In the world of EDH, a lot of emphasis is placed on building out your board over time. Whether you are playing mana rocks to get ahead on mana or building out an army of Creatures to push your advantage, board presence is essential. In multiplayer games, though, this often means that boards can get cluttered really quickly. On top of that, if you start to fall behind, you become vulnerable to attacks on all sides.
Sometimes, it can be useful to simply hit the rest button to avoid getting run over. This is where board wipes come into play. Board wipes are incredibly popular in Commander and serve an important purpose. If your opponents continue to extend their Creature count and expend their resources in the process, resolving a board wipe can be absolutely devastating.
There has been a lot of recent discussion regarding what board wipes players like the most. But what are the best board wipes for EDH? Today, we set out to answer this question. There are plenty of efficient, versatile, and powerful board wipes to choose from, so narrowing down the list won’t be easy.
Of note, for these rankings, we will be focusing on cards that have the capability of removing lots of Creatures at once from the board. Mass removal for other permanent types, including cards like Vandalblast, will not be considered for this list. However, modal cards like Austere Command would count, as they can function as traditional board wipes. Additionally, temporary answers such as Evacuation are fair game. With that out of the way, here are the best MTG board wipes for Commander.
#5 Kindred Dominance
Kicking things off, we have Kindred Dominance. Kindred Dominance is certainly not the most efficient board wipe available. It also can be a bit narrow, as not every black EDH deck will be able to maximize it. For any typal decks of any kind, though, this card is an absolute powerhouse.
Assuming most of your Creatures share a common Creature type, then Kindred Dominance becomes exceptionally close to Plague Wind. Plague Wind and In Garruk’s Wake may require less setup, but Kindred Dominance is much easier to cast at seven mana.
Getting to wipe your opponents’ Creatures while leaving your board intact can sometimes be enough to end the game by itself. As such, we felt it deserves a spot on the list, even if it only goes in specific shells.
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#4 Blasphemous Act
Blasphemous Act, on the other hand, is a very different beast. If you’re looking for a one-shot way to get everyone back to parity, Blasphemous Act delivers. In most games, Blasphemous Act is only going to cost a single red mana to cast. Similar to Vanquish the Horde, this card’s efficiency is what makes it so strong.
While Blasphemous Act technically can’t kill the biggest of Creatures, 13 damage is enough to destroy nearly any Creature your opponents could play. Mono-red in general don’t have access to many board wipe options that can kill large Creatures. This makes Blasphemous Act feel even more irreplaceable. The fact that this card isn’t higher on the list speaks to the flexibility of the cards remaining and the advantage they can create in a game of Commander.
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#3 The Meathook Massacre
The Meathook Massacre is a very unique board wipe. If you’re just looking to kill all of your opponent’s big Creatures and make the board stable, The Meathook Massacre isn’t your best bet. Chances are, you will mostly be using The Meathook Massacre to get rid of small mana dorks and Creature tokens. Still, getting to decide how much to shrink each Creature in play is nice, especially if you control the biggest Creatures on the board.
The reason this card is so amazing, though, is because your board wipe comes stapled to an Enchantment with some elite abilities. For each opposing Creature The Meathook Massacre kills when it enters the battlefield, you get a life buffer that adds up quickly over time. From there, until The Meathook Massacre is removed from play, you will continue to get value from it.
In any deck built around sacrificing Creatures for value, your opponents’ life totals will begin to plummet with this Enchantment in play. All of these factors added up make The Meathook Massacre one of the best board wipes out there in the format.
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#2 Farewell
Farewell is an unbelievably versatile card. It does exactly what you want in virtually every scenario. At minimum, you can choose all four modes and set everyone back to square one. That being said, it’s so easy to gain a massive advantage from this card. Simply select the categories that impact your opponents the most and you the least.
The only thing major card type Farewell doesn’t hit is Planeswalkers, but this also makes Farewell even more abusable. For any super friends decks, Farewell is likely one of your best draws at all times. The fact is, Merciless Eviction has been considered a strong board wipe for years, and Farewell is leagues better. Getting to choose any number of modes is incredible, and shutting off graveyard strategies is the icing on the cake.
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#1 Cyclonic Rift
At the top of the list, we have one of the most infamously powerful cards in the whole format. Many players have wanted Cyclonic Rift banned for years, and this argument isn’t too far-fetched. At first glance, Cyclonic Rift may not seem too oppressive. It costs seven mana to maximize and only deals with opposing non-Land permanents temporarily. How good can the card be?
The answer is extremely good. Considering how many cards players tend to commit to the board, Cyclonic Rift becomes an unbelievable tempo play. As an Instant, you can wait for your opposition to deploy more cards to the battlefield, then send everything you don’t control right back. With a big enough board of your own, Cyclonic Rift may be able to end the game on the spot.
This card just does everything. Whether your opponents are playing lots of Planeswalkers, Enchantments, Creatures, or anything else their heart desires, Cyclonic Rift will send them back to the Stone Ages. Cyclonic Rift has been tormenting Commander players for over a decade. If you’ve played the format a bunch, seeing this card at the top of the list likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
