Bolt of Keranos MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Scry
Released	2014-02-07
Set symbol
Set name	Born of the Gods
Set code	BNG
Number	89
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Karl Kopinski

Key Takeaways

Bolt of Keranos provides card advantage, combining a damage spell with the foresight scry offers.
It offers precise removal during your turn with added deck filtering to cue the next plays.
This card’s mana cost and sorcery speed are balanced by its versatility and strategic benefits.

Text of card

Bolt of Keranos deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)

The breakthroughs granted by Keranos, god of epiphany, can be surprisingly literal.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Bolt of Keranos offers card advantage through its scry ability. Upon casting, it not only deals damage but also allows you to look at the top card of your library, giving you the control to shape your upcoming draws and ensure your plays are as effective as possible.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly a resource acceleration tool, the ability to scry with Bolt of Keranos can indirectly speed up your resource assembly by filtering through your deck to find the lands or ramp spells needed to accelerate your mana pool and play your threats sooner.

Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Bolt of Keranos provides certainty in removal during your turn allowing you to plan ahead. While it doesn’t have the flexibility of an instant, the scrying benefit post-resolution can set up advantageous plays for future turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Bolt of Keranos does not require you to discard a card, it’s important to consider other cards that might synergize poorly with this spell due to hand size becoming a critical resource later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Bolt of Keranos necessitates both specific red mana and an additional generic mana, locking it into red-centric or two-color decks that can accommodate this requirement, potentially hindering deck diversity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing three mana, this card’s mana investment is significant when compared to other direct damage spells. This may make it less attractive in formats where speed and efficiency are key, as there are alternatives that may provide similar effects for less mana.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Bolt of Keranos offers flexibility in deck design, serving as an efficient removal tool and a way to scry, refining your next draw. Ideal for decks requiring swift answers to threats or better library manipulation.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with strategies emphasizing spell-casting triggers or prowess-like abilities. It’s a low-cost spell with the ability to potentially smooth out future draws while dealing damage, fitting seamlessly into many red-centric deck combos.

Meta-Relevance: As games often hinge on crucial plays, the instant-speed aspect of Bolt of Keranos cannot be underestimated. In a meta where speed is key, being able to dispatch an opponent’s threat while setting up your next moves is invaluable. Its dual utility ensures that it remains relevant across various game states.

How to beat

Bolt of Keranos is an intriguing spell in Magic: The Gathering that players can encounter. As a sorcery card that inflicts 3 damage to any target and offers a scry 1, it delivers both damage and deck manipulation. When preparing to counter it, consider cards with instant speed responses that can save your creatures or negate the bolt’s effect. Cards such as Negate or even the classic Counterspell can intercept this sorcery before it takes effect, ensuring that your creatures survive and your opponent’s spells don’t influence the board.

Moreover, understanding the timing of your opponent’s plays is critical when facing Bolt of Keranos. Since it is a sorcery, players can only cast it during their main phases. This gives you a window of opportunity to play around it, by either deploying creatures with toughness greater than 3 after it’s been used or by holding removal or protection spells in anticipation. Bolstering your battlefield with indestructible or creature regeneration abilities also helps in mitigating the damage and maintaining board presence against this type of removal.

Evaluating the defensive strategies in your deck and predicting your opponent’s moves are key to overcoming the challenge posed by Bolt of Keranos. By staying one step ahead, you’ll better preserve your forces and turn the tide of the game in your favor.

Cards like Bolt of Keranos

Bolt of Keranos stands as a noteworthy example of direct damage spells in Magic: The Gathering. The card echoes the simplicity and impact of the classic Lightning Strike, both dealing three damage to any target. Yet, the defining feature of Bolt of Keranos is its scry 1 ability, providing valuable deck manipulation on top of the damage, a feature Lightning Strike forgoes.

Skewing towards the more mana-intensive side, we draw parallels with Lava Coil. Although both cards serve removal purposes and cost the same, Lava Coil’s ability to exile hits harder against graveyard strategies, yet it lacks the versatility of targeting players and planeswalkers which Bolt of Keranos offers. Comparatively, Skewer the Critics, a spectacle-enabled spell, can potentially be cast for a single mana, presenting a cost-effective alternative to straightforward damage, albeit with conditional requirements unlike the immediate utility of Bolt of Keranos.

Scrutinizing these similar spells uncovers Bolt of Keranos’s blend of immediate impact and strategic foresight, making it a competitive choice for MTG decks desiring both removal and flow control—even when held up against other staples in the burn spell arsenal.

Cards similar to Bolt of Keranos by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Bolt of Keranos MTG card by a specific set like Born of the Gods, 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 Bolt of Keranos and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Bolt of Keranos has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	Scry appears on some spells and abilities with one or more targets. If all of the spell or ability’s targets are illegal when it tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won’t scry.
2013-09-15	When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom.
2013-09-15	You choose how to order cards returned to your library after scrying no matter where you put them.
2013-09-15	You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, that means you’ll scry last. For others, that means you’ll scry and then perform other actions.