Core Sets Only, Nicol Bolas

Commander / EDH* UBR (Grixis)

sneekygoblin

Instant (28)

• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Boomerang
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Cancel
• 1x Clash of Wills
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Dissipate
• 1x Flame Sweep
• 1x Grasp of Darkness
• 1x Incinerate
• 1x Inferno
• 1x Jace's Ingenuity
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Lightning Strike
• 1x Memory Lapse
• 1x Murder
• 1x Negate
• 1x Nexus of Fate *list*
• 1x Opt
• 1x Power Sink
• 1x Redirect
• 1x Repeated Reverberation
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Smash
• 1x Spell Blast
• 1x Twincast
• 1x Ulcerate

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Control Magic
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Land (38)

• 1x Bloodfell Caves
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 12x Island
• 1x Mage-Ring Network
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Mutavault
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Artifact (10)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sisay's Ring
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Star Compass
• 1x Ur-Golem's Eye

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Earthquake
• 1x Languish
• 1x Mind Twist
• 1x Pillage
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Pyroclasm
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Time Stretch
• 1x Time Warp

Creature (7)

• 1x Crypt Rats
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1x Young Pyromancer

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

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This is a Nicol Bolas build where only cards printed in any core set are allowed.

The idea of a "core sets only" format is inspired by the fact that my playgroup has really enjoyed playing "old school '95" edh decks. Old school '95 decks make it very easy to teach people how to play magic since there aren't a lot of confusing mechanics or keywords. It's really fun to sort of go back in time and play with the iconic classics.

The unchanging nature of the old school format can leave it feeling a little "board gamey" though. I wanted something with a similar limitation so that games play out more like "magic as richard garfield intended," but this way the format still gets new blood from time to time in the form of new core sets.

This particular deck is in a weird spot, because I'm sort of building it for both duels and multiplayer. I probably play the most games against just my brother but we also sometimes have 3 or 4 player games.

Any thoughts welcome!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 22 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.00
Tokens	Drake 2/2 U, Elemental 1/1 R, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Zombie 2/2 B