Obliterating Bolt
Sorcery
Obliterating Bolt deals 4 damage to target creature or planeswalker. If that creature or planeswalker would die this turn, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Foundations
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #13888
Obliterating Bolt deals 4 damage to any creature or planeswalker and exiles it if that damage would kill it — no graveyard triggers, no recursion, just gone. Four mana at instant speed is the honest cost for that kind of clean answer.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Obliterating Bolt earns its slot specifically against commanders with death triggers or graveyard value — exiling stops Chainer, Nekusar, and recursive threats cold in a way Lightning Bolt simply cannot. The four-mana price tag is the real friction in a format where Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile cost one, so you're running Obliterating Bolt when exile-on-damage matters more than efficiency. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, it's too slow against the threats that actually need answering, and the conditional exile clause rarely justifies the premium over cheaper options. Standard is where it sees the most play outside Commander, filling the role of premium removal when the format's options are narrower.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Obliterating Bolt is deep bulk — you're paying almost nothing for a card that punches above its price tier. That cost is unlikely to move meaningfully in either direction; it's widely printed and sees enough fringe play to stay in circulation but not enough demand to spike.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.