Fires been getting too many burn spells for too long, return of the lightning! Still not as flavorful and fun as a Goblin Grenade though....
Lord_FarkwadtehThird
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Nothing quite like the feeling after you draw your initial hand to be greeted with three lightning bolts, turn 1 lightning bolts have ignited more "screw you"'s then doom blade for me, and the supreme sense of satisfaction never goes away.
Hoonster
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Only 4 copies? The Premium deck should have at least 7 copies!!
Did Pseudonaut say Lightning Bolt was a terrible card because it cannot kill a creature that is immune to damage?
Rillennil
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@Psuedonaut: Phytohydra costs 5 mana. Lightning bolt costs one. And I wouldn't target Phytohydra with a LB anyway.
McSchwieb
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
@rillennil: I'm pretty sure you're missing the humor there...
Avatar_of_Wurms
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(6 votes)
@Templar314: Obscure??!! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? This baby is the most iconic burn spell IN THE GAME! And if your being sarcastic - don't joke about stuff like that man. The bolt deserves more respect.
So happy when they brought this back into print. Now I can use my four Revised Edition copies in Standard. MUHAHAHA feel the pain!
ajpinton
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I will be very happy if this dose not get reprinted in M12. We went since 4th edition since the last printing, and we did just fine... I still have an old RDW for Urza blockish (it spans about 2 years around Urza) and it still romps all modern DRW decks...
Mind you I don't play red much...
supershawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
did someone just call lightening bolt obscure??? this is the card that defines red, just like terror defines black, swords to plowshares defines white, terra stomper defines green and counterspell defines blue.
land_comment
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Wow. FOUR in the premium deck? FOIL LIGHTING BOLT????????!!!!!!!!!!!???????????
Hyroko
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
for the lulz, lightning bolt dies to lightning greaves rofl
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(9 votes)
Avatar of Wurms, you seem to have forgotten the word 'sarcasm'. its a funny comment because Glitterfang IS obscure! :D
In the meantime, I pre-ordered 2 of these for the price of 1, just to get the Judge Promo Art Grim Lavamancers.
When I opened them, and saw Eight Foil Lightning Bolts in front of me, my thoughts went like this-
1. cool Bolts. :
2. wait, duh. Bolts. :P
3. hey its a playset. are precons allowed to have playsets now? :)
4. ....No...its TWO PLAYSETS. AND THEY'RE SHINY....ME HAS BOLTS!!!!!!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
and of course, everything else was just....lets just say I set a lot of Islands on fire that day.
literally, if you go outside, and you take a magnifying glass, and you line it up with a Foil Lightning Bolt just right, you can actually BURN target creature for 3 damage! 120 Foil cards made short work of my Zendikar non-full art islands. >:D
i agree with RazzmatazzTheGreat, this card needs a new art. A really epic art.
Angry_Puppy
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(7 votes)
what is this trash? 3 damage for 1 mana? what about punching my opponent in the face, setting his car on fire and stealing his wallet? Yeah back in my day magic was REAL GANGSTER
.5 for set trippin'
AlunJaceImpostor
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
THE best 'input : output' ratio in red. p.e.r.i.o.d.
No! The official M12 card database is up, and this isn't gonna be there! We're gonna get Shock back! On another note, though, we get Goblin Grenade, which will be nice, but I WANT MY BOLTY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!
SorianSadaskan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Guys, does WOTC read this comment board?
I hope they do, cause we're here to remind them that they have FORGOT to put Bolt back into M12.
If they forgot, it's back to Shock, i zap you, you zap me, pinching each other like whining little boys and girls....
Please, save the Bolt, i beg you.
DX<
GIVE ME BACK MY BOLT YoU BAS-TURDS!
062regrahc
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(5 votes)
love this card.simple and effective. combos with Djinn Illuminatus and Fire Servantfor only 3 mana gets 24 damage. better than even the Fail Storm Crow(no idea why people tease saying its good. its not. get that through your thick skulls people)
If only the rule of 4 didn't exist... I would make a deck entirely out of these.
Salient
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(33 votes)
I have carefully locked out a creature assault with Ensnaring Bridge and land destruction, only to die to a Lightning Bolt off a topdecked Taiga or whatever, more times than I care to count.
The card text is so agonizingly close to haiku:
Lightning Bolt, when cast, Deals three damage to target Creature or player.
How serene. Alternatively:
There once was a sculptor named Jace With self-confidence slightly misplaced: He could brainstorm for free And unsummon Tarmy, But he died to a Bolt to the face.
Paleopaladin
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Is M12 is the first core set where NONE of the original boon cycle was reprinted? Neither this nor Giant Growth (because of how good it is with infect?) made it.
Valyant
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Who says lightnig never strikes twice? Stop Zapping Me!
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Marry me, Bolt. I'm sorry I cheated on you with Dismember. . . please, now those Mirran Crusaders won't leave me alone!
TheMaskedWanderer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This is a must for any burn deck.
kiseki
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
the other day I had a tarball, a shock and a lightning bolt in hand. Tarball drew the absorb, while the shock and lightning bolt responded before the absorb resolved. Shock and Lightning bolt are actually friends. They play up the rivalry because it is funny, but its just an act.
