Judgment Bolt – Final Fantasy
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.83
Casual: 3.65
Limited: 3.83
Multiplayer: 3.40
Commander [EDH]: 3.60
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
We’ve had plenty of spells similar to Judgment Bolt over the years, playing around with different sets’ themes for their bonuses. This card most obviously goes with the job equipment that’s such a big part of the Final Fantasy set (Warrior’s Sword and the like), but it works well beyond that environment. Equipment is still a big hit in casual play after all these years, and its extra damage clause will often punish opponents quite severely. It’s a little on the expensive side for tournament Magic, though it’s not out of the question that a deck might find space for it at some point. Some of the more aggressively-costed job equipment is very aggressive indeed – Black Mage’s Rod being the most obvious example – and five damage for four mana is technically cost-efficient.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Another “general reference with a specific home”, Judgment Bolt has long been Ramuh’s associated attack as a summon, and this Judgment Bolt calls to his “dominant” in Final Fantasy XVI, Cid. The card itself is an interesting sort of “piggyback” off of the red-adjacent “equipment matters” theme they’ve been leaning hard into for Final Fantasy, delivering both a jolt to a creature and to its controller. For the most part, the main attraction is a “four mana deal 5” kind of deal, which is acceptable at instant speed (though maybe not ideal, but in a pinch it’s workable), but don’t underestimate the damage this can do if you have a board going. It’s definitely not going to be a star, but a kill spell that also usually throws some damage at an opponent’s face is a pretty decent route to go with.
Constructed: 3 (I think there are better options overall)
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Thijs
You have to give it to Wizards. They keep trying to make Equipment work. And you know what? It’s starting to grow on me. I played a few FF drafts and the Job Select equipment cards aren’t half bad actually.
Furthermore, there is the Cloud commander precon, which is built completely around Equipment. And it goes quite hard; I can tell you that. A little tweaking here and there and you have yourself a very merry deck. Looking a little further, we also have Captain America; Nahiri, Forged in Fury and Akiri, Fearless Voyager. Big cards with big potential.
Add to that Judgment Bolt. A pricey burn spell, but a powerful one. If at any moment you wanna get rid of a big threat and hit the threat’s owner at the same time, look no further. In some cases it will even be enough to hit your opponent with lethal damage.
It’s a Chandra’s Fury on steroids, and I like it.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3,9
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3,6
Commander [EDH]: 3,8
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