synergy 0.31

Massacre Girl, Known Killer wants creatures to die in volume, and Vein Ripper turns that mass-death engine into a life-drain machine, punishing opponents for each token or utility creature that hits the graveyard.

03
Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Ezio Auditore da Firenze

27.6% of decks · synergy 0.27

Ezio Auditore da Firenze is built around targeted kills and deathtouch synergies, and Vein Ripper slots in as a finisher that drains the table every time Ezio's assassination plan executes.

04
Maha, Its Feathers Night

Maha, Its Feathers Night

30.5% of decks · synergy 0.26

Maha, Its Feathers Night cares about life totals swinging — both paying life and gaining it — and Vein Ripper's death trigger generates that life-loss-and-gain loop on demand, feeding Maha's damage output.

05
Strefan, Maurer Progenitor

Strefan, Maurer Progenitor

21.9% of decks · synergy 0.21

Strefan, Maurer Progenitor puts Vampires into play for free off Blood tokens, and Vein Ripper is the premier Vampire body to cheat in — six power with ward that drains the table the moment it arrives or anything else dies.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Vein Ripper does its best work — three opponents multiplies every death trigger, and the ward cost is brutal in a format where removal is already stretched thin. In Modern and Pioneer, it sees play in Rakdos sacrifice shells and reanimator strategies, where cheating it into play at sorcery speed on turn three or four ends games before opponents stabilize. Legacy has faster threats and more efficient interaction, so Vein Ripper competes for a slot rather than defining the deck. Standard and Oathbreaker are both legal homes, though in Standard it lives and dies by whether sacrifice payoffs exist in the format at the time.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

2,020 decks
Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianNest of ScarabsVein Ripper

Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianNest of ScarabsVein Ripper

Near-infinite -1/-1 counters; Near-infinite card draw; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers; Near-infinite lifeloss; Near-infinite lifegain

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Current pricing data for Vein Ripper isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the live number. As a mythic rare with strong Commander, Modern, and Pioneer demand across multiple archetypes, expect a price reflecting that cross-format pull.

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Sources

Mentioned

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