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Moxonomy

Rift Bolt

Sorcery2 generic manaRed mana

Pay first, burn later. Cast from hand at full price, three mana for three damage to anything is a rate aggressive red has no use for, falling two mana behind the one-mana standard of Lightning Bolt and Lava Spike. Suspend rewrites that economics: for a single red on turn one, you exile the card under a time counter, strip the counter at your next upkeep, and cast it free. The net price matches the premium burn spells; the catch is a one-turn delay between commitment and damage, and that wait is the whole bargain. Suspend usually sells patience for a discount, asking a deck to invest mana early and wait turns for a payoff: a fundamentally proactive trade. A burn deck waiting is barely a burn deck at all, which is why the mechanic found its sharpest fit on a spell that suspends for exactly one turn. You spend turn one's mana on a threat that arrives on turn two, surrendering the instant-speed reactivity that defines real burn (the held-up bolt that punishes a tapped-out opponent or kills a blocker mid-combat) in exchange for raw early velocity. The target is chosen when the spell finally goes on the stack, not when it suspends, so the opponent still gets a full turn to develop or shift the board around the announced threat. Aggressive red has reliably judged the lost flexibility a fair price for compressing its clock by one turn.

Rift Bolt (ima)
IMA · #143uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.21
Foil: $0.28
Oracle Text

Rules text

Rift Bolt deals 3 damage to any target. Suspend 1—Red mana (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay Red mana and exile it with a time counter on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
Legal
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
Legal
Pauper Commander
Legal
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
Legal
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

11 sets
Show all 11 other printings
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