Skip to content
Bolas's Citadel, art by Piotr Dura
Art by Piotr Dura · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast · image via Scryfall
Selected printing · USD

No current price we trust for this printing.

Scryfall page →

Bolas's Citadel

{3}{B}{B}{B} · Legendary Artifact

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. {T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life.

Rulings (8)

May 3, 2019 · 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.

May 3, 2019 · Bolas's Citadel may be one of the permanents you sacrifice to activate its last ability.

May 3, 2019 · You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the cards you play from your library.

May 3, 2019 · 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.

May 3, 2019 · 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.

May 3, 2019 · You can play a land card from the top of your library only if you have available land plays remaining.

May 3, 2019 · 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.

May 3, 2019 · In a Two-Headed Giant game, the last ability of Bolas's Citadel causes the opposing team to lose 20 life.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
ModernLegal
PioneerLegal
StandardNot legal
PauperNot legal
PremodernNot legal
cEDHLegal

Where it’s played now

Inclusion by archetype

% of archetype's lists running it · last 30 days · n=112 decks
ArchetypeFormatInclusionCopiesDecks (n)
POVintage100%13
Beseech StormVintage100%5
Oloro, Ageless AsceticcEDH100%1
TinkerVintage84.8%33
Dargo, the Shipwrecker / Tymna the WeavercEDH50%2
Oops All SpellsVintage50%2
OathVintage19.6%56
Data as of Jun 14, 2026 · MTGO + papercasthaven.com

Price

Bolas's Citadel — price trend

Daily cheapest printing · USD · last 90 days · n=2 snapshots
Data as of Jun 14, 2026 · Scryfallcasthaven.com

Recent qualifying decks