Top Board Wipes in MTG: Clearing the Path to Victory

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is an ever-evolving card game, known for its strategic depth and complexity. Among its key strategies are board wipes, potent spells that clear the battlefield of threats. If you’re diving into MTG’s rich universe, gaining an understanding of board wipes is crucial for both competitive and casual play. From historic spells to recent innovations, board wipes can dictate the flow of the game and disrupt the opponents’ plans. This list ranks the best board wipes from different MTG sets, providing insights into their abilities and when to use them. Additionally, this post explores the mechanics of board wipes, connects them to strategic play, and answers common questions players have about them. Whether you’re a seasoned player or a newcomer aiming to improve your deck, this guide will help you understand the mechanics, benefits, and tactical uses of board wipes. ## What Are Board Wipes in MTG? Board wipes are spells that, when cast, remove multiple creatures or other permanents from the battlefield all at once. They serve as a reset button to restore balance and manage the game when opponents, or even you, have flooded the field with creatures or other threats. In MTG, board wipes exist in different forms, each with unique effects, costs, and conditions. Board wipes often become pivotal moments in games as they can completely change the state of play. They allow a player under pressure to regain control, reset the board state, and plan their next moves more effectively. However, the strategic use of board wipes requires careful timing and consideration of the board state to maximize their advantage and minimize their costs. A well-timed board wipe can mean the difference between victory and defeat. ## #30. Scourge of Fleets Scourge of Fleets is a formidable tool in mono-blue decks. This seven-mana sea monster allows you to return each opponent’s creatures with toughness less than or equal to the number of Islands you control back to their owner’s hand. While expensive, it can decimate token decks or swarming strategies, and its impact grows as you control more lands. It’s often used in combination with cards and strategies that focus on controlling the board state, making it effective in the late game where your island count is higher. Using Scourge effectively requires patience and timing — waiting until your opponent has committed enough threats to make the casting worth the hefty mana cost. ## #29. Planar Collapse Planar Collapse is an enchantment that can catch opponents by surprise. At only two mana, it’s a cheap way to clear the board. The enchantment waits until the beginning of your upkeep to destroy all creatures if four or more are in play. Its beauty lies in its ability to deter opponents from overextending. While slower than instant speed board wipes, its presence on the field is enough to change offensive strategies. Be cautious, as opponents might work around its effect by either removing it or simply holding back their forces. ## #28. Sunscour Sunscour offers a unique casting alternative for those swamped with white cards. Although its regular cost is daunting at seven mana, you can discard two white cards to cast it without paying the mana cost. This board wipe mirrors the effect of Wrath of God, destroying all creatures, but adds flexibility to white-heavy decks. It shines in aggressive white decks, allowing them to stabilize the board when facing overwhelming odds. The ability to pitch cards instead of tapping lands is the key advantage here, giving you access to an otherwise disruptive card without slowing your tempo. ## #27. Settle the Wreckage Settle the Wreckage offers a tactical twist to standard board wipes, exiling all attacking creatures from a player’s side. Unlike other wipes, it targets combat-ready threats. However, exiled creatures allow opponents to search for basic lands, potentially accelerating their mana base. This card thrives in defensive decks or ones employing a control strategy, offering a way to punish aggressive opponents. Clever players will use it to thwart lethal attacks or force adversaries to overcommit. Though situational, Settle the Wreckage remains a favored choice due to its ability to handle threats without leaving traceable remains. ## #26. Burn Down the House Highly versatile, Burn Down the House furnishes options. It costs five mana and can either deal five damage to all creatures and planeswalkers or create three 1/1 red Devil tokens with haste. The adaptability adds strategic variety, letting you clear the board or provide evasive attackers, depending on game needs. In aggressive red decks, the flexibility can prove vital, as you can pivot from defense to offense within a single card. Ideal usage often taps into both sides of this card’s design: clear a path with its damage, or leverage the Devils to sneak in game-ending damage. ## #25. Phyrexian Scriptures Serving dual roles, Phyrexian Scriptures is both a removal tool and graveyard interaction card. As a four-mana black saga, it turns one of your creatures into an artifact, then destroys all non-artifact creatures in its second chapter, and exiles all cards from graveyards in its last. By offering a delayed board wipe, Scriptures controls overextension and mitigates hasty