Chain Lightning

Mana cost: {R}
Type: Sorcery
Set: Mystery Booster 2 #55 (common)
Price: $0.33 USD

Chain Lightning deals 3 damage to any target. Then that player or that permanent's controller may pay {R}{R}. If the player does, they may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.

Chain Lightning has 17 printings, first in Legends (1994). EDHREC ranks it #5,748 among Commander cards. It appears most in Smaug the Impenetrable decks (4,359 on EDHREC). 1 public deck on TCG runs it. It has 4 official rulings.

Legality

commander: legal
legacy: legal
vintage: legal
pauper: legal
modern: not legal
pioneer: not legal
standard: not legal
brawl: legal

Public decks that run Chain Lightning

Deathdancer Xira - Magic Online Theme Decks, led by Xira Arien

Commanders that run Chain Lightning most

Deck counts from EDHREC.

Often played with Chain Lightning

Cards that show up in the same decks on EDHREC.

Rulings

2022-12-08: The copy of Chain Lightning is created on the stack, so it's not cast. Abilities that trigger when a player casts a spell won't trigger. Players may respond to that spell before it resolves.
2022-12-08: The player putting the copy of the spell on the stack controls that copy.
2022-12-08: As Chain Lightning resolves, either the original or one of the copies, the targeted player or the controller of the targeted permanent may copy it. The copy has the same text, target, and color as the resolving spell, though the player creating the copy may choose a new target for it. Once that copy is created (or not), the Chain Lightning finishes resolving and leaves the stack.
2022-12-08: If the targeted player or permanent is an illegal target as Chain Lightning tries to resolve, the spell doesn't resolve and none of its effects happen. It can't be copied.