Smoke Bomb is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Flash All creatures have shroud. (They can't be the targets of spells or abilities.) At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this artifact. When you do, target creature you control can't be blocked this turn.
Complete guide
Smoke Bomb is a versatile artifact that provides a temporary tactical advantage by shrouding the entire battlefield. This card is perfect for disrupting your opponents' plans while setting up a decisive, unblockable strike during your next turn.
A Blanket of Shroud
As long as Smoke Bomb is on the battlefield, all creatures have shroud. This means no player, including you, can target any creature with spells or abilities. Because it has flash, you can cast it in response to a spell that targets a creature to cause that spell to fizzle due to an illegal target.
The Upkeep Sacrifice
Smoke Bomb is a temporary fixture. At the beginning of your upkeep, a triggered ability forces you to sacrifice it. This isn't optional; once the ability resolves, the artifact is moved to the graveyard. This triggers a reflexive ability that grants one of your creatures unblockable status for the rest of the turn.
Targeting and Timing
A common mistake is trying to target a creature for the unblockable effect before sacrificing the artifact. Per official rulings, you do not choose a target when the upkeep ability first triggers. Instead, you sacrifice Smoke Bomb first. Once it is in the graveyard, the shroud effect ends, and only then do you put the reflexive 'When you do' ability on the stack and choose a target.
Strategic Implementation
Play Smoke Bomb when you need to protect your board from targeted removal or when you are ready to push through lethal damage. Since the unblockable effect happens during your upkeep, it lasts through your combat phase, ensuring your best attacker connects regardless of the opponent's blockers.
Interaction examples
Arcane SignetIf an opponent attempts to destroy your creature-based mana dorks while you have Arcane Signet to provide the necessary mana, you can flash in Smoke Bomb. All creatures gain shroud immediately, causing the opponent's targeting spell to fail. On your next turn, you sacrifice the bomb to make one of those protected creatures unblockable.
Swiftfoot BootsIf you have a creature equipped with Swiftfoot Boots, it already has hexproof. Casting Smoke Bomb upgrades this to shroud for everyone. When Smoke Bomb is sacrificed during your upkeep, the shroud effect disappears, allowing you to once again target your own creature with other spells or abilities while the hexproof from the Boots continues to protect it from opponents.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Smoke Bomb
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
You don’t choose a target for Smoke Bomb’s last ability at the time it triggers. Rather, a second “reflexive” ability triggers when you sacrifice Smoke Bomb this way. You choose a target for that ability as it goes on the stack. Each player may respond to this triggered ability as normal.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Smoke Bomb
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.