MTG Salvation

Here is my latest take on the top 50 spot removal cards in Commander, in order of best to worst. The criteria I use to consider a card "removal" is that it targets (so no Wrath of God) and it seeks to remove a permanent from play. I rate the cards based on the power of each card, not by the power of their removal ability.



Last Updated: 8/13/2013 3:20 PM EST

Suggestions are encouraged! I literally went through every card that uses the word "target" and "destroy" in the same sentence, so I have a list of hundreds of cards that didn't make the cut. I'm open to reordering or replacing. I'd like to write an article explaining each pick soon, once I feel the list is polished enough. The list has gone through many revisions, way too many to document on this page.

I plan on making more lists like this to help players who are learning Commander. The general process for coming up with these picks is that I will find every single spell of the given category that I can, narrow it down to 50 and then let the community offer suggestions for cards that I may have missed. I plan on having a very competitive friend of mine look it over too, as he understands the format better than anyone I've ever talked to. I feel that this list is in a very good place, so it won't budge very much until the fall when I can have my playgroup look it over.

A possible over-site, depending on what you were going for, is that burn is heavily used as creature removal. I expected to see lightning bolt at the top of this list since it is probably the best creature removal in modern (possibly 2nd to path).

Quote from Shiningjustice

A possible over-site, depending on what you were going for, is that burn is heavily used as creature removal. I expected to see lightning bolt at the top of this list since it is probably the best creature removal in modern (possibly 2nd to path).

Thanks for the reply, Shining. You raise a good point, and in a format like Modern I would readily agree. In this list, I'm valuing versatility over circumstantial power. For example, since Vindicate can destroy any permanent and Lightning Bolt can only kill creatures with toughness 3 or less, I put it lower on the list.

Should I change something in the title or description to reflect this? I'm new here so I don't want to mislead anyone.

I only wanted to respond to top 10 really but yeah

I think your list is probably different from what a lot of people would be thinking of since you're geared toward commander. I can definitely see how, in commander, a card like beast within or pognify is MUCH better than lightning bolt.

I'm thinking legacy/modern, so my top list would look something like (in no particular order):

Lightning bolt
Chain lightning
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Abrupt Decay
Quasali Pridemage
Umezawa's jitte
Wasteland
Oblivion ring
Krosan grip
Vindicate
Lightning helix
sinkhole
ancient grudge

Again, thinking in the mindset of legacy/modern players, sweepers, edict effects, and other non-targeting cards are very much "removal," so you would have to add:

liliana of the veil
pyroclasm
wrath of god
pernicious deed
terminus
supreme verdict
damnation
innocent blood
engineered explosives
engineered plague

There are others that I have certainly missed.

But yeah... your list has many cards that are probably quite good in commander, while being unplayable in constructed formats (I'm looking at you, bramblecrush!)

Quote from mgonzalez

Should I change something in the title or description to reflect this? I'm new here so I don't want to mislead anyone.

"best 50 removal cards in Commander." If that's what you're going for.

doom blade ? no? not top 50? i think it at least beats putrefy.
2 drop, one color

Thanks for all of your suggestions, everyone.

I do think these cards are better in Commander than in Legacy or Modern, but I think that's somewhat of a coincidence. In most scenarios when there's a threat on the board, I'd rather have a Vindicate in my hand than a Swords to Plowshares. But I digress! I changed the description to reflect that this list is for Commander more than other constructed formats.

Jace19, I thought long and hard about Doom Blade and Victim of Night and Go For the Throat, etc. but for now I think that there are a lot of better creature removal on the list because of the restrictions that those cards pose, even if they do cost one mana less. I'd be interested to hear your opinion though.

How about oblation, or chaos wrap? Both are pretty mean if you are playing commander, sure there are draw backs, but shuffling an opponent's commander can sometimes spell game over.

Quote from mgonzalez

In most scenarios when there's a threat on the board, I'd rather have a Vindicate in my hand than a Swords to Plowshares.

I find this very hard to believe... Most threats are creatures, so why would you want a two-color 3 CMC sorcery when you could have a 1 color, 1 CMC instant that exiles it? Most games will go to turn 1; fewer go to turn 3-4, and early threats are serious because of the limited number of good 1 CMC removal options. That puts them at a premium.

STP is better than Vindicate in almost every situation where you aren't reliably killing non-creature permanents or racing. (And if you want to win a race, play lightning bolt or path.)

Quote from mgonzalez

Thanks for all of your suggestions, everyone.

I do think these cards are better in Commander than in Legacy or Modern, but I think that's somewhat of a coincidence. In most scenarios when there's a threat on the board, I'd rather have a Vindicate in my hand than a Swords to Plowshares. But I digress! I changed the description to reflect that this list is for Commander more than other constructed formats.

