While creatures are often viewed as the cornerstone of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Magic: The Gathering, one of the most vital types of card within a player's repertoire are removal spells. As the name implies, removal spells are spells that can target a problematic permanent under an opponent's control, and remove it from play. Throughout Magic's history, countless removal spells have seen print within every color. But which are the most potent, flexible, and worth a player's time?
Today we're going to dive into the vast sea of removal spells in Magic: The Gathering and examine the best that the game has to offer!
Updated January 2, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: Regardless of the format one may be playing, removal is an integral part of Magic. Being able to respond to various types of threats and interact with another player's board state can prevent an opponent from landing lethal combat damage or assembling the pieces of a game-winning combo. For this reason, many of the best removal spells in the game are quite flexible, and can be used to target several types of permanents. Additionally, mana-efficient removal allows a player to cast other spells in addition to their removal within a single turn, while instant-speed removal allows a player to tactically react to threats on the fly.
25 ♊ Heartless ✨Act
The new instant Heartless Act 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:from Ikoria is absurd for an uncommon removalಞ spell. In Draft and Sealed, it can end up being more awkward due to the large number of +1/+1 and keyword counters on some creatures, but in most constructed formats it’ll almost always read “Destroy target creature.”
Most targets with counters will probably be eliminated by removing them from it, but very few of the most common creatures will inhereꦦntly h💫ave counters, and there are constantly times you can cast Heartless Act in response to abilities or spells that would neutralize it. For such a low cost, it’s a great budget removal spell for nearly any deck or format.
24 Fall From Favor ဣ
Another absolutely ridiculous removal spell came in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Commander Legends, where several spells with the Monarch ability were reprinted and newly printed, whi🧸ch lets players draw a card at the end of their turn if it isn’t taken from them through combat damage. One at common, Fall From Favor, is strong enough to have been ba𝄹nned from the Pauper format quite hastily after its release.
This may just tap down an opponent’s creature, but having the Monarch while eliminating creatures that could take it away is incredibly efficient. Not only will their greatest threat be ne🍸utralized, but with a defensive board and more removal spells you’ll be drawing nearly t🧸wice as many cards as your opponent for potentially the entire game.
23 🌞 Spikefield Hazard
Spikefield Hazard is a different type of powerful compared to the other entries in this list. It deals a quick s𝔉ingle point of damage, and while that can’t kill every 🅠creature in the game, it can often deal with a surprising number of threats on Turn 1, making it rarely useless in many matchups against common fast aggro decks.
The reason this is so much better than other similar cards, though, is that you can also just play it as a tapped land if you don’t have any targets worth stabbing. This versatility makes it playable in ♌nearly any red deck in Standard currently, and outside of slower and friendlier games it’s going to likely be anything you need.
22 ﷽ Murderoꦏus Rider
Adventures were a questionable mechanic in Throne of Eldraine. On one hand, it felt great to have two spells 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:attached to each other, especially since most were inexpensive and easy to get full value of. Unfortunately, many are currently mainstays in every standard deck, and while🌠 Murderous Rider lags behind, it’s perhaps the most efficient removal of them all.
This card’s Adventure, Swift End, will destroy any creature or planeswalker at Instant speed, an effect not commonly found at three mana anymore, and absolutely worth the two life as an additional cost. The fꦉact that you can regain that life through blocking and attacking with the 2/3 creatuꦬre afterwards is just icing on this deadly cake.
21 Skyclave Appaꦕrition
Removal in White can vary massively, frequently having a wide variety of targets while having drawbacks that make things riskier. Skyclave Apparition is a prime example of this, as the permanent it exiles becomes replaced with an X/X token when it dies, but this hasn’t held it back from being a mainstay in any format where a ෴three-mana creature isn’t too slow.
This ability can easily be navigated around. Protecting the creature will prevent your opponent from getting a token in the first place, but it can also hit other tokens to annihilate them forever wi♐thout the risk of another token coming when the Apparition dies. Even if the opponent succeeds in getting their toke🦩n, a vanilla creature is rarely better than the creature or planeswalker you’ve removed, especially if your opponent had to waste a spell to destroy the Skyclave Apparition to get it.
20 Chainer’s Edict 🀅
Throughout Magic’s history, “edict” effects are those th🔯at force an opponent to sacrifice a creature. Th𝔉ese effects can be quite powerful, as due to the fact they are not technically targeting or destroying a creature, they can get around both indestructible and hexproof. An all-star in Pauper, Chainer’s Edict is a black two-man sorcery with an edict effect, boasting a flashback cost of seven. This means that even after its done its job, this spell can be recast in the later stages of a game for additional value.
19 Despark
A budget-friendly removal spell, Despark is an Orzhov spell first printed in War of the Spark🎉. An instant for two mana, Despark can exil🔜e any target permanent with a mana value of four or greater.
While this spell is rather useless in the early stages of a game, it can be used to remove many of the most impactful and game-ending cards that a deck may have to offer, whether they be artifacts, creatures, enchantments, or Planeswalkers, an✃d can do so in a reactionary manner at instant speed.
18 Fatal Puℱsh
Ideally, a player’s removal can be cast for a negligible investment of mana, usually only costing around one or two mana while toting as much flexibility as possible. Fatal Push is a black instant for one black mana that is capable of destroying target creature with converted mana cost two or less. However, due to having Revolt, if any permanent its caster controlled left the battlefield that turn, this spell can remove a creature with converted mana cost four or less. This makes it an ideal removal spell in the Modern format in which mana curves are quite low and fetch lands are common. A player can sacrifice their fetch land to enable Fatal Push&rsquoꩵ;s revolt and taking out an opponent’s most dangerous threats.
17 So💛ng Of The Dryads
When it comes to Green removal options, it's hard to find a card as universally useful as Song of the Dryads. An enchantment for three mana, Song of the Dryads can be attached to any permanent regardless of type, rendering it nothing more than a colorless forest. While this effect technically ramps one’s opponent, it can deal with a multitude of threats, and can be incredibly difficult to deal with, especially in colors such as red and black that have difficulty removing enchantments from play.
16 ♍ Reality Shift
While most blue removal comes in the form of bounce effects, Reality Shift can be used to destroy a target creature in mono-blue decks. For two mana, this instant destroys target creature at the cost of allowing that creature's controller to manifest the top card of their library.
As the manifest mechanic puts the top card of a player's library into play face down, allowing it to be turned face up for its mana cost if it's a creature, if the manifested card isn't a creature, Reality Shift can effectively replace a major threat with a useless 2/2.