Cruel Ultimatum
Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas 69 • rare
- Set
- Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas
- Collector number
- 69
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- blue mana blue mana black mana black mana black mana red mana red mana
- Type
- Sorcery
- Colors
- Black · Red · Blue
- Artist
- Ralph Horsley
- Market price
- $0.37
What it does
Target opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice, discards three cards, then loses 5 life. You return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand, draw three cards, then gain 5 life.
There is always a greater power.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- 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.
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Where it came from
Cruel Ultimatum was originally introduced in the 2008 Magic: The Gathering expansion Shards of Alara, designed by the team led by Mark Rosewater to embody the complex, high-mana power fantasy of the Grixis shard. It was later reprinted as card number 69 in the 2011 Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas set, which was created to showcase the climactic ideological and magical conflict between the heroic planeswalker Ajani Goldmane and the elder dragon Nicol Bolas.
The artwork for this specific printing, illustrated by Todd Lockwood, depicts the devastating atmospheric impact of Bolas’s magic. Lockwood aimed to capture the sense of overwhelming dread and total resource depletion the spell imposes on an opponent. Upon its initial release and subsequent inclusion in the Duel Decks series, the card gained a reputation among competitive players for its efficiency in turning a losing board state into a decisive victory, cementing its status as a hallmark of high-cost, high-reward control strategies.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
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About Cruel Ultimatum
Cruel Ultimatum is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas 69 • 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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