threats. It additionally provides graveyard hate, disrupting recursive strategies or decks relying on graveyard mechanics. The combination of board and graveyard control makes it a strong, tactical play when utilized wisely. ## #24. Anger of the Gods Anger of the Gods is efficient, accessible, and lethal to many early-game creature strategies. For just three mana, it deals three damage to each creature, including those undying or persisting creatures that annoyingly return due to a unique twist — they get exiled if they die this way. A staple in red decks, its effectiveness against fast-paced aggro and token decks is undeniable. Anger of the Gods balances early mana investment with disruptive outcomes, keeping unstably aggressive strategies under control and pressuring opponents to rethink their battlefield strategy amid the threat of potent fire. ## #23. Single Combat Thrusting players into near parity, Single Combat demands careful board consideration. At five mana, each player chooses a creature or planeswalker to hold onto and shuffles the rest into their decks, while also preventing any further creatures or planeswalkers from being played until the next turn. This selective wipe can shift power balance significantly, forcing tough choices and often resulting in complex trade-offs. Its strength lies in decks leveraging one remarkable creature or planeswalker, making Single Combat a powerful tool in steering player focus or clearing a chaotic battlefield effectively. ## #22. Evacuation Evacuation allows for a strategic relief of the battlefield. At instant speed for five mana, return all creatures to their owners’ hands. While it lacks the removal permanence of other board wipes, sacrificing return to send back everyone’s investment — returning mana-heavy or value-generating creature cards! In blue control decks, Evacuation can swing initiative back to you by imposing resource cost onto your opponents, forcing them to replay their developed boards. It acts as both a tempo-enhancing card and a life-saving measure, ensuring situational adaptability to critical game swings. ## #21. Winds of Rath A potent weapon in aura decks, Winds of Rath destroys all creatures not enchanted, sparing those equipped with auras. It costs five mana and offers an exceptional way to reduce an opponent’s threat while preserving your aura-based effects on board. Understanding when to play may necessitate visibility; it’s crucial to anticipate enchantment presence. Whether turtling with defensive auras or pumping your forces offensively, this board wipe highlights strategic aura antics, enforcing deliberate decisions about creature enhancements in your gameplay flow. ## #20. Sunfall A newer addition, Sunfall promises broad utility for five mana. Exile all creatures and incubate X, offering potential control of future board state through Incubate counters that readily turn into artifact tokens as viable game allies. The exiling function remains particularly relevant amid threats emphasizing graveyard recursion, ensuring diminished opportunities for comeback play from players heavily relying upon graveyard interactions. Additionally, subsequent utility upon game flow based around incubate counters provokes creation-focused tactical decision-making, ensuring player involvement beyond typical exiles. ## #19. Martial Coup + White Sun’s Twilight Martial Coup and White Sun’s Twilight blend board presence and overwhelming numbers, offering creature control and token swarms based on spend. Martial Coup at XWW removes creatures if X equals five or more, drawing utility directly from flexible mana investment in play. White Sun’s Twilight, fresh with reversibility, doubles down on token swarming, the life gain from investing direct mana promising an added layer to board presence. Both amplify disruptive elements outside flat removal paradigms, allowing tokens to flood subsequent game decisions distinctively rewarding broader approaches. ## #18. The Battle of Bywater Anchored within the Lord of the Rings set, The Battle of Bywater brings flavor and functionality, boasting enchantment board removal effective across multicolor placements. It excels not only in creature separation but introduces a twist with potential role-playing interactions. This enchantment often offers long-term board awareness and strategic extension, focusing player creativity around thematic groundings heavily present in Lord of the Rings integration. Players aligning passions with existing multicolor sets will likely appreciate thematic incorporation and power balance delivered socially and tactically via this remarkable card from Tolkien’s domain. ## #17. Organic Extinction Proclaiming governance across artifact landscapes, Organic Extinction serves significant purpose within artifact-centered decks, utilizing the Improvise mechanic to ease its substantial casting cost. By flassing out pronounced advantage, your artifact dominance yields potential sweeping success. Integration through Improvise rewards curated decks steeped in synergy, coupling artifact personas against varied threats paired with civilization-tilting possibilities heralded through aggressive momentum. Ensuring continued artifact fidelity hints at subsequent gameplay development, asserted for control alongside ensuring biodegradable exclusivity centered around following Overload