Dictionary.com defines removal as “the act of removing.” What a garbage definition, right? In this essay I will…
All jokes aside, removal seems to be a persistent hot-button topic within the Magic community. Do people run enough of it? Is a card ban-worthy if it dies to removal? After a certain point, the topic becomes boring. Removal becomes boring. And it shouldn’t be. Removal should be fun and exciting. It should encourage and create interesting games within your pod. It should be unique to your deck. So this week, I wanted to share with y’all some of my favorite pieces of removal in Magic that you might not run or be aware of.
White Sun’s Twilight
Alexa, play “Toxic” by Britney Spears. White Sun’s Twilight is a newer piece, but I am already digging its energy. This card does it all. I mean it. This card has a laundry list of experiences. You gain life, create tokens, and if X is high enough, destroy all creatures except those tokens! This is the spell that keeps on giving. While seven mana may seem steep, remember how easy it is for players to overload a Cyclonic Rift. That card gets cast all the time, and it’s way less exciting than this brand-new white spell.
Defile
I absolutely love Defile as a form of removal. In fact, the only thing I don’t love about it is the name. I mean, saying you’re going to Defile a creature sure leads to a pretty awkward resolution of the spell. Besides this, Defile is a wonderful removal spell for any and all black decks.
What makes it one of my favorites is how cheap it is and how quickly it can scale in a game. Early-game, you may only have a few Swamps, but you can easily get rid of that 2/2. However, if you wait patiently and hold onto that cute one-mana spell, you can easily get rid of an Ulamog or a Ghalta. In a worst-case scenario, you can even cast this during combat to decrease the beating you will inevitably take.
Artifact Mutation
I love to sing the praises of Artifact Mutation. Sure, this spell is limited in what it can target (artifacts), but I prefer to focus on the other half of the text box: “Create X 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens, where X is that artifact’s mana value.” Now, this can be spicy!
How? Well, you don’t need to destroy the artifact to make those tokens. I mean, yeah, Blightsteel Colossus cannot be destroyed, but a two-mana spell that generates twelve Saproling tokens sounds absolutely delightful to me. Someone casts a Boros Charm? Don’t worry! You still get those little Saproling babies. It’s because of this that I love this piece of removal.
Imprisoned in the Moon / Song of the Dryads
Okay, I hate these spells, but I love these spells. I hate them when they are used against me, but I love using them on my opponents. Because these two Auras don’t destroy, but rather transform the enchanted permanent into a land, putting either on someone’s commander is the ultimate evil.
It’s devilishly hard to get rid of either Aura once it’s stuck. You have to run some form of enchantment removal or land destruction in order to salvage your commander. Taking out someone’s commander in such a way is a ruthless but admirable tactic, as they cannot recur it from the graveyard or simply recast it with tax. By chaining it to the battlefield, you are removing a high-profile piece of synergy without even removing it at all.
Pongify / Rapid Hybridization
These spells are a bit more simplistic than the others on this list, I will admit. Maybe it’s the nostalgia clouding my mind on this pair, but I just can’t help loving these two cheap spells. Maybe it’s the weird little primate in the Pongify art, I don’t know. Seeing destruction in blue feels novel to me, especially with how common bounce spells are. Sure, your opponent gets a creature, but one mana to destroy a massive Eldrazi seems worth it to me.
Fire Covenant
This one is going to get me some flack from some of my frequent chatters, because I used to crap-talk this card a lot. I know, I know. Life is a resource, but for some reason, that lesson seemed to have eluded me. I like it when my life total is big and I hate seeing it dwindle down. However, I caved and finally decided to run this spell in my Secret Lair Sisay deck, and wow did I fall in love.
This card is a three-mana “kill anything and everything you want” spell. It can wipe a battlefield of tokens or remove one huge beastie. It molds to your desires in a way that most removal spells can’t. I finally felt comfortable with life being a resource when I cast this spell for the first time. I love it.
Curse of the Swine
Not only is Curse of the Swine mass targeted exile, it’s flavorful too. Seriously, this card is a major flavor win. Curse of the Swine is one of my ride-or-die forms of removal. If I play blue, I run this card. I live for it being an exile spell, as there is zero chance of recursion. When paired with pieces like High Tide or Nyxbloom Ancient, this spell goes from a nice piece of selective removal to global decimation. Plus, it gives people little piggy tokens, which is cute enough to justify running this card.
Oblation / Deglamer
Pieces like Oblation and Deglamer weren’t really on my radar until I heard Dana Roach talk about them on the EDHRECast. I consider them to be a more passive form of removal than the other cards on this list. Rather than outright destroying the target, pieces like Oblation and Deglamer have the owner of the target shuffle it into their library.
Of course, there is always the possibility of drawing into the targeted card later; however, you have just as much a likelihood of that happening with a Chaos Warp, which is definitely played more than these two cards. I have these two pieces on my list because they are fun, unconventional, and plain old cheeky.
The Eternal Wanderer
Ah yes, another new one that I have fallen in love with. People used to tell me to never run a planeswalker for their ultimate. I, of course, completely ignore that because I like to play big gluttonous spells in Commander because they create the good brain chemicals. The Eternal Wanderer’s -4 makes all of those good brain feelings.
You choose a creature each player controls, and then each player sacrifices the rest not chosen this way. Talk about a catastrophic blow to battlefields, plus you are the one who chooses! I find such a devastating play to be intoxicating (as I have done this about five times since slotting her in Cadric) and cannot recommend this planeswalker enough as a fun form of removal.
Wave of Vitriol
This is one of those spells that I never would have known existed, if not for the time I took to research fun removal spells for an episode of my podcast, Bad at Magic. I have yet to cast this spell and I am practically frothing at the mouth for the chance. (I mean, I’d have to make a green deck to run this, but that’ll never happen.)
Wave of Vitriol removes nonbasic lands, enchantments, and artifacts, and replaces the lands sacrificed this way with basic lands from your library. I find this spell to be quintessentially green, and I love it. Nature crashes through in a wave, destroying everything (but creatures) and leaving behind only nature (basic lands). It takes but it also gives, and I find it to be one of the very few green spells in Magic that ignites that creative, deckbuilding spark within me.
Removal Remix
Removal is integral to the overall health of your deck. Typical removal “staples” often bore me, which is why I try to take the time to search for unique or odd pieces that feel fun and exciting to slam onto the table. The next time you’re sitting down to build a deck, take the time to search for some interesting alternatives to your standard Path to Exile or Beast Within. You might find your next exciting Commander story. Happy removing, deckbuilders.
