Ball Lightning
Fourth Edition 176 • rare
- Set
- Fourth Edition
- Collector number
- 176
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- red mana red mana red mana
- Type
- Creature
- Colors
- Red
- Artist
- Quinton Hoover
- Market price
- $8.34
What it does
Trample (This creature can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.)
Haste (This creature can attack and tap as soon as it comes under your control.)
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this creature.
Where you can play it
- StandardLegal
- PioneerLegal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlLegal
- HistoricLegal
- TimelessLegal
- Penny DreadfulLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Ball Lightning debuted in the 1994 set The Dark and was later reprinted in the 1995 Fourth Edition, the game's first core set to feature a black-bordered release after the Revised Edition. The card was designed to embody the chaotic and ephemeral nature of red magic in Magic: The Gathering, functioning as a high-power, low-toughness creature meant to strike quickly and disappear before the end of the turn. This design established the 'ball lightning' archetype, a staple in aggressive deck strategies focused on overwhelming opponents with sudden, unavoidable bursts of damage.
The iconic illustration for the original printing, which was carried forward into subsequent editions like Fourth, was created by fantasy artist Quinton Hoover. Hoover employed a vibrant, swirling aesthetic that captured the frantic motion of a sentient bolt of energy. While the card's mechanics were initially seen as a risky gamble for players, it was ultimately received as a hallmark of red's explosive playstyle and remains one of the most recognizable and enduring creatures from the game's early history.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
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About Ball Lightning
Ball Lightning is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Fourth Edition 176 • rare. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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