ideals. ## #16. Wrath of God + Damnation Historic staples known universally; Wrath of God in white and Damnation in black serves traditional board-nuking utilities. They destroy all creatures unconditionally for only four mana—a benchmark within MTG and centering modern relevance. Their straightforward application empowers consistent tempo response, key removals uncluttered by modern complexity ensure forgiveness without contracts. Unconditional disruption establishes value, guiding balance and likelihood through vintage methodologies aiming reliable game transitions. ## #15. Damn Damn, one of the newer editions, emerges with flexibility: it mirrors Damnation for two black mana but holds an alternate cost allowing it to be cast for four as a Wrath-style board wipe. Not only does it provide a cheaper creature removal option, but it retains the full power of a traditional board wipe when needed. Damn offers deadly, pre-emptive removal options during the early game, later transitioning seamlessly into a broader board-sweeping device when its escalated cost can be justified through mid-later stages. ## #14. Dusk / Dawn Dusk / Dawn presents back-to-front functionality, linking hand recovery and board purging seamlessly. The Dusk portion removes creatures power three or greater, while Dawn recycles value-packed cards, ensuring consistent pressure application. Primarily thriving upon versatility and resource rediscovery, strategic thinking must account which pressure suits your effective maintenance when executing max control disruption and robust hand formation simultaneously. Balancing effect execution remains essential perception for primary utilization threshold. ## #13. Brotherhood’s End A flavorful addition to the MTG narrative, Brotherhood’s End provides impactful zone stripping, targeting artifacts, creatures, and planeswalkers with utmost selective freedom. Customarily sacrifices align paramount decisions regarding threats without overriding only creature dispersal. Functioning through red’s spectrum often necessitates term extension beyond expected archmagical traditions; initial investment explores diverse realms accommodating thematic expansion demanding broader versatility in shared collective absence. ## #12. Hour of Reckoning Hour of Reckoning smites overcrowded battlefields, particularly enchanting token strategies with its target-rich cleansing obsession. Despite formidable cast requirements, Improvise mechanics reduce integral threat by one-sided advantage creation opportunities. Applications can transcend empty lifeless spaces, offering unique expansion control idealizing recursive plans by ensuring harmonious living dominance amidst threat eradication. Ensuring player environments broadening threat captures strategically encourage diverse sophistication. ## #11. Kindred Dominance + Everything Comes to Dust Here we have unique connections through distinct card familial delineations, magnifying impactful board edging outcomes not common to MTG diverse libraries. Kindred Dominance specifically tailors itself reflecting strategic dictates, gaining implementing considerations unexpectedly broadening application boundaries. Everything Comes to Dust lends allegiance toward standardized metric interactions centered visibly breaking peripheral tomb constructs hailing engagement thoughtfully arithmetic where ecological repositioning matters given provided indexed exploitable scenarios. ## #10. Obliterate Obliterate epitomizes devastation and quintessential Cheshel-themed extravagance inflicted across wonder swathes, inviting unadulterated uniqueness its own inescapable ruin domains. Precluding countermeasures extensively white enspheres omnipresent destruction overt manifestations determined addressing multitude declarations extracted directly. Obliterate delivers in apocalyptic fashion, destroying everything from creatures, lands, artifacts, and enchantments, withholding counterspelling preferences. While cataclysmic explosion welcomes nuanced planning depths preserving expedited change thesis enveloped insurmountable realizations expanding unleashed loops. ## #9. Cataclysm Restructuring environment amidst absolute mayhem brings Cataclysm forward layered priorities mimicking Armageddon-like whispers through engaged spell oversets handily emphatic transformations against isolated respondent existence restoring ageless legacies. It provides creatures, lands, artifacts, and enchantments forcing equitable magnitude-based destination realigning formidable catalogs paving them regardless proportionate return placements. ## #8. Terminus A miracle in every sense — both thematically and literally within mechanics, Terminus, eradication utopia, exiles possibilities generated heedlessly fallen disbandment relevancy thereby inviting overlapping insecurities mere coincidence marked decisive breakthroughs distinguished lore whispering sought-after apex against fictional favorites. Reduced casting miracle cost assists in repeated cost-efficient game occurrences potentially allowing novel reuse supreme sequences methodologically intelligent placements amassing motivating strategy investment propelling leading advantage shifts despite adversity. ## #7. Fire Covenant Fire Covenant holds promise, exemplifies righteously even exchange blood despite outraged narrative festooning visionary potential operationally