Price$0.21 – $5.78
Buy on TCGplayerRead the Bones
Sorcery
LegalCard DrawRank #441
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.)
KeywordsScry
Why is this card good?
Read the Bones is premium black card advantage at a fantastic rate. Three mana to draw two while smoothing your next draws with Scry 2 is exactly what black decks want, and the 2 life is trivial in a 40-life format.
The scry is what elevates it above vanilla draw — you filter away dead lands or excess removal, effectively turning two cards into "two great cards." That synergizes beautifully with anything that punishes self-damage or rewards card flow.
- Wants it: any black midrange/control deck, aristocrats, reanimator, and combo decks needing to dig for pieces. Pairs with lifedrain/lifegain payoffs and Scry-matters effects.
- Skip it in: heavy life-as-resource decks where loss adds up (though 2 is minor), or decks with stronger repeatable card engines (Phyrexian Arena, Sign in Blood at instant speed, Night's Whisper which is strictly cheaper and faster for two).
If you're not running Night's Whisper, you generally should before this — but Read the Bones earns its slot for the scry in dig-heavy lists.
Related cards
Sign in Blood
Two-mana black draw two cards for 2 life, direct cheaper alternative.
Night's Whisper
Two-mana draw two cards, pay 2 life, premium upgrade.
Painful Truths
Draws cards equal to colors of mana spent, life-payment card advantage.
Ambition's Cost
Draw three cards, lose 3 life, similar life-for-cards effect.
Phyrexian Arena
Repeatable card draw each turn at the cost of life.
Read the Runes
Scalable draw and scry-like dig, flexible card advantage.
Costly Plunder
Cheap black draw two by sacrificing a permanent.
Deadly Dispute
Two cards plus treasure for a sacrifice, efficient black draw.
Printings (15)
Played by these commanders
Kardur, Doomscourge100% of 1
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath100% of 1
Edgar Markov100% of 1
Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir100% of 1
Dihada, Binder of Wills100% of 1
Aminatou, Veil Piercer100% of 1