Prophetic Bolt
Instant
Prophetic Bolt deals 4 damage to any target. Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #12989
Prophetic Bolt deals 4 damage to any target and replaces itself with a free look at the top four cards — two meaningful effects stapled together at five mana. Five mana is the honest cost here, and outside of commanders like Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot that reward instant and sorcery casting, that price tag is usually too steep for what competitive Commander tables demand.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot triggers on each instant and sorcery cast, turning Prophetic Bolt into a source of goad pressure and card selection in the same motion — the five-mana cost becomes far easier to justify when every spell is also advancing a combat engine.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Prophetic Bolt is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it only shows up meaningfully in Commander. Legacy and Vintage run far more efficient interaction at lower mana costs, so Prophetic Bolt has never carved out a place there. In Commander, it occupies a narrow slot: spell-slinger builds that want damage and card selection on the same card, particularly those helmed by commanders who reward casting instants. Oathbreaker could theoretically support it in a Izzet spells shell, though the same five-mana ceiling applies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Prophetic Bolt is deep bulk — easy to acquire and completely safe to throw in a budget build without a second thought. Bulk rares with narrow Commander applications tend to stay flat, so don't expect the price to move in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.