Nicol Bolas
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.
How Nicol Bolas decks play in EDH
Nicol Bolas is a Grixis commander in blue, black and red costing 2UUBBRR, and its legendary creature - elder dragon line shapes the whole deck around it. Sacrifice is built into the card, which pairs it with cheap recursive creatures and payoffs that trigger when something dies. Built-in evasion means damage gets through reliably, so effects that scale that damage are worth more than extra bodies. The cards below are the ones Nicol Bolas decks actually play most often, grouped by the job they do.
Most-played cards
20 cards · about $25.89Play rates from EDHREC. Prices from Scryfall, refreshed daily.
Ramp (1)
Card draw (1)
Removal (2)
Counterspells (1)
Creatures (11)
Synergy & payoffs (2)
Lands (2)
Build the full 100
Grimoire generates a complete, Commander-legal Nicol Bolas decklist with a written strategy, a full mana base and live prices — from the whole card pool, or only from cards you already own.
Start with Nicol BolasNicol Bolas deck questions
What colours can I use in a Nicol Bolas deck?
Nicol Bolas has a Grixis colour identity, so every card in the deck must be blue, black and red or colourless. That includes mana symbols in rules text, not just casting cost.
What are the best cards for Nicol Bolas?
The cards played most often in Nicol Bolas decks include Sanctum Lurker, Turbulent Wetlands, Turbulent Crater. The full list of staples above is grouped by the job each card does, so you can see the deck's skeleton rather than just a pile of names.
How much does a Nicol Bolas deck cost?
The 20 most-played cards shown above come to roughly $25.89 at current market prices. A complete 100-card build costs more, and Grimoire can generate a budget version instead if you set a price ceiling.
Can I build a Nicol Bolas deck from cards I already own?
Yes. Import your collection into Grimoire and choose "my cards" when you build. The generator will only use cards you actually own, and the Missing Cards page shows what you would need to buy to finish any list.