Nicol Bolas by nikelasse

Format: Commander

Commander: Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This deck executes a Grixis control strategy centered on Nicol Bolas planeswalkers and proliferate engines. The game plan starts by deploying low-cost mana artifacts to cast Nicol Bolas, the Ravager or higher-tier planeswalkers ahead of curve. Once established, cards like Flux Channeler, Ichormoon Gauntlet, and Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus rapidly advance loyalty counters, building toward decisive ultimate abilities. The deck disrupts opponents through steady, asymmetric discard and sacrifice effects, amplified by Tergrid, God of Fright and Waste Not. Defensive pieces such as Propaganda and Silent Arbiter shield planeswalkers from combat damage, while a flexible removal suite handles opposing threats. Late-game mana surplus translates into devastating finishers through Torment of Hailfire, Bolas's Citadel strings, or Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God ultimates, reliably closing out games across 2 response cycles.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Baleful Strix
  • 1 Bedevil
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contentious Plan
  • 1 Cruel Ultimatum
  • 1 Crumbling Necropolis
  • 1 Dark Intimations
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deepglow Skate
  • 1 Deliver Unto Evil
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Displacer Kitten
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Dreamtide Whale
  • 1 Drown in Ichor
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Experimental Augury
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Flux Channeler
  • 1 Haunted Ridge
  • 1 Ichormoon Gauntlet
  • 1 In Bolas's Clutches
  • 1 Inexorable Tide
  • 1 Interplanar Beacon
  • 1 Invert Polarity
  • 5 Island
  • 1 Izzet Signet
  • 1 Kaya's Ghostform
  • 1 Liliana's Talent
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 2 Mountain
  • 1 Mystic Remora
  • 1 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
  • 1 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
  • 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
  • 1 Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver
  • 1 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
  • 1 Nightscape Familiar
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Rakdos Signet
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reject Imperfection
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rings of Brighthearth
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Seat of the Synod
  • 1 Sensei's Divining Top
  • 1 Serum Snare
  • 1 Settle the Score
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Silent Arbiter
  • 1 Slave of Bolas
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Soul Manipulation
  • 1 Spark Double
  • 1 Staff of Compleation
  • 1 Steady Progress
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Stormcarved Coast
  • 1 Sulfur Falls
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Teferi's Talent
  • 1 Teferi, Master of Time
  • 1 Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern
  • 1 Terminate
  • 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
  • 1 Tezzeret, Artifice Master
  • 1 Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge
  • 1 The Chain Veil
  • 1 The Peregrine Dynamo
  • 1 Thrummingbird
  • 1 Torment of Hailfire
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Tyrant's Scorn
  • 1 Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor
  • 1 Vault of Whispers
  • 1 Visage of Bolas
  • 1 Waste Not
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Yawgmoth's Vile Offering