<p>A player and his or her creatures are separate things. Dealing combat damage to a creature does not count as dealing combat damage to that creature's controller, and vice versa. Also, regarding your last sentence, a player never deals damage to anything, only sources controlled by that player, such as spells and creatures.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-08T07:28:27.573Z
Thank you for the clarification. I have been playing Bloodthirst incorrectly and activating it when combat damage was dealt to a creature belonging to an opponent. Wasn't sure if it had to be dealt directly to the player.
Damainman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-08T07:08:58.953Z
2013-07-08T07:08:58.953Z
Hackworth
<p>For cards like <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=368537" rel="nofollow">Vampire Outcasts</a> or <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=366455" rel="nofollow">Shadow Slice</a>, does Bloodthirst/Cipher only activate when combat damage is dealt directly to a player? For example, if an opponent blocks my attacking creature then the combat damage is dealt to the creature and not the "player", correct?</p>

<p>Should I be thinking in terms of since the player and the creature are separate then any combat damage dealt to a creature is not the same as a combat damage dealt to the player?</p>

<magic-the-gathering>
Clarifying combat damage to player with abilities like Bloodthirst and Cipher
Damainman
# Clarifying combat damage to player with abilities like Bloodthirst and Cipher

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-07-08)

For cards like [Vampire Outcasts](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=368537) or [Shadow Slice](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=366455), does Bloodthirst/Cipher only activate when combat damage is dealt directly to a player? For example, if an opponent blocks my attacking creature then the combat damage is dealt to the creature and not the "player", correct?

Should I be thinking in terms of since the player and the creature are separate then any combat damage dealt to a creature is not the same as a combat damage dealt to the player?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-07-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

A player and his or her creatures are separate things. Dealing combat damage to a creature does not count as dealing combat damage to that creature's controller, and vice versa. Also, regarding your last sentence, a player never deals damage to anything, only sources controlled by that player, such as spells and creatures.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for the clarification. I have been playing Bloodthirst incorrectly and activating it when combat damage was dealt to a creature belonging to an opponent. Wasn't sure if it had to be dealt directly to the player.  

---