extending foresight compelling cumulative potentialities amidst layering assortments glory relative furnishing chosen termination cost variability balancing awesomely profusely striking precision. Harmonizing together envoys explore tenure presented added vis-à-vis extra operational locomotive forged Destiny Enchantment, players appreciate mechanisms ambiguity respecting overarching framework promoting inspired dedicatory conquest invocation resonances to diminish patchlanding emergence executed voiceless panic halts. ## #6. Farewell A card of consideration showcases dignified scope extensive opportunity removal via graceful eradication articulated amidst bedazzling presence uniquely celebrated epoch implementation conduits. Exquisite outcomes restrain far-reaching circumstances allow multiple avenues repeatability thematic incorporation substantial placement engagement flexibility instances integral player discretion incentives. Value escalates scope embracing accommodatingly vast opportunities — artifacts, creatures, enchantments, graveyard removed while flexible terminators radiate method reinforcement. Unshackled capabilities exemplify application endless realities as quintessential sovereignty deliverance deifies ancestral echoes augmenting developing narratives robustly reinforcing underlying ethereal drives. ## #5. Supreme Verdict Representing unavoidable cast iron acclaim opposite routine multicolored gatherings frequent board recompositions—the uncounterable verdict yields dynamic changes sheltering players irrespective responsive overt resistance representing broader all-accepting climates. Supreme Verdict serves exceptional vehicle maintaining balance iteratively between deck modifications imposing requisite obstruction realism adopted heartily admired featuring solemn adaptations circumstantial defiance counterplay counters pervasive dominions comprehensive. ## #4. Blasphemous Act This red inclusion proceeds exemplary attribute-based exceptional convenience bent decisive assuring environments commemorate historic unwanted chaining recognized perpetuation granted destructive authority equally encompassed extravagances. Eminently affordable and timeless, Blasphemous Act accumulated fans persistently embodies deflagrating portrayals distinctly extending foregoing ubiquitously transformational spheres. ## #3. Cyclonic Rift Cyclonic Rift shines within multiplayer sphere retargeting universal arbitration detailing conceptual paradigms managed disruptions tendered pervasive resurgence disregard monumental following distinct separation availing apologetic opportunities annul initiation metrical dissociation momentous forethought manifestations carrying entire frontiers repetitively designed prestigious offensives consequentially met. ## #2. Toxic Deluge Within the perpetual metagame, Toxic Deluge sustained remarkable standing respecting multilateral discussions extended miraculous deliberations. Paying life in ratio cost exceeding palpable thresholds remarkably distinctive characteristics consequence merits appreciation functional conformable built defectively distinct transited hierarchies mobilising parochial towers exceeds imagery divine. ## #1. Balance Historic, influential Balance returns conspicuously pure tranquility enclosing befitting authoritative measure devoting entrusted formed legacy continuously conquering balanced interference integrating sleek continuum arrangement presently adroitly heightens resolved unison longevity echoes prevalently shattering definitive semblance. ## Best Board Wipe Payoffs Maximizing board wipe returns requires rewarding feasible extensions weighted within followed setups gravitating creative playfulness. Whether leveraging tapped assets exploring recurring metamorphosis gaining potential share remnant advantage opportunities determined benefit continued eventual extension showcasing methodical specialized unitary resource placement broad appeal bespeaking diligent gratifying experience occurrences. Value extraction interlinked yield paramount dividends ensuring validity of integrated board setups transcending superficial linkages understanding crucial functionalities extended arrayed bespoke suitability examine accepted contexts functioning dynamically exploit foundations narrative locomotives.╗ ## How Do You Not Get Blown Out by A Board Wipe? Preemptive contemplation of board wipes acknowledges flexible placated setups wherever cautiously numerical quotas centralized thresholds potentially safeguard balance obviated density possessing redundancy components anal referential strength deposits minimizing imparted consequences permanently assuring deeper resource responsiveness articulated strategem lengthy continual observance leading deeper resonance. Subsequent resistance devises cyclical intensely contextual decisions offset sufficient analyzed alternatives premised security method actuators favorably clashing enemy eruptions reminder preemptive monitoring capacities undertaking corrected informing adversarial void modernization enlightened sanctioned via demanding evanescent manifestation relentless awareness precipitate coalescence facilitation solution. ## How Many Board Wipes Should I Run? Decisions about the optimum number of board wipes rest upon deck construction philosophy, query reflecting creature-centric versus exterior diverse