Last updated on January 18, 2024

Field of Ruin - Illustration by Chris Ostrowski

Field of Ruin | Illustration by Chris Ostrowski

Every deck needs answers to your opponents’ threats. Whether all at once or one at a time, you need options to get rid of what’s in the way of your ultimate goal and win the game.

Every color has its quirks when it comes to removal, but what can you expect from colorless removal? Which cards give you the most for what you put in, and how can these pieces fit into your decks? Let's dive in and find out!

What Is Colorless Removal in MTG

The Filigree Sylex - Illustration by Leanna Crossan

The Filigree Sylex | Illustration by Leanna Crossan

Removal spells can move permanents from the battlefield to hard-to-reach places, like the graveyard, exile, or the bottom of their controller’s library. This can be done with “destroy” or “exile” rules text, by reducing a creature’s toughness, by dealing damage to a creature or planeswalker, and through forced sacrifices. Colorless removal has no colored mana pips in its casting cost or rules text.

Most of the artifacts in Magic are colorless, so it stands to reason that lots of colorless removal options are artifacts. Colorless is also the color of the Eldrazi, so expect to read about a few of them here. Lands are also permanents with colorless identities, and some of them have sacrifice-to-remove abilities.

Annihilator is a common mechanic on colorless removal creatures, forcing a defending player to sacrifice permanents when the annihilator creature attacks. Artifacts that act as removal often ask you to sacrifice them to gain their effect. Some artifacts also have the strength of their removal determined by counters (often charge counters) that you’ve pumped into them before activating the removal.

Deathtouch is sometimes included in definitions of removal, but I’ve left that aside for today’s purposes. I’ve also left aside cards that only deal one damage to a target (with a few exceptions).

#50. The Filigree Sylex

The Filigree Sylex

The Filigree Sylex is here for two reasons: it’s new (newish, depending on when you’re reading) and is a throwback. A lot of the older artifacts I’ve left off do something like this: pump the artifact with counters and then trade it in to deal damage relative to how many counters it has.

The Sylex gives you two outlets: one based on mana value, and the other a flat 10 damage. The proliferate effects in All Will Be One and its cheap mana cost could turn this into a decent little removal option, but the older ones it emulates are often too pricey or too complex.

#49. It That Betrays

It That Betrays

Let me know in the comments if you consider this cheating (that’s why it’s so low). It That Betrays has annihilator 2, so it gives you the forced sacrifice type of removal. The thing is, any nontoken sacrificed while this horrifying Eldrazi onboard comes back under your control.

Lands, artifacts, enchantments, creatures, planeswalkers… is it really removal if you’re stealing it and leaving it available to be stolen back?

#48. Ratchet Bomb

Ratchet Bomb

Ratchet Bomb is cheap to get out and easy to start charging up. You only get to activate this once without artifact recursion, but you’ll destroy anything with the same mana value as Ratchet Bomb has counters. No more, no less. Little oxymoronic how precise this bomb is with its targets.

#47. The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

It doesn’t tap for mana, but The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale punishes the entire board. It’s not direct removal, but token decks will especially suffer against this. Most other players will often have to choose between keeping their board state and casting something new.

This gets a lot worse if you combine it with an effect that skips everyone’s untap steps.

#46. Coercive Portal

Coercive Portal

Coercive Portal is a political artifact from Conspiracy. Depending on the board’s mood it can be a clean slate or a continuous draw engine. You don’t really get to control whether or not it’s a removal spell, so it’s not the sure thing that many other options are.

#45. Karn’s Sylex

Karn's Sylex

Karn's Sylex gives you flexible sorcery-speed sweeping on an X-cost activated ability. You have to exile it so you probably won’t be able to reuse it later. It affects your ability to pay life for spells, but you can build around that if you really want to.

#44. Spatial Contortion

Spatial Contortion

Spatial Contortion is a stat-adjusting instant that you can use to buff up your creature, but you can also use it to remove something with toughness 3 or less. It’s only a 2-drop, but it gets you a decent variety of targets for its cost.

#43. Transmogrifying Wand

Transmogrifying Wand

It’s up to you which threats are worth replacing with a 2/4. Transmogrifying Wand lets you make that trade three times with the counters it has upon entering.

#42. Creepy Doll

Creepy Doll

I look at Creepy Doll and I just hear a blood-chilling giggle. It’s Innistrad; that makes sense. Creepy Doll basically has a coin flip deathtouch ability.

