In Commander, removal and board wipes are the primary form of interaction and the main way you will answer your opponents’ threatening battlefields. It is important to never leave your Commander deck without both removal spells and board wipes, as without them, you will be put in scenarios that are unwinable without proper answers.
What Makes A Good Removal Spell?
Removal spells are cards that, as the name implies, can remove a permanent. When someone refers to a “removal spell,” it’s generally considered a creature removal spell. The addition of “artifact” or “enchantment” before “removal” is what those kinds of removal spells are often called. Land removal is usually called land destruction instead.
A good removal spell needs to be two things: versatile and easy to cast. Generally, you don’t want to be spending more than mana, and even then, most of the good removal spells only cost two or less mana. A spell like Infernal Grasp is great, since it can hit any creature you run into and is easy to cast. You may run into indestructible creatures, so cards that exile instead of destroy are very good like Path to Exile. With removal that costs more than two mana, you want them to be able to hit multiple targets such as with Chaos Warp
You can’t just have creature removal and need to bring artifact and enchantment removal, too. Without these, you might find your creatures getting exiled with something like Oubliette. After having one game of getting your commander Imprisoned in the Moon, you’ll get why it’s important.
The best removal spells are ones that you use to target more than just one kind of permanent. Generous Gift lets you not just destroy problem creatures, but any permanent. Even though these kinds of removal give your opponent a creature, the trade-off is more than worth it. Some removal spells let you destroy multiple targets such as Casualties of War. These might cost you a bit of mana, but can be worth the trade-off if you can destroy multiple problem permanents.
Best White Removal Spells
If you’re playing White , then you’re in luck, because White has every kind of removal spell. It’s the best removal option, and has some of the best removal spells in Commander.
Both Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are among the best of the best removal spells. You want to include both of these in all your decks that play White . You can get rid of any indestructible creature for just one mana, which is why these are considered the best. Generous Gift is another one you want in your decks, as it helps to cover all your bases.
In White, you also have access to cards that destroy both artifacts and enchantments. Cards that do this are known as “disenchants,” named after Disenchant, the best variant of this effect you can play. Cathar Commando is another version of this effect you can play at instant speed, and comes with a body on the battlefield you can use as a blocker. While Fragmentize is a bit more narrow, it only costing one mana to cast is relevent to consider.
Best Blue Removal Spells
When it comes to removal, Blue is the weakest of the five colors. Instead of having traditional removal spells, Blue can either return permanents to the hand, or turn them “off.” You can use some Auras as pseudo-removal spells that make them vanilla creatures.
The best Blue removal spells will have you break the color pie with Pongify and Rapid Hybridization. Blue doesn’t usually get cards that directly destroy creatures, as these are from a past era of Magic, but you can still use them in your Commander decks. Ravenform is a similar, albeit weaker card since it’s a sorcery, but can also hit artifacts.
Most of Blue’s removal spells are on enchantments that transform your opponents’ creatures into something else. Imprisoned in the Moon can permanently get rid of a commander by turning it into a land, which can be very hard to get rid of. Amphibian Downpour can turn a bunch of creatures into 1/1 vanilla Frogs.
When it comes to artifact and creature removal, the only actual way to remove them is with Reality Acid. Even then, it’s very clunky and takes three turns to actually remove it. The only other options are bouncing them back to the hand with something like Otawara, Soaring City.
Best Black Removal Spells
The main form of Black removal spells are creature removal spells. Black does have access to enchantment removal, but is generally rather weak at that. There are only two Black cards that can remove artifacts, and both force you to sacrifice a creature(s): Phyrexian Tribute and Gate to Phyrexia
The strength of Black’s removal suite is how many options it has. Infernal Grasp hits any creature, Go for the Throat can destroy any nonartifact creature, and Victim of Night can destroy all but a narrow set of creatures. These are the tip of the removal iceberg, but the best among the lot.
While Black has options for enchantment removal, none of them are amazing. Feed the Swarm can deal a lot of damage to you, and Withering Torment is on the most costly side. However, it is still important to pack them just in case you run into a stray “must-answer” enchantment.
Best Red Removal Spells
Red is unique in that most of its removal spells are through burn damage, rather than directly destroying creatures. It has access to both land destruction and artifact removal, but is the only color that can’t interact with enchantments (mostly).
To remove creatures, you need to use cards like Lightning Bolt or Unholy Heat. You also have cards that can deal burn damage or remove artifacts such as Abrade.
Red is not a color that gets enchantment removal. The only three options that let you directly target enchantments are Chaos Warp, Chaotic Transformation and Wild Magic Surge. In the cases of Wild Magic Surge and Chaotic Transformation, the enchantment gets replaced with another one. So, unless your opponent has only one enchantment in their entire deck, you might wind up having to deal with a better enchantment.
Red is the primary color of land destruction. Stone Rain destroys any land, Molten Rain destroys a land and can deal burn damage, and Ruination can destroy every nonbasic land.
Best Green Removal
Green is unique in that for its creature removal, you need a creature on the battlefield. They can destroy artifacts and enchantments for days, but you need to fight to remove creatures (literally).
