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Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt

Creature — Human Wizard // Instant

First strike
Whenever you cast your third spell each turn, this creature becomes prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
mythic
Set
Secrets of Strixhaven
Price
$5.05
EDHREC rank
#12592
Buy on TCGplayer
Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt card art
Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt puts a noncreature spell in your graveyard the moment it enters, which means flicker effects like Displacer Kitten can loop it repeatedly to fuel spell-count payoffs or ping down a board one damage at a time. In Urabrask shells where every instant and sorcery matters, it earns its slot immediately on entry, before you ever cast the back half.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Urabrask

19.6% of decks · synergy 0.18

Urabrask's triggered ability fires whenever an opponent casts a spell, but the engine needs a critical mass of instants and sorceries to recur — Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt enters with a Lightning Bolt already in the graveyard, giving Urabrask decks a head start on that count while also functioning as redundant direct damage.

02
Prismari, the Inspiration

Prismari, the Inspiration

22.3% of decks · synergy 0.17

Prismari, the Inspiration rewards high instant and sorcery counts with card advantage and mana acceleration, and Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt inflates that count the turn it enters — every flicker or bounce resets the trigger clock and keeps the engine churning.

03

Kuja, Genome Sorcerer

16.4% of decks · synergy 0.15

Kuja, Genome Sorcerer cares about casting spells from unusual zones, and Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt populates the graveyard immediately on entry, giving Kuja a live target before you even pass the turn.

04
Narset, Jeskai Waymaster

Narset, Jeskai Waymaster

15.4% of decks · synergy 0.14

Narset, Jeskai Waymaster benefits from spells that generate value in multiple zones, and Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt's enter-the-battlefield deposit into the graveyard means Narset decks get both a recastable Lightning Bolt and a body without spending a second card slot.

05
Ashling, Flame Dancer

Ashling, Flame Dancer

15.3% of decks · synergy 0.13

Ashling, Flame Dancer counts noncreature spells to grow and trigger — Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt effectively adds a free spell to the graveyard the moment it resolves, and recurring it with any flicker effect means Ashling can scale faster than the opponent expects.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

In Commander, Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt is a build-around piece rather than a generic goodstuff slot — it rewards decks that flicker permanents, recur enter-the-battlefield triggers, or need a critical mass of instants and sorceries in the graveyard. In Legacy and Vintage, the card faces stiff competition from pure efficiency, but the enters-the-battlefield clause makes it worth examining in creature-based combo shells that can blink it repeatedly. Modern and Pioneer have the most fertile ground outside Commander, where flicker synergies remain format-viable and a free Lightning Bolt impression on every blink is a legitimate rate. Standard legality opens up aggressive midrange slots, though the ceiling there depends on what blink infrastructure the format supports at any given rotation.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt is out of reach, Firebrand Archer and Electrostatic Field both convert spell density into incremental damage for under a dollar, trading the enters-the-battlefield graveyard deposit for a passive pinging effect. Neither replicates the MDFC flexibility or the instant-in-graveyard setup, but they slot into the same spell-count-matters shells and do real work at a fraction of the price.

Price Context

Current price

$5.05 mid tier

At $5.05, Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt sits in the mid tier — affordable enough to include without agonizing, but a meaningful ask if your deck only uses it as a role-player rather than a combo axis. Cards at this price that double as flicker targets and graveyard enablers tend to hold value as long as the archetypes they support remain popular.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.