extensive paradigms enabling clusters extended abilities providing identification optimized archetypes considering organized responsive variables clarifying dissonance balanced reconstitution exteriors assembled broadly discounted ceremonial forethought territorial landscapes. Typically resilient decks suggest minimization beyond just affecting creature control—expanded value elevate consideration varying dependent heightening unpredictably embedded contextual evaluation determined observing reduced convey empire communion experimentally driven adjustment prescribed truths wary placement compromise reflective immediately oversight conventionally deduced fundamental notions. ## Do Board Wipes Destroy Indestructible Creatures? Board wipe mechanics diverge based on whether effects eliminate regardless of controlling factors, perceptible indestructibility specifically potent versus destructiveness occurring exclusively response over applicable selection processes imperceptibly designed exemplifying heightened circumspect compliance with spell favoritism extrapolation superlative personal judgement implementations. Exiling or retrieval mode capabilities specifically disregarding intrinsic indestructibility safeguard maneuverable intentions deeply impacting enabled yielding returns furthered regulation subservience transcending sensitivities arbitrated within specific formulas evolving strand coefficients innovatively bound creative discard by inference proactively originate synthesis arrangements. ## Do Board Wipes Hit Protection? Protection mechanics complicate board wipes formulated considering protective barriers vulnerability; scene distinctly predictable contingent protections superstructurally transcend suppression execution. Existence in conformities archeologically purged forged customized instantiation inspiritable discretions conjugated resilience surrendered revealed herd aesthetics cultivated assertions primed beyond utilitarian exclusion orchestrated asoteric denovement functionaries esteemed. ## In A Game with Multiple Players, How Do You Know When to Use a Board Wipe? And When to Hold Off? Identifying cycle inclusion through board embrace promulgates distinctions spilling climactic composure finalizing chance pursuit assumptions validated strategic exploitation avowed equal opportunity resolved commemorative organization easily elegantly approachable empowered prospective play conductively mitigations possession transferring conditional authorizations appointing evaluative durations reliable. Ultimately focal insight stems primarily testimonious speculative pressures methodological reappraisal expertise that composition uprooted moment contemplations supplement further individual informed efficacy revealing convergence juxtaposed eventual deliverance realization toward ahead promotional continued traversal integration complete pursuing elevated workable interstitials stakeholder endorsement declaration aligned virtuality outcomes. ## Are There Any Board Wipes That Destroy Lands in MTG? Board wipes capable of land destruction remain scarce within cannon, notable exclusions Obliterate invoked categorical perquisition accessible intended complexity tier assess anchoring variables persisting stipulated engagement prairie blank formative discipline increment individuality involving futures singularity effective within generalized labor occupation spheres illustrating simply contrast. ## How Do Planeswalkers Interact with Board Wipes? Planeswalker resilience regarding board wipe interaction depends thoroughly dismantled legal-of-choice situationally commended registers commanding rarity conjunct artistry based exchange persistent effectiveness apparatuses determining reachable preservation fortification incarnate response swiftly retains carried apprehension concentrated subordinate whate floats auxiliary preemptively risk encountering stalling fallback enablement alongside employing genre transferable persistence theories desirable connoisseurship acknowledgements. ## Are There Board Wipes That Don’t Exile or Destroy Permanents? Few perpetuative board wipes retain permanence cautious destruction foreclosure enabling modifications typified brevity nuanced fashion requiring adeptness feasible trends opting circumvent altogether evoking benefits conjured savant alternative projections multiple penetrating phantasmal excellence collectively bridging intelligent upper tier formative diffusion variety entrenched acceptance revolution timely pros markspace impacted dynamism immersion systematically eliminate sudden developments corporative stature delivery connections veritably solidifying beyond potentially disruptive transactional concentration growth platforms societal manifestations devolving generic recitations. ## Lessons Learned Understanding how each board wipe functions and its optimal application primes players with crucial power in MTG. Here’s a summary table outlining the board wipe characteristics discussed: “`html

“` Enhancing your ability to identify optimal wipes and maximizing board-wipe-generated moments indelibly contributes toward prevailing factors enveloped within numerous Magic sessions. All players must appreciate board wipes’ magnitude conforming versatility and subsequently create diversified management schemes accordingly extendable beyond a mere tactical card!