Dear lightning bolt, you are my favorite instant of all MTG. The look on my opponent's face when I hit them with you, for the win, is one of the reasons why I have been playing since revised. I will miss you in standard, but I hope to see you again soon. Keep bolting away. Sincerely, Zoltantf.
madmanbenji
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My Favorite card in all of magic... and its gone from Standard (*teary eyed). Ahhh Legacy you comfort me like no other format can, (if only every card would be reprinted with new art).
luca_barelli
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Everyone loves Lightning Bolt!
Axelle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Kills Storm Crow. Who cares that it kills Storm Crow? Storm Crow is only decent in Limited, bad anywhere else, anyways.
Lightning Bolt is epic, forever and ever.
SquareWhale
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
So things that can target players can also target planeswalkers? Or is it things that target creatures?
shotoku64
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
If you play red, you play four lightning bolts. If you splash red, you play four lightning bolts. If you're playing constructed, you play four lightning bolts. If you're playing limited, play with as many as you can get your hands on. This is THE red card
NoFatWizards
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
the important thing to remember here is that it is the amps and not the volts that do 3 damage to target creature or player.
In my experience lightning bolts do not always travel the path of least resistance.
this card really should be green.
Ipsilont
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The best burn spell in the game now and forever more.
gman92
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
@Salient: You forget "deals" is one syllable, technically speaking. Lightning Bolt, when cast (5) Deals three damage to target (7) Creature or player (5)
It is haiku. ^.^
undergroundmonorail
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@SquareWhale
Kind of, not really. You can't target a planeswalker, but any damage you would deal to an opponent you can redirect to a planeswalker they control. For example, you would target an opponent with Lightning Bolt, and when it resolves choose to do three damage to their planeswalker.
Note that combat doesn't work like that; When you declare attackers, you declare them for the player and planeswalker separately.
KokoshoForPresident
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is really just a classic. It will always be the heart of burn. I stocked up on these from all the commons the other day. They're important.
Travis44
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Come onnnnnnn M13 reprint....
Bob111634
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lightning bolt is epic. I used them last night to safe guard nicol bolas planeswalker from my friends werewolves and then I gave him the last lightning bolt to the face for a win.
Sothasil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
My fave <3 ... Oh lightning bolt, you make me swoon
Technically not the most efficient 1 mana red drop anymore though with the new vexing devil pushing through 4 damage for R, but you can't beat the versatility of instant and target creature/player.
Mootaco
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Burn the land n' boil the sea... For everything else, there's lightning bolt (plus variants)."
Lightning bolt was probably better during alpha simply because there weren't many powerful 3 drops to ritual into. You would probably ritual into juzam djinn on turn 2 at absolute best. Either way, this cycle is grossly powerful except for healing salve which is just terrible lol.
azure_drake222222
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is so iconically red that this comment is red too.
@MasterOfEthurium: Stop copying.
I_OWN_U
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
CHIPS AWAY ONLY 15% OF A 20 LIFE PLAYER 0/5
atemu1234
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don't care, I'm still free You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black Tell them I ain't comin' back burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from me.
Leave the men where they lay. They'll never see another day Lost my soul, lost my dream You can't take the sky from me.
I feel the black reaching out I hear its song without a doubt I still hear and I still see That you can't take the sky from me.
Lost my love, lost my land Lost the last place I could stand There's no place I can be Since I've found MTG
And you can't take the sky from me.
Continue
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The one-mana burn spell. Accept no substitutes.
MagicCritic
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
5/5. The true burn spell. 1 R for 3 damage to target player or creature. Not to mention as an instant. RIP lightning bolt.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
The perfect red card. It captures everything about red - it can't deal with large creatures very well, it's simple and powerful, it's fast and cheap and it has great flavour.
-TheFlameReaper-
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Your red deck needs four. All your other non-red deck needs four, and red sources.
This is the most perfect red card ever printed. Great tempo, can be a finisher, sees play in every format it is legal in. Simple and efficient, and my favorite card of all time.
Raviel2001
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My friends hate me for running 4 of these in my deck!
StreamHopper
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I hope this comes back in Theros with Zeus flavoring.
SirLibraryEater
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I have nothing to say for this. I just solemnly hope that this is reprinted in standard so riots and claims of the apocalypse will happen all over the earth.
absreim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Probably the reason why red is the most played color in Modern (according to GP Detroit day 2 stats).
DmitryM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cards like this make magic a joke of a game for me. Shock is same cost but does 1 less damage. Spend $1 for 1 extra damage on a card with the same rarity? This is despicaple. Same *** with Vanquish the Foul and Smite the Monstrous being inferior versions of and older Reprisal.
This is why when I see people play non-sealed, I feel sick.
I feel like taking a sharpie and turning my inferior cards into their actual usable form.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its funny how this vanilla card is top of the food chain, while shock is at the bottom of whats considered playable. In a perfect world, we would have a instant that dealt 2.5 damage.
at0micpickle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i will not be happy until all copies of this card rot and all memory of it is forgotten
casualhorror
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, hello best use of mana in modern and possibly legacy. How are you?
