Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Nicol Bolas

Nicol Bolas

Nicol Bolas

Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon · {2}{U}{U}{B}{B}{R}{R} · Black/Red/Blue commander

Flying At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Nicol Bolas unless you pay {U}{B}{R}. Whenever Nicol Bolas deals damage to an opponent, that player discards their hand.
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What Nicol Bolas actually does

Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.

What a Nicol Bolas deck needs

Plays as combat trigger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

The Nicol Bolas deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

Best cards for Nicol Bolas

Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.

Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers

  1. Rogue Class2 mana
  2. Archetype of Imagination6 mana
  3. Eldrazi Monument5 mana
  4. Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar3 mana
  5. Goblin War Drums3 mana
  6. Akroma's Memorial7 mana
  7. Don Andres, the Renegade4 mana
  8. Archetype of Aggression3 mana

Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch

  1. Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive2 mana
  2. Glaring Spotlight1 mana
  3. Wonder4 mana
  4. Reverse the Polarity3 mana
  5. Cultist of the Absolute1 mana
  6. Inquisitorial Rosette2 mana
  7. Predators' Hour2 mana
  8. Rogue Class2 mana

Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it

  1. Reality Shift2 mana
  2. Wild Magic Surge2 mana
  3. Pongify1 mana
  4. Rapid Hybridization1 mana
  5. Resculpt2 mana
  6. Defile1 mana
  7. Tragic Slip1 mana
  8. Infernal Grasp2 mana

Find the exact card the plan needs

  1. Demonic Tutor2 mana
  2. Diabolic Intent2 mana
  3. Vampiric Tutor1 mana
  4. Imperial Seal1 mana
  5. Demonic Consultation1 mana
  6. Grim Tutor3 mana
  7. Tainted Pact2 mana
  8. Scheming Symmetry1 mana

Answer a spell or ability before it resolves

  1. Mindbreak Trap4 mana
  2. Fierce Guardianship3 mana
  3. Force of Negation3 mana
  4. Force of Will5 mana
  5. Flare of Denial3 mana
  6. Pact of Negation0 mana
  7. An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
  8. Arcane Denial2 mana

Answer a whole board at once

  1. Toxic Deluge3 mana
  2. Damnation4 mana
  3. Blasphemous Act9 mana
  4. Chain Reaction4 mana
  5. Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
  6. Street Spasm1 mana
  7. Sickening Dreams2 mana
  8. Crypt Rats3 mana

Refill your hand

  1. Mystic Remora1 mana
  2. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
  3. Skullclamp1 mana
  4. Curiosity1 mana
  5. Wizard Class1 mana
  6. Black Market Connections3 mana
  7. Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
  8. Morbid Opportunist3 mana

Keep a permanent you control alive through removal

  1. Hexing Squelcher2 mana
  2. Lost in the Maze2 mana
  3. Lightning Greaves2 mana
  4. Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
  5. Eldrazi Monument5 mana
  6. Commander's Plate1 mana
  7. Dragonologist3 mana
  8. Mithril Coat3 mana

Get ahead on mana

  1. Sol Ring1 mana
  2. Dimir Signet2 mana
  3. Izzet Signet2 mana
  4. Rakdos Signet2 mana
  5. Palladium Myr3 mana
  6. Worn Powerstone3 mana
  7. Chrome Mox0 mana
  8. Everflowing Chalice0 mana

Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →

Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables. Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing