Read the Bones

Sorcery

Scry 2, then draw two cards. You lose 2 life. (To scry 2, look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)

Combos

• Read the Bones + Whip of Erebos

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

Smotzy on Nether Spirit Haunts the DanDan

2 weeks ago

From recent game sessions thinking about maybe putting in 2x Corpse Churn and or maybe 2x Read the Bones. Thinking probably Corpse Churn over the latter over but lower cost, I could maybe remove 2x Swamp to put it right in dropping total from 30 down to 28 or maybe remove one of the create exile cards.

Profet93 on *Dumpster Diving Racoon [Primer]

1 month ago

+1 theNeroTurtle

Insatiable Avarice > Cruel tutor - Strict upgrade

Pact of titan is weak, a free spell yes, but you lose otherwise. Not worth it. Better to get more ramp like Arcane Signet for a turn 3 commander or more draw like Read the Bones.

Cabal stronghold - Cut for obvious reasons. Maybe put in an Ad NauseamGC?

hyalopterouslemur on Competitive card Draw in Mono …

1 month ago

NecropotenceGC probably costs too much (It's around $20.), but if you have one, play it. As long as you're drawing at least 2 cards per turn (and a rat deck should be playing at least that many cards per turn), you're getting an advantage. (That said, I don't typically play Necro on turn 3. I typically play it later.)

Skullclamp is another obvious recommendation for typal decks. You're essentially sacrificing a creature to draw two cards.

Night's Whisper, Sign in Blood, Read the Bones...those are some of my favorite "draw X cards". You can throw in Damnable Pact for big plays. I also like Stinging Study, but it's kind of expensive.

Erebos, God of the Dead (a bit expensive) or Greed is useful as well.

Now, a word about Phyrexian Arena: I'm not sure you want it in an aggro strategy. It's great for controlling strategies, especially Stax (decks which essentially make it impossible for most decks to do anything and then do a point or two of damage every turn) and landfall, but aggro? It's still good, but not insanely overpowered. There's also Dark Confidant, which is Phyrexian Arena #2.

Profet93 on Ratatouille, the Movie - Let's Cook

1 month ago

theNeroTurtle

Do u feel u have enough draw? Read the Bones and Syphon Mind are good budget options to add in placement of or in addition to sign in blood + night's whisper

Urza's Incubator - Ramp for ur commander + other bigger dudes or is it not needed?

Imp's Mischief - Redirect targeted removal, draw, extra turns and can "counter" counter spells

Shizo, Death's Storehouse > Rogue's passage

You do not have enough basics to warrant stranghold, especially in this type of deck. Assuming you get 4x swamps + stronghold, it doesn't do much. It might be helpful late game but with your avg cmc, you should get something more impactful to your plans. Even something as simple as a Buried Ruin to recur an important artifact or Deserted Temple to untap your big mana lands or act as a political tool.

NV_1980 on Demon Sect

2 months ago

So I play-tested this a dozen times or so, and there's a bit of an issue with this deck. In only 1 of these attempts, it took me 5 turns to get 6 Apostles on the field. The rest all took longer. If you want to speed things up, there's a few ways in which you can do that:

1. Use ramp spells like Dark Ritual and Culling the Weak to pump out black mana more quickly. Also will make you slightly less dependent on the Apostles (or these will help you churn out Apostles much quicker). I can't recommend Songs of the Damned enough for this deck, as after you've sacced 6 Apostles to tutor for something, these will become fuel for the casting of other high-end spells.
2. Use draw opportunity that won't require you to sacrifice creatures for it. That will only slow down your Apostle count. Instead of the current draw spells, I'd go for options like Sign in Blood, Read the Bones, Night's Whisper. Possibly also add Underworld Connections (budget) or Black Market Connections (non-budget).

Hope it turns out.

Femme_Fatale on d333tly

2 months ago

Your Read the Bones submission was done to the wrong set and had to be rejected.

Profet93 on Rule the Galaxy [Kaervek, the Punisher]

2 months ago

Beespair

I'm glad you found my suggestions useful, I am genuinely curious about your thoughts for isochron scepter. Do you feel it's too much of a 2 for 1 risk or is there another reason to not warrant it's inclusion despite it's high ceiling?

Also, do you have enough draw? I only see about 5-6 cards that draw. With such a low avg cmc, I can imagine you run out of gas pretty quickly. While some are better than others, here are some potential considerations: Night's Whisper/Sign in Blood (Can target opponents in a pinch + politics), Read the Bones (scry is useful) or a Syphon Mind (expensive cmc but is usually draw 3, each opponent discards one).

How has cabal ritual been playing for you? I understand your deck is low to the ground and you can fill up your GY quickly, but with all the self-exile, do you find yourself often meeting the threshold requirement?

Vampiric TutorGC - I presume budget restrictions preclude it, although I see no mention of budget in the description.

Mind Twist - Triggers commands, anti blue (cast for 2-3, force them to use counterspell prior to using your wincon), or just ramp and make them cry.

Would love to pick your brain about your cool deck :)

Profet93 on [EDH] Phage Is Gonna Touch You

9 months ago

AstroAA

You seem to be doing well in the recursion sub theme.

IMO, Read the Bones > Blood pact - Instant speed doesn't seem needed for this build and target player is nice politics (Especially if you swap lives with them), but ultimately you target yourself.

Cut Leshrac's Ritefoil for Junji, the Midnight Sky for versatility or Skullclamp for draw.

Murderous Rider > Doom blade

Plaguecrafter > Fleshbag

You run both solemmn and burnished heart for ramp but your avg cmc is pretty low. Why not go for less powerful, more efficient ramp in the form of Commander's Sphere or Charcoal Diamond?

Perhaps swap some basic swamps for snow covered swamps to utilize extra planar lens without opponents benefitting? That being said, I'm unsure if you have enough basic swamps to justify it, not to mention the potential to help opponents and most importantly being 2 for 1ed. How has it played for you?