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In real life, you might get hit by one while golfing. In Magic, you might get hit by one if you don't quit after the first instant.
Comments (87)
And yes, I also hoped some special art for this premium deck.
Did Pseudonaut say Lightning Bolt was a terrible card because it cannot kill a creature that is immune to damage?
And if your being sarcastic - don't joke about stuff like that man. The bolt deserves more respect.
So happy when they brought this back into print. Now I can use my four Revised Edition copies in Standard. MUHAHAHA feel the pain!
Mind you I don't play red much...
this is the card that defines red, just like terror defines black, swords to plowshares defines white, terra stomper defines green and counterspell defines blue.
In the meantime, I pre-ordered 2 of these for the price of 1, just to get the Judge Promo Art Grim Lavamancers.
When I opened them, and saw Eight Foil Lightning Bolts in front of me, my thoughts went like this-
1. cool Bolts. :
2. wait, duh. Bolts. :P
3. hey its a playset. are precons allowed to have playsets now? :)
4. ....No...its TWO PLAYSETS. AND THEY'RE SHINY....ME HAS BOLTS!!!!!!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
and of course, everything else was just....lets just say I set a lot of Islands on fire that day.
literally, if you go outside, and you take a magnifying glass, and you line it up with a Foil Lightning Bolt just right, you can actually BURN target creature for 3 damage! 120 Foil cards made short work of my Zendikar non-full art islands. >:D
.5 for set trippin'
5/5
And helloooooooooo Goblin Grenade! :D
I hope they do, cause we're here to remind them that they have FORGOT to put Bolt back into M12.
If they forgot, it's back to Shock, i zap you, you zap me, pinching each other like whining little boys and girls....
Please, save the Bolt, i beg you.
DX<
GIVE ME BACK MY BOLT YoU BAS-TURDS!
The card text is so agonizingly close to haiku:
Lightning Bolt, when cast,
Deals three damage to target
Creature or player.
How serene. Alternatively:
There once was a sculptor named Jace
With self-confidence slightly misplaced:
He could brainstorm for free
And unsummon Tarmy,
But he died to a Bolt to the face.
Shock and Lightning bolt are actually friends. They play up the rivalry because it is funny, but its just an act.
Ahhh Legacy you comfort me like no other format can, (if only every card would be reprinted with new art).
Lightning Bolt is epic, forever and ever.
If you splash red, you play four lightning bolts.
If you're playing constructed, you play four lightning bolts.
If you're playing limited, play with as many as you can get your hands on. This is THE red card
that it is the amps and not the volts
that do 3 damage to target creature or player.
In my experience lightning bolts do not always
travel the path of least resistance.
this card really should be green.
Lightning Bolt, when cast (5)
Deals three damage to target (7)
Creature or player (5)
It is haiku. ^.^
Kind of, not really. You can't target a planeswalker, but any damage you would deal to an opponent you can redirect to a planeswalker they control. For example, you would target an opponent with Lightning Bolt, and when it resolves choose to do three damage to their planeswalker.
Note that combat doesn't work like that; When you declare attackers, you declare them for the player and planeswalker separately.
...
Oh lightning bolt, you make me swoon
Technically not the most efficient 1 mana red drop anymore though with the new vexing devil pushing through 4 damage for R, but you can't beat the versatility of instant and target creature/player.
Lightning bolt
Lightning bolt
Lightning bolt
Lightning bolt
Great game
Because there isn't place for Dark Ritual in mono red?
Don't be a dictator, don't tell others what they should rate higer and what lower. ;-)
@Bogmire - Better question, why is Dark Ritual rated higher than Black Lotus?
de-les. dee-ulz.
Best:Ancestral Recall
2nd:Dark Ritual
3rd:Lightning Bolt
4th:Giant Growth
Worst:Healing Salve
Lightning bolt was probably better during alpha simply because there weren't many powerful 3 drops to ritual into. You would probably ritual into juzam djinn on turn 2 at absolute best. Either way, this cycle is grossly powerful except for healing salve which is just terrible lol.
@MasterOfEthurium: Stop copying.
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me.
Leave the men where they lay.
They'll never see another day
Lost my soul, lost my dream
You can't take the sky from me.
I feel the black reaching out
I hear its song without a doubt
I still hear and I still see
That you can't take the sky from me.
Lost my love, lost my land
Lost the last place I could stand
There's no place I can be
Since I've found MTG
And you can't take the sky from me.
The true burn spell. 1 R for 3 damage to target player or creature. Not to mention as an instant.
RIP lightning bolt.
All your other non-red deck needs four, and red sources.
Turn 1:
P1: Dark Ritual into Hypnotic Specter.
Turn 2:
P2: Bolt your Hyp.
Turn 3:
P1: Ok, let's try this again...
This is why when I see people play non-sealed, I feel sick.
I feel like taking a sharpie and turning my inferior cards into their actual usable form.