Fight spells is how Green deals with creatures. Cards like Tail Swipe and Epic Confrontation both put the creatures through combat. Alternatively, some cards have your creatures just deal damage to another creature, as is the case with Aggressive Instinct and Bite Down.
The one exception is Green has cards that can destroy creatures with flying. This is the only direct creature removal availalbe in the color, and is usually attached to spells that can destroy artifacts or enchantments too. These include Airship Crash, Atraxa's Fall, and Carnivorous Canopy
Green has plenty of cards that can target both artifacts and enchantments. Nature's Claim is among the best since it only costs one mana. Krosan Grip is useful too, thanks to split second to cut off the ability to respond. You also have Beast Within, which is one of the best removal spells in Commander.
What Makes A Good Board Wipe?
A board wipe comes in many flavors. They’ve been around since the start of the game, so board wipes of all power levels are around. Generally speaking, you want to play board wipes that aren’t too hard to cast. In Garruk's Wake seems great on paper, but in reality, you’re likely not going to be casting a nine mana spell when it matters. You want a board wipe available against aggressive archetypes, and if they cost too much, you’ll already be losing the game by the time you can actually cast them.
Instead, board wipes that can be cast for small amounts of mana are much better. Doomskar can be cast for three mana after being foretold, and Blasphemous Act can be cast for as little as one mana. These are the kinds of board wipes you want to be playing instead. The more consistently a board wipe can be cast, the better. Generally, you don’t want to play board wipes that cost more than five mana unless they can do something else besides removing creatures.
The Importance Of Board Wipes
On top of removal, you will also need to bring along a number of board wipes. Board wipes are necessary, as sometimes you’ll find yourself faced against large battlefields of creatures with no way to answer them. Without a board wipe, you’ll have to fight an uphill battle.
Board wipes refer to cards that destroy or exile all creatures. There are a number of these in (mostly) every color, and each color has at least one to work with. They should be played along with removal spells, as both are necessary to cover all your bases.
Best White Board Wipes
White is the color that has the most board wipes. Not only is it good at wiping all creatures, but it also has access to board wipes that get rid of other problem permanents. Vanquish the Horde can destroy all creatures for potentially two mana, Farewell can exile most of a battlefield and graveyards, and Day of Judgment is your base board wipe.
Best Blue Board Wipres
As for Blue , you don’t have many board wipes. Generally, they bounce creatures instead of destroying them. Blue does get one of Magic’s best board wipes in Cyclonic Rift, which bounces every nonland permanent. There’s Curse of the Swine, but that requires a lot of mana to dump into its cost to remove a lot of creatures. The only Blue board wipe is The Phasing of Zhalfir, which actually destroys creatures and replaces them with 2/2 vanillas.
Best Black Board Wipes
Along with White , Black is the other color that has traditional board wipes. It has traditional board wipes such as Damnation, and ways to give creatures -X/-X stats such as with Toxic Deluge. If you’re planning on removing more creatures, it’s worth investing in The Meathook Massacre for continuous burn damage and lifegain.
Best Red Board Wipes
As is the case with Red removal spells, the board wipes remove creatures with burn damage. It technically can’t guarantee board wipe, but dealing 13 damage with Blasphemous Act is usually enough to remove most, if not all creatures. Chain Reaction has the potential to deal a ton of damage too, and Star of Extinction deals 20 damage which handles most creatures, and a land on top of that.
Best Green Board Wipes
Green is unique in that it only has one board wipe that can deal with all creatures. Even then, Ezuri's Predation can only destroy creatures that have four or less toughness. It can board wipe creatures with flying with cards like Whirlwind. Green board wipes are good at removing artifacts and enchantments thanks to cards like Fade From History. However, it is by far the weakest at removing creatures.
What Are The Best Ratios?
It is very important for your Commander deck to have interaction. You don’t want to run your deck with no removal or board wipes, as when you need them, you really need them.
When it comes to board wipes, you generally want two at the bare minimum. At the maximum, you don’t want to run more than six. If you’re playing a creature-heavy deck, you’ll need fewer board wipes. It might seem counterintuitive to have a board wipe when your deck relies on creatures, but you’re not always going to have creatures, and no one wants to stare down a battlefield of Goblins or Elves with no way to answer them.
When it comes to removal spells, you want at least five in your deck. At most, you generally don’t want to go over ten. This should be a mix of spells that can get rid of creatures, and ones that can get rid of other permanents. If you’re able to, the suite of Generous Gift, Chaos Warp, and Beast Within should always be in your deck. These are the “big three” of generic removal that can target any permanent.
In Conclusion
Both removal spells and board wipes are an important part of Commander deck building. They are the “vegetables” of Commander decks in that they’re not “fun” to include, but without them, you’re hurting your deck’s odds at success.
Luckily, every color has access to different removal spells, even in mono-colored decks. Naturally, the more colors your deck plays, the more options you have. For the most part, every color has enough removal spells and board wipes to fill out the recommended ratios of a Commander deck.
While both removal spells and board wipes are vital to your Commander deck, you also don’t want to go overboard with including them. You need to ensure you have a balance of every kind of card, otherwise, you’ll be over-prepared for one aspect of a Commander and under-prepared for others.