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Commander Nexus
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  3. Nicol Bolas

Command zone

Nicol Bolas

Nicol Bolas

Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon

Nicol Bolas wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also works in a deck built around Dragons or Elders.

  • Mana cost2 genericblueblueblackblackredred
  • Blue, Black, Red ()
  • Power / toughness7 / 7
  • RarityRare

Flying

At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Nicol Bolas unless you pay blueblackred.

Whenever Nicol Bolas deals damage to an opponent, that player discards their hand.

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Archetypes
Themes

Cards That Fit Nicol Bolas

Picked for what they do in Nicol Bolas's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Nicol Bolas's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

Does what Nicol Bolas does6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Nicol Bolas

explain how Nicol Bolas works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 1 Oct 2009

Nicol Bolas's third ability triggers whenever it deals damage to an opponent for any reason. It's not limited to combat damage.

1 ruling, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Nicol Bolas, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBRPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black, R for red. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageOpponent DiscardMakes opponents discard cards from their hands. In a format where everyone starts with seven and refills slowly, stripping a hand can be harder to recover from than losing a creature. Windfall, Sword of Feast and FamineOpen the Opponent Discard pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion page