Home / Magic: The Gathering / Magic Origins / Read the Bones
Read the Bones
NM
LP
MP
HP

Viewing offers in Near Mint condition

common · Sorcery

Read the Bones

common · Sorcery · Magic Origins
$0.29
Low
$0.34
Market
$0.43
High

Oracle Text

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 and the rest on top in any order.)

Card Details

-/-Power / Toughness
{2}{B}Mana Cost
17Prints

Character Background

Read the Bones is a classic black card-advantage spell that fits best in control, midrange, and combo decks that care more about resource quality than raw speed. The flavor is pure black magic: power purchased at a personal cost, trading 2 life for the knowledge and cards needed to keep the plan moving. Scry 2 before drawing makes it especially efficient, letting you clear away dead cards, set up your next turns, or dig deeper toward a key finisher. In Commander, it pairs well with lifegain engines, death-trigger strategies, and commanders that reward card draw, since the life loss is usually trivial compared with the consistency gained. It is also a strong inclusion in low-curve decks that want to smooth land drops early while still finding action later. If your build uses top-of-library manipulation, Read the Bones becomes even better, because you can stack the draw to maximize the value of those two fresh cards.

Generated using gpt-5.4-mini

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Suggested Pricing
$0.29 - $0.43
At the current market price of $0.34.
Average Time to Sell
3 days
At the current market price of $0.34.

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Character Background

Read the Bones is a classic black card-advantage spell that fits best in control, midrange, and combo decks that care more about resource quality than raw speed. The flavor is pure black magic: power purchased at a personal cost, trading 2 life for the knowledge and cards needed to keep the plan moving. Scry 2 before drawing makes it especially efficient, letting you clear away dead cards, set up your next turns, or dig deeper toward a key finisher. In Commander, it pairs well with lifegain engines, death-trigger strategies, and commanders that reward card draw, since the life loss is usually trivial compared with the consistency gained. It is also a strong inclusion in low-curve decks that want to smooth land drops early while still finding action later. If your build uses top-of-library manipulation, Read the Bones becomes even better, because you can stack the draw to maximize the value of those two fresh cards.

Generated using gpt-5.4-mini · Updated at 2026-09-06 17:20:42 UTC

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