Zilortha, Strength Incarnate is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Trample Lethal damage dealt to creatures you control is determined by their power rather than their toughness.
Complete guide
Zilortha, Strength Incarnate is a powerhouse Dinosaur that flips the traditional rules of combat on their head. By allowing your creatures to survive based on their power rather than their toughness, it turns offensive stats into your best defense. This legendary creature ensures that your high-power threats stay on the board much longer than your opponents might expect.
What It Does
Zilortha, Strength Incarnate possesses Trample and a unique static ability that changes how lethal damage is calculated for creatures you control. Normally, a creature is destroyed if the damage marked on it is equal to or greater than its toughness. With Zilortha on the battlefield, the game checks that damage against the creature's power instead. This applies to all forms of damage, including combat damage and spells that deal direct damage.
How It Resolves Step by Step
When a creature you control is dealt damage, the damage is marked on that creature as normal. During state-based actions, the game checks if that marked damage is 'lethal.' Because of Zilortha, the game compares the damage to the creature's power. If the damage is less than the power, the creature survives. However, if Zilortha leaves the battlefield, the game immediately reverts to checking toughness; if the marked damage already on a creature now meets or exceeds its toughness, that creature will be destroyed.
Common Mistakes
A common misconception is that Zilortha affects effects that reduce toughness to 0, such as -1/-1 counters or 'Grasp of Darkness.' Zilortha only modifies the rules for lethal damage; a creature with 0 toughness is put into the graveyard as a state-based action regardless of its power or any damage marked on it. Additionally, a creature with 0 power is not destroyed by Zilortha's effect unless it has at least 1 damage marked on it.
When to Play It
Zilortha is best utilized in decks featuring creatures with high power but low toughness, commonly referred to as 'glass cannons.' By playing Zilortha, you effectively increase the 'health' of these creatures to match their strength, making them much harder to remove via damage-based spells or combat.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumSolemn Simulacrum is a 2/2 creature. Under normal circumstances, 2 damage would destroy it. While Zilortha, Strength Incarnate is on the battlefield, the game checks its 2 power to determine lethality. If an effect gives it +2/+0, making it a 4/2, it would now require 4 damage to be destroyed, even though its toughness remains 2.
Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne is a 4/4 creature. If you choose 'Dinosaur' as it enters, it benefits from Zilortha's ability. If Roaming Throne is dealt 3 damage, it survives as usual. However, if its power is reduced to 2 (making it a 2/4) while that 3 damage is still marked on it, the 3 damage becomes lethal because it exceeds the new power of 2, and Roaming Throne will be destroyed.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Zilortha, Strength Incarnate
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Any time the game is checking whether damage is lethal or if a creature should be destroyed for having lethal damage marked on it, use the power of your creatures rather than their toughness to check the damage against. This includes being assigned trample damage, damage from Flame Spill, and so on.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
A creature with 0 power isn’t destroyed unless it has at least 1 damage marked on it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
A creature with 0 toughness is put into its owner’s graveyard. This state-based action isn’t a consequence of damage, so Zilortha doesn’t affect it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Because damage remains marked on a creature until the damage is removed as the turn ends, nonlethal damage dealt to a creature you control may become lethal if Zilortha enters or leaves the battlefield during that turn.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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