Why Should You Always Bolt the Bird?

It's a piece of advice that gets tossed around a lot, but if you're new to the game you probably don't have the context to understand what it means, so today I'm answering The Question: Why do we say you should always BOLT the BIRD?

[danalbert]

If by "Bolt" you mean "Watch" and "The Bird" meaning "The Latest Magic Arcanum Video"--then yes. I always Bolt The Bird

[mardeosos]

"Stomp the goose".... love it. I'm spanish speaker so a lot these phrases are missing for us.

[jonasp.]

Having a little series on all the weird little sayings, their origins and meanings could fit the channel, i can see it.

[NicoleBolas]

Bolt the bird? But I wanna bolt EVERYTHING. Decision making is not my friend, my friend 😂

[brentwalker]

The generic form of the wisdom would be “burn the dork”, but it just doesn’t have the same ring as “bolt the bird”. The “stomp the goose” you mention is one of the only set specific replacements that comes anywhere near the the catchiness.

[sloth]

Looks like a volcanic island not a BOP 😉

[djackcarver]

I think the Bolt the Bird heuristic takes all its meaning when we view Bolt as a generic removal spell (that happens to be able to go face) instead of a damaging spell in a Burn deck context.
In the same scenario presented, with a single mountain on your first turn, should you:

- kill the harmless bird at sorcery speed before it can generate mana?
- or keep mana up to kill the actual threat (like a 3 mana 3/3) they'll be able to cast ahead of schedule?
And for reasons stated in the video, in most circumstances the correct answer is: Bolt the Bird :D
This heuristic works with most cheap removal spell, but Bolt's efficiency and flexibility is what makes it so ubiquitous
Man I love Lightning Bolt

This would make a cool serie, exploring sayings, magic slang and heuristics and their origin!

[drakonyanazkar]

[deep thonks here]
I'll start applying some of that wisdom and see how it impacts my games. _Or I may find out I was already doing it, but wasn't aware yet_

[BurnByMoonlight]

Had a BoP in my Chishiro deck. He want bolter. He grew to be a 26/27. This is why you always bolt the bird.

[DrkWhiteWolf]

As I was taught very early on in my Magic Playing life, screwing your opponent over is almost always the best course of action. Bolt the Bird!

[suddenlyboop]

Ya my dinosaur deck hates it when you kill my mana dorks. Stop that! I needed that mana for ghalta into etali next turn!

[Hakelous]

you shouldve mentioned alchemy with Delighted Halfling

[AutkastKain]

I've been thinking about card game design a lot, and getting ahead on resources on the first turn of the game is huge. The speed and pattern of the game changes drastically when your 5+ cost bomb comes out 2 turns early due to some mana dorks

[Melvinvanharn]

This isn't rocket science. Its not really counter-intuitive at all. Land destructions spells typically cost 3 mana-Pillage, Stone Rain, Winter's Grasp, Rain of Tears, etc. Birds is essentially a land. If the text of Lightning Bolt read-"Destroy one target land" would you play it on your turn one? The answer is usually yes. By Bolting the Birds, you are not only removing acceleration, you are removing a potential blocker and(less likely) a potential threat. You'd basically need a near perfect hand of something like 2x Mountain, Goblin Guide, Bolt, Bolt, Bolt, Fireblast to think about it,

[jollaffle]

We're really quite fortunate that the early cards lended themselves to such a pity saying. "Strike the Bandit" just doesn't roll off the tongue like "Bolt the Bird" does.

"Stomp the Goose" is really good, though.

[jacob]

I have been playing Magic for 30+ years by this point (yes, I'm old). I have never, in all those years, ever bolted the birds! I have also never lost a game before, to a green deck, so maybe that's just my experience talking. Birds are worthless, so long as you have enough ammo to kill all of the bigger things that the bird can help summon. And if the birds of paradise continue to be an annoyance, there are always cheap red "boardwipes" handy, like Sweltering Suns, that'll clean up the whole mess anyway, for only three mana. Red damage-dealing is cheap. You shouldn't need all that much mana in the first place, to keep your opponent from stacking up a huge army against you. It's all in how you use the strategy.