Nicol Bolas owns.. this card has always owned.. and even though its though to hit and stick on the table, any combination of recursion/haste has a pretty good chance of catching opponent of guard and leaving them handless.. all sorts of possiblitys for a first-third turn attack from this beast.. depending on strategy and form of play you are doing. Think..in no exact combination.. Nicol Bolas, Dark Ritual, Shallow Grave, Lotus Petal, Entomb, Buried Alive, Anger, Exhume, Cabal Therapy, Necromancy... the list goes on.

  -- By JEA from Shepherdsville, Ky U.S. on February 03, 2010

I love this guys for EDH. I have three different decks with him as my general. Just one of the best.

  -- By Matthew from hopkinsville,KY on December 15, 2009

While this Nicol Bolas is pretty sweet, I'm hard-pressed to believe that you have ever gotten 3 Dark Rituals in your opening hand, much less enough to pull off this "Turn one win" that isn't a turn one win. With that kind of luck, you might as well be playing Hulk/Flash or some other deck that actually can give you a turn 1 win.

  -- By Anonymous from Nothingtown on July 24, 2009

Dragon Arch+Sol Ring=Nicol Bolas. Just make sure you have the mana, you all know Nicol loves his mana

  -- By joseph from Albany, NY on May 23, 2009

this nicol bolas is by far the best elder dragon. In fact, it almost has a first-turn win condition, believe it or not. For example: opening hand: swamp, dark ritual, dark ritual, dark ritual, nicol bolas, pox, shallow grave. Go second for the draw, getting The Rack. play the swamp, then all three dark rituals. Play Pox, discard nicol bolas. play shallow grave, returning bolas, attack for 7, opponent discards hand. play the rack, take one mana burn. Pox makes every player lose 1/3 of their life, discard 1/3 of their hand, sacrifice 1/3 of their creatures, and 1/3 of their lands, rounded up each time. That's 7 life, any one-drop creature they might've played, and their first-turn land. Then nicol bolas hits for another 7, bringing them to 6, and then the rack deal 3 damage to them on their turn, bringing them to 3 life. all you need is 3 more damage to win... on your second turn...

  -- By Embighten from Chicago, Illinois on April 19, 2009

very useful in sneak attack, but whoever down below me said they will restrict it in vintage, ARE YOU SERIOUS, they only restrict ultra powerful cards, no way this falls into that category with that kind of mana cost.

  -- By Matt Walsh from stroudsburg PA on March 26, 2009

Other than surprise deployment, he is great to use with Scion of the Ur-Dragon. Since i can burn a field (scourge of Kher Ridges), this takes care of the hand. To keep him on the field, dragon arch works wonders. I use both in my dragon deck.

  -- By Anonymous from ? on November 30, 2008

If you have the mana dropping this monster could give you the game. The turn after Nicol Bolas Comes into play he creates up to a 7 card (in hand) and 7 life difference. Swing with this a couple of times and if they're not dead, they'll be so crippled that you can let the Bolas die and kill them with any damage you can deal from your hand and/or your creatures without fear of counterspells.

  -- By Anonymous from Cleveland, OH USA on November 06, 2008

Looks like a really fun card in casual! The casting cost is really exorbitant, but he shares two colors with Jhoira of the Ghitu, so I'm thinking if you run them in a deck together you can get him out way earlier than you would normally.

  -- By Will B. Staples from Springfield, MA USA on July 05, 2008

They brought nicol back into standerd! I'm still waiting for them to resterict it in vintige.

  -- By Anonymous from England on November 23, 2007

Um, sneak attack anyone? Seven damage and force opponent to discard their entire hand for one red mana.

  -- By Anonymous from USA on December 29, 2004

This play cost is what my deck is made of. Only I get my creatures out in about six turns (possibly four turns) and by the seventh turn it is no problem to get one out all in one turn. I play the combo Buried Alive and Zombify to get my creatures out. I also throw in a Dauthi Embrace to make Nicol Bolas a shadow making him able to deal seven direct damage and make the opponent dicard its hand. This by far is not an expensive card. Sure you couldn't use this strategy in a tournament. But why not use it on your friends and make them angry or on a local tournament that plays with constructed decks instead of block.

  -- By Lee from Double Springs, AL on July 21, 2002

The best dragon.

  -- By Anonymous from Oxonhill, MD USA on May 16, 2002

WOW! expensive but worth it.

  -- By Danniel DeLorme from Beatty OR USA on February 21, 2002

Expensive but powerful.

  -- By Anonymous from minnesota on February 07, 2002