The 18 Best Land Destruction Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 29, 2024

Lord Windgrace | art by April Prime

At this point I think most, if not all, Magic players know that Commander is a casual format. That’s what made it so popular in the first place. It’s a format meant to maintain a balanced power level, so it’s more accessible for casual and new players, at least when it comes to actually standing a chance against your opponents.

I feel the need to remind everyone of this because here we are, talking about one of the most disliked and despised strategies in Commander (and all MTG): land destruction.

There are tons of controversial strategies in Magic. Poison counters used to be a big boogeyman in 60-card formats. Obsessive control can cost you a couple friends. Chaos decks that shuffle everyone’s cards around are extremely fun in my opinion and incredibly horrible and annoying according to literally everyone I’ve ever used them against. There are as many hated archetypes as there are players, honestly. But land destruction easily takes the crown as one of the most hated.

Mass land destruction was relatively common in early Magic. Armageddon has been around since Alpha and saw several reprints throughout the game’s early years. But it eventually stopped showing up, as well as any other cards with similar effects. This is because cards that focused on mass land destruction were deemed to make the game too unfun to play. Unlike mass creature destruction, from which you could rebuild, or game-ending cards, land destruction made it so that games ended up stretching for a lot of time. Other permanents remained on the field, but now no one could really play anything new, so the games usually stalled or were ended in unfun ways.

Now that I’ve reminded you of why everyone in Magic hates land destruction strategies, let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the best possible commanders for it!

What Are Land Destruction Commanders in MTG?

Wort, the Raidmother | Illustration by Dave Allsop

While making an EDH deck, you usually need to have two things clear: what your commander and strategy are going to be. These two should ideally synergize well together. You usually choose either a strategy or a commander, then adapt the other to coincide with it. Since EDH has become one of the most prominent formats in the game, and since it can play cards from all of Magic’s history, Wizards has been regularly printing new commanders that can fill in some niche strategies and archetypes. Mass land destruction has very much not been one of those.

Since land destruction is such a controversial strategy, and Wizards has consistently tried to move away from it, it’s very unlikely we’ll ever see a legendary creature card that truly enables it as a strategy. That said, Commander is also a format for imaginative and creative deck building. The commanders that are here all have ways to either enable or benefit somehow from land destruction strategies.

Mass land destruction decks need to keep a couple of things in mind. One of them is that targeted land destruction can definitely work to take out problematic lands, but they won’t truly set your opponents back. Mass land destruction, on the other hand, can pretty much stall a game, because it usually has effects that punish everyone equally. With that in mind, these decks should have one or both of two things: land recursion, and mana rocks or dorks.

Any EDH deck should always have a proper number of mana rocks, but in this case, you don’t just want them as ways to ramp, but also as ways to prepare beforehand for your own effects. If you destroy all of your opponents’ mana sources but keep a nice array of mana generators on your own field, you’ll get yourself miles ahead and get a strong advantage.

Mana recursion should be pretty obvious. If you’re able to start playing lands from your graveyard right after you drop an Armageddon, it’ll be way easier for you to rebuild before your opponents.

#18. Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

I’d personally recommend this card as part of the 99 instead of as your commander, but that doesn’t mean you can’t search for ways to make it fun in some absurd ways. Kamahl, Fist of Krosa’s first ability lets you turn any land into a creature, including your opponents’ lands. Pair that up with a good amount of ramp (which is definitely easy to get in mono-green) and wraths or other ways to get rid of creatures. It’s essentially mass land removal with extra steps.

Since you can only play green in this deck, getting some good wraths can prove difficult. Your best strategy is to depend on cards like Treeshaker Chimera, forcing your opponent’s lands to block it as 1/1 creatures.

#17. Wort, the Raidmother

Wort, the Raidmother doesn’t bring all that much in terms of support for mass land destruction (which I’ll call MLD for the sake of brevity from) but it does help turn targeted land destruction into a bigger threat.

Being able to copy your instants or sorceries makes it so that Rain of Salt or Stone Rain make it easier to push your opponents back in terms of land advantage. This is especially desirable because unlike MLD, it won’t force you to fall behind by destroying your own lands.