Jace19, I thought long and hard about Doom Blade and Victim of Night and Go For the Throat, etc. but for now I think that there are a lot of better creature removal on the list because of the restrictions that those cards pose, even if they do cost one mana less. I'd be interested to hear your opinion though.

ok, just bear with me, I play Modern, and my knowledge of Commander is limited to what I read in basically idiots guides, so some of my ideas may not cross formats. I understand completely what you are saying about the limitations, but I always feel that killing 4/5 of the color wheel is better than using one of your fairly limited removal spells, since there is no duplication, to bounce something that will be back next turn, i saw a few bounces on the list. also, for you to have doom blade and for your opponents creature to survive, would both commanders have to have black in the mana cost? it just seems like in any format, it is a straight kill against the majority of targets. There could definitely be better removal spells, but monocolor, instant, for 2, i run 4 in any deck with black. this is a very interesting thread

Quote from Retra

I find this very hard to believe... Most threats are creatures, so why would you want a two-color 3 CMC sorcery when you could have a 1 color, 1 CMC instant that exiles it? Most games will go to turn 1; fewer go to turn 3-4, and early threats are serious because of the limited number of good 1 CMC removal options. That puts them at a premium.

STP is better than Vindicate in almost every situation where you aren't reliably killing non-creature permanents or racing. (And if you want to win a race, play lightning bolt or path.)

I feel like you may not play a lot of EDH...

Quote from Synalon Etuul

Cruel Edict

cool geth's verdict reprint, ot close enough. dualcolor deck vs 1 life, fair trade

Quote from jace19

cool geth's verdict reprint, ot close enough. dualcolor deck vs 1 life, fair trade

Geth's Verdict came out 13 years after Cruel Edict; Cruel Edict is very much not a reprint of Geth's Verdict. (And although Cruel Edict was not tournament-legal in Vintage/Legacy for several years, that change was still 6 years before Geth's Verdict was printed.)

Cruel Edit was a near-functional reprint of Diabolic Edict. Imperial Edict and Chainer's Edict are two other cards riffing on the same theme. There have been a few others in more recent sets that perform a similar function, but not as well as Diabolic.

I'll second Oblation and Chaos Warp. They both pass "The Ulamog Test"

ashes to ashes is my go to black removal spell never leave home without it IMO it should be in top 5

No love for Orim's Thunder, Smallpox, and Death Cloud?

Sudden Death. Split Second is so much power
Doomblade / Go for the Throat
How did we all miss Murder?
Unmake
Boomerang
Comet Storm
Banefire / Demonfire / Devil's Play / Disintegrate / Red Sun's Zenith choose which Red X spell you like best? Do you prefer unpreventable? Uncounterable? or Exile?
Chaos Warp and Oblation
Desert Twister, the Green Vindicate
Frenzied Tilling / Movulli Acid Moss are better than Reap and Sow mostly for cost to effect
Spin Into Myth
Grixis Charm Because it can bounce anything (Red and Black like enchantment removal) or just kill dudes dead.
I don't know if these were thought of when you made your list, but they are worth considering.

tbh i don't think cards like detention sphere, oblivion ring, and journey to nowhere are all that good in edh. they're likely to be incidentally removed in a format where many decks play over half a dozen sweepers, and you're giving your opponent a very easy opportunity to remove your removal, sometimes reproc'ing etb abilities.

for suggestions, fleshbag marauder and duplicant (or luminate primordial, especially in multiplayer) have been very good to me. as has bone shredder, which is fantastic in any deck with a big recursion theme, eg a lot of black decks.

also i know it's been said but chaos warp is probably the best removal in the format

In my opinion, Beast Within is the best removal spell in EDH. Compared to Vindicate, it has a less restrictive mana cost, and is instant speed which can make a world of difference. The drawback is worth it for instant speed I think.

Quote from FZA

In my opinion, Beast Within is the best removal spell in EDH. Compared to Vindicate, it has a less restrictive mana cost, and is instant speed which can make a world of difference. The drawback is worth it for instant speed I think.

Second this. Very, very good card.

Also, Desert Twister should get a mention.

Quote from xieyun006

How about oblation, or chaos wrap? Both are pretty mean if you are playing commander, sure there are draw backs, but shuffling an opponent's commander can sometimes spell game over.

This is very true and passes the Ulamog Test as someone said. I'll find places for it in the list!

Quote from Retra

I find this very hard to believe... Most threats are creatures, so why would you want a two-color 3 CMC sorcery when you could have a 1 color, 1 CMC instant that exiles it? Most games will go to turn 1; fewer go to turn 3-4, and early threats are serious because of the limited number of good 1 CMC removal options.

This is how Vintage works, but becomes much less untrue in other formats. Also, a lot of competitive decks have no creatures at all, and so a card like Swords becomes useless.

Quote from Cédrix

I find that everyone is forgetting the most important aspect of removal for me: speed. Instant is 1000 times better than sorcery in multiplayer edh imo. I often see myself cutting stuff like maelstrom pulse and decimate in favor of krosan grip or putrefy. The fact that you can hold onto your removal to see what's gonna happen to your opponent's board or who he's going to attack with that big lord of extinction is crucial. Also, when your opponent plays an avenger of zendikar you can kill it with something like putrefy or swords to plowshares before the tokens come into play so you can prevent them from getting more than a few chumpblockers. If you have a vindicate in that scenario you'll probably be staring down 30-50 power in creatures by the time you can cast it and it's pretty bad.

This is also an excellent point, and I'll adjust my list accordingly! Sorcery speed does make all the difference. I'll move some things around as soon as I get the chance.

Shriekmaw is pretty good as well.

Aftershock needs to be on there.

Sure, it's terrible, but it's second only to Chaos Warp in mono red when it comes to versatility.

I like Duplicant a lot.