Lightning Bolt
Limited Edition Alpha 161 • common
- Set
- Limited Edition Alpha
- Collector number
- 161
- Rarity
- Common
- Mana cost
- red mana
- Type
- Instant
- Colors
- Red
- Artist
- Christopher Rush
- Market price
- $626.67
What it does
Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperLegal
- BrawlLegal
- HistoricBanned
- TimelessLegal
- Penny DreadfulNot legal
- 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
Lightning Bolt debuted in the Limited Edition Alpha set in 1993 as one of the original 295 cards for the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. Designed by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast, the card was intended to capture the raw power of elemental magic, serving as a foundational piece of the red color pie that emphasized direct damage and speed within the game's nascent competitive ecosystem.
The iconic illustration for the card was created by Christopher Rush, whose bold, visceral style defined the visual identity of the game's early sets. Rush sought to translate the destructive energy of a storm into a compact, impactful image that communicated the card's function at a glance. It was immediately recognized by players for its exceptional efficiency, eventually becoming a benchmark against which all future burn spells would be measured.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
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About Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Limited Edition Alpha 161 • common. 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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