#16. Velomachus Lorehold

Most mass land destruction cards are instants and sorceries. If you manage to activate Velomachus Lorehold’s activated ability to play some land destruction while your opponents have relatively weak boards, you can get yourself ahead pretty quickly.

Not only does this card enable you to play mass land destruction MLD for free, but you can also use it to play any other instants or sorceries without the need for lands, enabling you to get ahead even without lands.

#15. Erinis, Gloom Stalker

Erinis, Gloom Stalker is a great addition for any MLD deck for relatively obvious reasons. Much like Kamahl, Fist of Krosa this can be a card that proves more useful among the 99 rather than as a commander, but since it can be paired up with a background, it allows you some extra options when deciding which other color you want to play.

#14. Kenrith, the Returned King

There’s almost no strategy that can’t be built into a Kenrith, the Returned King, honestly. I’m not even gonna explain why this is a good card in itself. We all know it’s powerful. Having access to all five colors in MLD makes it so that you can both fill up your deck with land destruction cards, as well as alternative mana sources and ways to bring back your lands back from your graveyard.

It also gives you access to basically any and all powerful creatures you may want to shove in there, ensuring you have some game-ending powerhouses to use when you take away your opponents’ lands.

I ultimately chose this card because it’s pretty much an engine in itself, but any generic 5-color commander can fill this niche. Something like Jodah, Archmage Eternal, Ramos, Dragon Engine, or Garth One-Eye can pretty much work just as well.

#13. Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch

Essentially all I’ve said in favor of Kenrith, the Returned King also applies to Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch, but it ultimately gets some extra points thanks to its support for the myr creature type.

A lot of myrs are also mana dorks, which means the typal strategy for this deck also helps as support for a MLD strategy.

#12. Esika, God of the Tree / The Prismatic Bridge

Mass land destruction becomes a much more viable strategy when you don’t really depend on lands to play your cards. Both of this card’s sides help you achieve that goal with relative ease.

Esika, God of the Tree allows you to use your legendary creatures as mana sources. Get enough legendary creatures onto the field, play your commander, then play Armageddon and you should be good to go.

On the other hand, you can also choose to play The Prismatic Bridge. This enchantment lets you cheat a creature or planeswalker into play each turn. This’ll make it easier to rebuild your field if you played a board wipe that took out both lands and creatures.

#11. Kibo, Uktabi Prince

I personally like this one as an option just because I find it silly and fun. Kibo, Uktabi Prince paired up with MLD essentially makes it so that your opponents are left with no choice but to depend on the Banana tokens you give them.

This deck’s strategy can be both solid if built right, as well as ultimately very silly and funny. You end up forcing your opponents to make your commander stronger while they struggle to rebuild properly.

#10. Yurlok of Scorch Thrash

Yurlok of Scorch Thrash’s color identity enables lots of interesting cards for a land hate strategy. Overabundance and Destructive Flow paired up with this commander’s own ability, can put a ton of pressure on your opponents. This combo can end up being super punishing on any opponent that doesn’t pay close attention to the mana they generate and spend.

#9. Thalia and The Gitrog Monster

I honestly don’t like cards that are just objectively way too good. Thalia and The Gitrog Monster is pretty much that: If you have a card, this is probably better than that card. This card in itself can be a game changer, but additionally to that, it also brings support for land strategies as well as punishing your opponents for playing nonbasic lands.

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster’s color identity also gives it access to some decent ways to recover lands from the graveyard, essentially ensuring you’ll be able to rebuild much faster than your opponents after a land wrath.

#8. Klothys, God of Destiny

Klothys, God of Destiny is arguably the closest we’ll ever get to a land destruction commander. There are other picks on this list that make reference to card destruction, but this is the one that can specifically draw some advantage from destroying your opponents’ lands.

With Klothys, God of Destiny’s ability you can get some much-needed rewards from destroying lands, since you not only get some mana out of it but also remove them from your opponents’ graveyards, ensuring they can’t get them back.

