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Bolas's Citadel

Bolas's Citadel

Legendary Artifact

rare

You may look at the top card of your library any time. You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost. , Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life.

$9.09 ✦ $9.43View on Scryfall →

Semantic Tags

Cards that directly win the game or threaten to end it quickly. Includes 'you win the game' effects and massive threats.

Mana Sinkmechanical

A permanent with a repeatable activated ability that converts excess mana into value.

Permanentmechanical

A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”

Cares about or manipulates the top card(s) of your library. Includes scry, surveil, and top-deck payoffs.

Cares about or manipulates the top card(s) of your library. Includes scry, surveil, and top-deck payoffs.

Topdeck Mattersmechanical

Cares about or manipulates the top of library — Sensei's Top, miracles, Future Sight.

Cares about or manipulates the top of library — Sensei's Top, miracles, Future Sight.

Format Legality

commanderlegal
oathbreakerlegal
modernlegal
pioneerlegal
standardnot legal
legacylegal
vintagelegal
paupernot legal
historiclegal
explorernot legal
alchemynot legal

Price history

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Printings (10)

Related Rules

106.5

If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.

106.7

Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.

106.12

To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

106.12a

An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.

106.12b

A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.

107.3m

If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.

107.5

The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

107.6

The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

Rulings

2019-05-03

If you cast a spell for another cost "rather than pay its mana cost," you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, such as that of Spark Harvest, those must be paid to cast the card.

2019-05-03

Bolas's Citadel may be one of the permanents you sacrifice to activate its last ability.

2019-05-03

You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the cards you play from your library.

2019-05-03

Bolas's Citadel lets you look at the top card of your library whenever you want (with one restriction—see below), even if you don't have priority. This action doesn't use the stack. Knowing what that card is becomes part of the information you have access to, just like you can look at the cards in your hand.

2019-05-03

If a spell has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.

2019-05-03

You can play a land card from the top of your library only if you have available land plays remaining.

2019-05-03

If the top card of your library changes while you're casting a spell, playing a land, or activating an ability, you can't look at the new top card until you finish doing so. This means that if you cast the top card of your library, you can't look at the next one until you're done paying for that spell.

2019-05-03

In a Two-Headed Giant game, the last ability of Bolas's Citadel causes the opposing team to lose 20 life.