All other planeswalkers fear Bolas. He can
destroy them as his +3 ability! No other
planeswalker can gain loyalty in such amounts
(though calling it "loyalty" feels wrong in
Bolas's case) and get such a powerful effect for
it. His second ability is equally absurd, and
comboes nicely with his first-- once he hits the
board, he can immediately dispatch the biggest
threat on the table regardless of what it is. I
also like that his starting loyalty is high
enough for him to steal two creatures in a row
and still live to start blowing up noncreatures.
As though stealing the two best creatures on the
board wasn't powerful enough!
I forget what his third ability does. It doesn't
even matter. He's hilariously amazing even
without a third ability.
Bolas is still around and he's still every bit
as powerful as the last time you saw him. If you
were familiar with Conflux or the Duel Deck from
last year, you pretty much know how this guy
operates; there are very few decks that can
operate effectively once he hits the field, and
it's very hard for a lot of decks to get him off
the field once he's on it. (You'd think someone
as self-serving as Bolas might start with lower
loyalty, but maybe it represents his enthusiasm
for hurting people? I dunno, I'm kind of
reaching right now.) If not . . . get used to
it. You're going to be damaged by him or damage
someone with him at some point. Bolas more than
lives up to his reputation, to his history as
the greatest and last Elder Dragon, and to the
expectations of any kind of Magic player or
format.
Today's card of the day is Nicol Bolas,
Planeswalker which is an eight mana Red, Black,
and Blue five loyalty Planeswalker. The +3
destroys a target non-creature permanent which
is quite powerful against other planeswalkers
and by bringing him to eight loyalty makes him
quite difficult to remove. The -2 can be
used to clear the way for an alpha strike or
just to add a blocker as without Haste the
creature can't attack that turn. The -9
which can hit on the third turn it is in play
should lead to a win as the damage, loss of
options, and presence on the battlefield is a
lot to recover from. The big concern is
running a deck with all three mana and getting
this into play earlier than the eighth or ninth
turn as outside of Multiplayer the game is
usually over by then. Overall a strong
card that requires a fairly specific design to
manage the three colors and cost.
For Limited this is a bomb, but one that forces
you into at least splashing a third color and
needing a solid base of Black with either Blue
or Red as a secondary which means drafting an
appropriate pool can be difficult in Booster and
depends on luck in Sealed. The difficulty
in running this doesn't prevent it from being a
first pick card in Booster, it just requires
dedicated drafting to work with it.
Anything that can search or provide another
color of mana is a huge benefit and makes it
much easier to play in an earlier stage of the
game. In Sealed the Black pool is most
important, but can be splashed if absolutely
necessary if the Red and Blue pools are
noticeably better.
Welcome to
a new week of card of the day reviews here at
Pojo.com. We are kicking this week off with a
look at the main man himself, Nicol Bolas. Nicol
Bolas Planeswalker is a mythic rare planeswalker
Nicol Bolas. Nicol Bolas costs four generic, one
red, one blue, and two black mana. Nicol Bolas
enters the battlefield with five loyalty
counters. Nicol Bolas has a +3 loyalty ability
that says destroy target non-creature permanent.
Nicol Bolas has a -2 ability that says gain
control of target creature. Nicol Bolas’ final
is a -9 that says Nicol Bolas Planeswalker deals
seven damage to target player. That player
discards seven cards and sacrifices seven
permanents.
I love Nicol Bolas. He is the master evil, and
all of his abilities showcase that. I was really
hoping that there would be a new version of
Nicol Bolas for M13, but we are just regiven an
oldie but goodie. While an eight mana drop will
never see serious play in tournaments or Limited
play, he is one of the coolest for older formats
that allow much shenanigans.
Utilizing Bolas with proliferate or Guilder Bairn
are some of the best ways of ensuring that
things always go your way. The goal is to get
the final ability off as quickly as possible.
Should you have the mana, Guilder Bairn creates
a crazy combo that goes well with all
planeswalkers, and especially Bolas.
No matter how you like to use Bolas, he can be
devastating. Destroy lands, grab creatures, wipe
the field, it’s all at your disposal while you
are enlisting the aid of Nicol Bolas.
I wish there would be more decks that take advantage of
Nicol Bolas in Standard play, but his mana cost
is the drawback.
