Barrage of Boulders MTG Card

Barrage of Boulders - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)

Khans of Tarkir (KTK)
2014-09-26 - Number 100

Barrage of Boulders - Mystery Booster (MB1)

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 849

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number KTK-100

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Ferocious

Key Takeaways

Provides a clear path for attacks by removing small creatures or blockers efficiently with one card.
It ties into red decks and aggressive strategies, enhancing attacks and pacing by clearing blockers.
Instant synergy exists despite being a sorcery, setting up turns without interference for strategic plays.

Text of card

Barrage of Boulders deals 1 damage to each creature you don't control. Ferocious — If you control a creature with power 4 or greater, creatures can't block this turn.

Crude tactics can be effective nonetheless.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Barrage of Boulders can affect multiple targets, potentially removing numerous blockers or small creatures in one fell swoop. Playing it at the right time can easily translate to card advantage by outpacing opponents with just a single card.

Resource Acceleration: This card fits perfectly into aggressive strategies, often helping to clear a path for attackers. By eliminating potential blockers, it accelerates the game towards your favor, indirectly contributing to your resource advantage by making each attack more efficient.

Instant Speed: Although Barrage of Boulders is a sorcery, it synergizes well with decks that operate at instant speed. It sets the stage during your turn for the plays you want to unfold without the worry of creature interference, allowing you to proceed with your strategy seamlessly on the opponent’s turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Barrage of Boulders does not have a discard requirement, it does necessitate having a creature with power 4 or greater to enable its ferocious ability. This can be limiting if your board state doesn’t meet this criterion, making it less versatile during key moments of gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: Barrage of Boulders has a casting cost that includes red mana, which means it is inherently tied to red-themed decks or those that can accommodate a red mana base. This specific requirement may reduce its applicability in decks that do not run red mana or have a more challenging mana base to accommodate such cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of three, including one red mana, Barrage of Boulders can be considered to have a high cost relative to its impact on the game. Cards with a lower mana cost could provide a similar effect or more flexible answers to an opponent’s creatures, offering potentially better efficiency for the same, or even lower, mana investment.

Reasons to Include Barrage of Boulders in Your Collection

Versatility: Barrage of Boulders fits nicely into a variety of red-based decks looking to push through damage. It’s particularly useful when facing a battlefield crowded with smaller creatures, clearing the way for your attackers.

Combo Potential: This card works well in setups that capitalize on creatures not being able to block, enabling direct hits to your opponent or even facilitating unexpected wins with the ferocious mechanic—provided you have a creature with power 4 or greater.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment filled with token strategies or decks that deploy numerous small creatures, Barrage of Boulders becomes a smart sideboard option. It allows aggressive and tempo decks to maintain pressure and can swing games in your favor by preventing chump blocks for a turn.

How to beat

Barrage of Boulders is a spell that has the potential to shift the momentum of a game for MTG players. Featuring an ability that often synergizes well with decks capitalizing on the Ferocious mechanic, it can create scenarios where creatures without flying cannot block for the turn. This can be devastating for a player without an aerial defense.

To counter this, ensure your deck has flying creatures or those with reach to maintain a line of defense against this tactic. Additionally, spells that grant your creatures indestructibility for the turn, like Rootborn Defenses, can nullify the impact of Barrage of Boulders. Moreover, having instant speed removals or counterspells like Negate ready can prevent Barrage of Boulders from resolving in the first place, preserving your defenses and maintaining board control.

Always be mindful of the board state and the mana your opponent has available. A well-timed Barrage of Boulders can turn a stable board in their favor, but with the right preparations and responses, you can diminish its impact significantly and secure your position in the game.

Cards like Barrage of Boulders

Barrage of Boulders is an impactful card in MTG, often compared to other red spells designed to deal damage to multiple creatures. Cards like Anger of the Gods offer a similar board-clearing effect by inflicting 3 damage to each creature. While Barrage of Boulders also has the potential to prevent creatures from blocking, Anger of the Gods goes a step further, exiling those it destroys if they would die this turn, ensuring that creatures with recursive abilities stay off the board.

Flame Sweep provides a comparable but instant-speed experience to Barrage of Boulders. Like Barrage, it inflicts 2 damage to each creature except for flyers. The speed advantage allows you to unexpectedly clear the field or weaken the opposition during combat. However, it lacks the additional benefit of impacting the blocking phase that Barrage of Boulders offers. Pyroclasm and Volcanic Fallout also serve analogous roles, dealing 2 damage to each creature, with Volcanic Fallout having the added bonus of being uncounterable and dealing damage to players as well.

Through this lens, Barrage of Boulders holds its own within the selection of red damage spells available in MTG, characterized by its unique blending of damage and tactical board control.

Cards similar to Barrage of Boulders by color, type and mana cost

Search for Survivors - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Barrage of Boulders MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Mystery Booster, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Barrage of Boulders and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Barrage of Boulders Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Zoltan Boros.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2014-09-26	Khans of Tarkir	KTK	100	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	849	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	KTK-100	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Barrage of Boulders has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Barrage of Boulders card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2014-09-20	Barrage of Boulders deals damage only to creatures you don’t control as it resolves. However, the ferocious ability affects all creatures, including ones you control and ones that weren’t on the battlefield as Barrage of Boulders resolved.
2014-09-20	Ferocious abilities of instants and sorceries that don’t use the word “instead” will provide an additional effect if you control a creature with power 4 or greater as they resolve.
2014-09-20	Some ferocious abilities that appear on instants and sorceries use the word “instead.” These spells have an upgraded effect if you control a creature with power 4 or greater as they resolve. For these, you only get the upgraded effect, not both effects.