Read the Bones
Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.
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What it does
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.)
Rulings
5 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.
- 2013-09-15
When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom.
- 2013-09-15
You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, that means you'll scry last. For others, that means you'll scry and then perform other actions.
- 2013-09-15
Scry appears on some spells and abilities with one or more targets. If all of the spell or ability's targets are illegal when it tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't scry.
- 2013-09-15
You choose how to order cards returned to your library after scrying no matter where you put them.
- 2013-09-15
The loss of life is part of the spell's effect. It's not an additional cost. If Read the Bones doesn't resolve, you won't lose life.
Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.
In the 99
Every deck whose current list includes Read the Bones, whatever its commander.
Most played under
| Commander | Decks | Games | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgar Markov | 1 | 0 | — |
| Gollum, Riddle Master | 1 | 0 | — |
| Liesa, Forgotten Archangel | 1 | 0 | — |
| Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin | 1 | 0 | — |
| Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel | 1 | 0 | — |
| Silverquill, the Disputant | 1 | 0 | — |
| Tinybones, Trinket Thief | 1 | 0 | — |
Colors it shows up in
- Mono-Black 3 decks
- Orzhov 2 decks
- Rakdos 1 deck
- Mardu 1 deck
Read the Bones price history
The Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander #154 printing, as Scryfall reports the TCGplayer market. Updated nightly. Click any version below to chart its price.
Every recorded price change
| Date | Non-foil |
|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2026 | $0.31 |
| Oct 25, 2026 | $0.31 |
| Oct 24, 2026 | $0.33 |
| Oct 21, 2026 | $0.31 |
| Oct 19, 2026 | $0.32 |
| Oct 17, 2026 | $0.30 |
| Oct 12, 2026 | $0.31 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | $0.30 |
| Oct 7, 2026 | $0.29 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | $0.30 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $0.31 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | $0.30 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | $0.29 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | $0.30 |
A row is recorded only on nights the price moved, so each price held until the row above it.
Every version of Read the Bones
17 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them. Click a card's art to chart that version's price above.
- Normal
- —
Borderless
Secret Lair Drop
- Normal
- $1.90
- Foil
- $2.92
Inverted
Secret Lair Drop
- Normal
- $5.62
- Foil
- —
Inverted
Secret Lair Drop
- Foil
- $6.31
- Normal
- $0.31
Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander
- Normal
- $0.31
- Normal
- $0.36
- Foil
- $0.59
March of the Machine Commander
- Normal
- $0.36
- Normal
- $0.18
- Normal
- $0.39
- Normal
- $1.23
- Foil
- $18.42
- Normal
- $0.26
- Normal
- $0.33
Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi
- Normal
- $0.37
- Normal
- $0.27
- Foil
- $0.79
- Normal
- $0.32
- Normal
- $0.31
- Foil
- $1.36
Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Read the Bones. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.
Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.
