Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen (Nicol Bolas, the Ravager)

Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon // Legendary Planeswalker — Bolas

Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

Mana value4EDHREC#5,171

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The Commander

Flying

When Nicol Bolas enters, each opponent discards a card.

{4} {U} {B} {R} : Exile Nicol Bolas, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery.

+2: Draw two cards.

−3: Nicol Bolas deals 10 damage to target creature or planeswalker.

−4: Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.

−12: Exile all but the bottom card of target player's library.

Guide

Gameplan

Drop Nicol Bolas, the Ravager on turn 4 as a 4/4 flyer that strips a card from every opponent, then flip him into a near-unkillable planeswalker by paying {4} {U} {B} {R} . Once Arisen, you grind with +2 card draw, snipe threats and walkers with -3 for 10 damage, reanimate the best creatures with -4, and mill an opponent out with -12. Until you can flip, you play a Grixis control/midrange game protecting your dragon and disrupting opponents.

Strengths

A 4/4 flyer with built-in symmetrical hand disruption for only four mana is excellent early pressure and value.
The transformed planeswalker enters with high loyalty and every ability is game-warping — card advantage, removal, reanimation, and a mill kill.
Grixis gives access to the best removal, counterspells, and tutors in the format.
Flipping resets summoning sickness concerns and dodges sorcery-speed removal aimed at the creature side.

Weaknesses

The flip costs seven mana on top of casting him, so reaching the planeswalker reliably is mana-hungry.
Highly threatening commander draws removal and pile-on aggression the moment he hits the table.
Color-intensive flip requires all three colors available, straining the manabase.
No haste and easily chump-blocked or bounced before you generate value.

Key Cards

Sol Ring — Ramp is critical to both cast Bolas and afford the seven-mana flip in the same arc.
Cyclonic Rift — Premier Grixis control card that protects your planeswalker and sets up a closing turn.
Cabal Coffers — With Urborg it produces the heavy mana needed to transform Bolas ahead of curve.
Dockside Extortionist — Explosive ramp that can let you cast and flip Bolas in one turn.
Notion Thief — Punishes the format's draw effects and synergizes with a control-grind shell around Bolas.
Teferi's Protection — Saves Bolas and your board from a wipe while you assemble the flip mana.

Upgrade Path

Lean harder into fast mana (Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Vault) and Grixis rituals so you can cast and flip Bolas in the same turn before the table can react. Add tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) and tight protection (Mana Drain, Force of Negation, Mystic Sanctuary loops) to defend the flip. To maximize the -12, run mill enablers and recursion, or pivot toward a hard control list with stax pieces like Drannith Magistrate to slow the table while Bolas takes over.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Flip to Arisen and -12 an opponent out of their library, repeating across the table.
▸Grind incremental advantage with +2 and -3 until opponents have no answers, then close with flyers.
▸Reanimate a haymaker creature with -4 and beat down.
▸Commander damage and evasive Grixis threats while the planeswalker controls the board.

Archetypes

Control — Grixis disruption plus a self-protecting planeswalker that out-values the table fits a draw-go control plan.
Midrange — The front side pressures early while the back side grinds card advantage and removal.
Reanimator — The -4 ability steals the best creature or planeswalker from any graveyard, rewarding self-mill and forced sacrifice.
Spellslinger/Superfriends — His draw and removal abilities support a card-advantage engine alongside other walkers.