All 6 Colorless Instants in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 12, 2024

Warping Wail | Illustration by Jason Felix

While Magic’s different colors all have a relatively good distribution of card types, things are a little different for colorless cards. A vast majority of colorless cards are artifacts, with the next greatest amount being creature cards. There are actually very few instant cards that are truly colorless in Magic, and the ones that do exist tend to have pretty expensive mana values.

One of the main reasons there aren’t too many colorless instants is that they’re a lot more difficult to balance appropriately. When it comes to colored spells, there are lots of ways to make sure they aren’t game-breaking. This can be done by restricting certain abilities to specific colors, making a card multicolored, or just adding extra colored mana pips to make a spell more difficult to cast. Colorless spells on the other hand can be played in any deck, so if there were too many great colorless instants, those cards would start being played in pretty much every deck.

Since most of these cards can theoretically be put into any deck, I think it’s worth taking a look at them to see if maybe you’re sleeping on a powerful instant. When ranking these cards, I was doing so based on which I thought had the most generally good effects. But there’s always a possibility that a specific deck you’re playing might have more use for one of the spells near the bottom of the list. It’s definitely worth evaluating each spell on its own, while also considering where it falls on this list.

What Are Colorless Instants in MTG?

Titan's Presence | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

There are two kinds of colorless instants in Magic. Truly colorless instants are instant spells that only cost colorless or generic mana. This means they have no color identity and can be played in any deck regardless of color restrictions.

The second kind of colorless instants in Magic are instant cards with the devoid keyword. A card with the devoid keyword is considered colorless, regardless of whether it has a colored mana pip in its cost. This means that text on cards like Dominator Drone that refer to colorless cards also apply to cards with devoid. However, devoid doesn’t change the actual color identity of a card. This means you can’t include a devoid card when you have a colorless Commander like in an eldrazi-led EDH deck because it still counts as having whatever color identity shows up in its mana pips.

For the purposes of this list, I’m going to just be talking about the spells that are actually colorless, meaning they have no color identity.

Honorable Mention: Standard Procedure

Standard Procedure is an excellent card for Unfinity Limited because it can go in any color of deck and still give you a wide range of spells you can turn it into. This card is also fun because as Standard rotates, there are all new options of how to play it. This card unfortunately isn’t legal in any format, but more casual playgroups probably wouldn’t mind too much if you used it. Just make sure you have some passing knowledge of Standard so you aren’t holding up the game by Googling cards.

#6. Spatial Contortion

Spatial Contortion has a good amount of utility in a colorless deck. It can either be an instant speed kill spell earlier in the game or a way to buff up one of your creatures later. Colorless creatures can get pretty massive, so even after losing 3 toughness, they’ll likely still be pretty safe.

One drawback of Spatial Contortion is that it includes the colorless mana symbol in the casting cost. You’ll need a source of colorless mana specifically, and you can’t just pay for this card with generic mana. That’s not a drawback for colorless decks, but it means you can’t just throw this card in any deck the same way you can some other colorless cards.

#5. Warping Wail

The versatility of Warping Wail is a huge asset, and it’s also nice to have a colorless counterspell as your opponents likely won’t expect that. There are also plenty of pesky creatures you can exile with this card, like Toski, Bearer of Secrets. Similar to Spatial Contortion, this spell also requires you have a source of colorless mana to cast it. This isn’t a huge drawback, especially in Commander when mana rocks commonly produce this type of mana, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

#4. Titan’s Presence

Titan's Presence is an excellent bit of removal for a colorless deck. You’ll likely be running creatures that are more powerful than average, allowing you to exile a wide range of threats on the board.

#3. Not of This World

Potentially free counterspells like Not of This World can be incredibly powerful. While this card’s conditions might seem like a big ask to cast it for free, having a creature with 7 or greater power is pretty common. Because this card also counts as an Eldrazi type, you’ll get any payoffs you normally would for casting an Eldrazi and cards like Eye of Ugin can reduce its cost.

#2. Scour from Existence

Scour from Existence might cost more than Titan's Presence but it’s also a much more comprehensive way to remove a threat. You don’t have to worry about not having another creature in your hand when you cast it, and you can hit any kind of permanent creature, including lands. This spell also doesn’t have any other colorless requirements like having a colorless creature or paying colorless mana specifically, meaning you can slot it into any kind of deck.

#1. Desecrate Reality

Desecrate Reality is a pretty cheap colorless removal spell when compared to Scour from Existence. There’s the downside that it might not get to hit certain cards if they have an odd mana value, but I think being able to hit each opponent and possibly get one of your own permanents back from the graveyard makes up for that. It’s also worth noting that since 0 is considered even, you can exile a land when an opponent doesn’t have another even-numbered permanent.

Best Colorless Instant Payoffs

One of the best payoffs for colorless instants is cards that grant cascade like Maelstrom Nexus or Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. Any of the more expensive colorless instants like Scour from Existence can get you a pretty big card off its cascade trigger while still being a good card in and of itself.

Not necessarily a payoff, but one other good benefit to colorless instants is that cost reduction for them can be more impactful than on spells with colored mana in their cost. Cards like Ugin, the Ineffable or Goblin Electromancer can make these cards easier to play, making them even more powerful.

Wrap Up

Desecrate Reality | Illustration by Eli Minaya

Because there are so few colorless instants, it’s easy for them to slip under the radar unless you’re specifically building a colorless deck. However, I think some of these cards can find spots in other builds, so it’s worth keeping them in mind when you’re putting together something new.

Which colorless instant do you see yourself using? Do you think Wizards could print more colorless instants without it becoming an issue for the game? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next time!