#7. Sarulf, Realm Eater

Any deck with a strong focus on destroying any kind of permanent plays well with Sarulf, Realm Eater. This card won’t just reap the benefits of you destroying your opponents’ lands, but it’ll also build it up as a strong wrath for other nonland permanents.

Sarulf, Realm Eater’s ultimately a really fun commander to build and play around, making it a good combo of fun and strong.

#6. Hazezon, Shaper of Sand

There are currently 20 desert lands. Of those 20, there are 16 that can be put in a Hazezon, Shaper of Sand deck. Thanks to this card’s abilities, you can swiftly recover from your own land wraths by playing them straight from the graveyard. Not only that, but you also get to build a pretty solid army of sand warriors in the process.

This card also gets such a high place thanks to its color identity. What I’ve already mentioned, paired with it being in arguably the ideal colors for MLD makes it a great pick if you’re looking to play into this strategy.

#5. Soul of Windgrace

Soul of Windgrace’s abilities put a focus on discarding your own lands rather than destroying your opponents’. However, its first ability makes it so that you can not only recover your own lands, but also steal your opponents’ lands from their graveyards.

This makes it a great commander for targeted land removal by allowing you to permanently remove their lands with almost no chance of getting them back.

#4. Svella, Ice Shaper

Destroying all lands on the battlefield won’t be an issue if you have other mana sources. Svella, Ice Shaper allows you to create an alternative mana base, ensuring you’ll stay far ahead of your opponents once you start removing lands.

Additionally, its second ability lets you play spells for free, which can also get you a massive advantage while your opponents struggle to rebuild.

#3. Numot, the Devastator

Numot, the Devastator is the only viable commander that directly refers to destroying lands. This makes it ideal for targeted land destruction decks, as it’ll ensure you have an ability in the command zone that allows you to take out your opponents’ lands.

My biggest issue with this card is probably its color identity. If it were a Naya commander instead of representing the Jeskai colors, this card would be way better than it already is.

#2. Lord Windgrace

Lord Windgrace is pretty much the ultimate commander for most land-related strategies. Its abilities ensure you’ll get rewards from playing tons of lands in your deck, which simultaneously makes it easier to recover from any mass land destruction spells.

The second ability on this planeswalker also reinforces that advantage, allowing you to rebuild right after you destroy all your opponents.

#1. Zo-Zu the Punisher

Do you like having friends? If you do, I advise against building this commander. Zo-Zu the Punisher, much like its name informs, punishes players for playing lands. This’ll already make your opponents wary about playing too many lands. Now pair that up with some constant removal of lands or straight up some MLD, which’ll force them into playing more lands and being damaged consistently.

If you want to truly build a land destruction deck, this is your pick, but keep in mind that you’ll either get targeted any time you play it, or your opponents will probably grow tired of it relatively quickly. Play at your own risk.

Best Land Destruction Payoffs

The best two things you can have for land destruction decks are land recursion, and alternative mana sources. Cards like Ramunap Excavator, Splendid Reclamation, or Conduit of Worlds make it so that you can recover from mass land destruction quickly and strongly. This’ll give you a consistent advantage against your opponents, which is pretty much the entire point of playing land destruction (other than being annoying).

Alternative mana sources like mana dorks and mana rocks also give you a trusty backup to rely on for mana once you’ve destroyed all lands on the field. As I’ve said before, most if not all decks should be playing a good amount of mana dorks and rocks, but in this case you should be paying particular attention to it because you know what’s coming.

Commanding Conclusion

Numot, the Devastator | Illustration by Dan Dos Santos

Land destruction can be a really fun strategy to build around and play. It’s very much not a fun strategy to play against. Always make sure that you’ve checked with your playgroup before playing one of these decks, because they’re essentially a huge rule 0 violation. If everyone’s fine with it, then go ahead and build it as nasty as you can.

But I wanna know what you guys think. Did I miss out on any great commanders for land destruction decks? What’s your favorite commander for this strategy? Have you ever had to face off against one of these decks? Leave a comment letting us know. And while you’re here, pay our Discord server a visit! There you’ll find an amazing community of MTG fans just like you.

That’s all from me for now! Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time.