That giggle’s getting louder… right, back in the toybox! Playtime’s over.

#41. Worldslayer

Worldslayer

Worldslayer is expensive to cast and equip if you don’t have anything to bypass at least one of those costs. This piece of equipment lives up to its name, sweeping away everything other than itself. No stat buffs; just lots of things going to the graveyard.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope is the most extreme form of indestructible to lessen Worldslayer’s impact on your board, but there’s lots of other ways to protect some or all of your permanents.

#40. Perilous Myr

Perilous Myr

Perilous Myr isn’t much in terms of removal; it’s just got a death trigger that deals two damage to a target. Still, it can do decent work in the early game. You could use Perilous Myr to block another 1/1 and then take out another lower toughness creature as it leaves.

#39. Scuttling Doom Engine

Scuttling Doom Engine

Looking at the art too closely makes my skin crawl. Scuttling Doom Engine provides removal when it leaves the battlefield by dealing six damage to a target. You should be able to clear a pesky planeswalker or inconvenient creature with this trigger.

#38. Hand of Emrakul

Hand of Emrakul

Hand of Emrakul is pretty expensive to cast normally and only has annihilator 1. But you’re probably running this in an Eldrazi deck, which A: makes it easier to get this out without paying its mana cost, and B: means you’re probably running other annihilator creatures.

On its own, meh, but properly supported, yikes.

#37. Sword of Kaldra

Sword of Kaldra

Sword of Kaldra just slices through the ranks, which explains its casting and equip costs. Anything to which you deal damage is exiled, whether you’re attacking, blocking, or inflicting noncombat damage.

#36. Bladegriff Prototype

Bladegriff Prototype

Bladegriff Prototype is a flier that destroys a nonland permanent when it deals combat damage to a player. The hiccups are that the target is your opponent’s choice as well as the “destroy” wording, which means that they can pick something of low impact or a target that makes the effect fizzle.

#35. Surgehacker Mech

Surgehacker Mech

Situational removal is the name of the game. You can target either creatures or planeswalkers with Surgehacker Mech’s ETB trigger, and it’ll always hit for at least two. The more vehicles you have, the bigger target you can use this to remove.

#34. Smokestack

Smokestack

Smokestack reminds me of some of my former coworkers. My personal quibble with it is that you aren’t exempt from its effect; you’d better have some sacrifice fodder ready. Or maybe you’re running Tergrid, God of Fright and are focused on stealing your opponents’ stuff this way.

#33. Ugin, the Ineffable

Ugin, the Ineffable

In terms of removal options, Ugin, the Ineffable isn’t the best. It takes a third of Ugin’s starting loyalty to remove one permanent, and it takes a minute to build up another activation. It can help you cheapen some of the costlier options on this list, so at least there’s that.

#32. Introduction to Annihilation

Introduction to Annihilation

Straight out of Strixhaven, Introduction to Annihilation is fetchable from outside the game since it’s a lesson. It’s at sorcery speed and gives your target’s controller a card, but it can get any permanent you can target and put it away in its own pocket dimension.

I like and agree with the flavor text: there really is potential in that.

#31. Cityscape Leveler

Cityscape Leveler

Crazy 8s! Cityscape Leveler has a cast trigger and an attack trigger that gives you repeatable removal if it sticks around. You do wind up giving your opponents Powerstones, which can be neutral or negative depending on whether they have artifacts to cast with them.

#30. Canoptek Tomb Sentinel

Canoptek Tomb Sentinel

I know nothing about Canoptek Tomb Sentinel’s home franchise, Warhammer 40k, but I absolutely love its exile cannon ability. It’s the kind of thing that can work in all kinds of graveyard strategies that can make its unearth mildly redundant. But, hey, you know your deck is working if you’re using unearth as a backup plan.

Canoptek Tomb Sentinel synergizes pretty well with some of the commanders from Warhammer 40k: Szarekh, the Silent King can mill it for you, Anrakyr the Traveller’s attack trigger can cast it from your hand or ‘yard for life, and Imotekh the Stormlord makes Necron Warrior tokens when the Sentinel leaves your graveyard. It can also work with Zask, Skittering Swarmlord thanks to its insect typing, but I’d rather not have to bury Canoptek Tomb Sentinel at the bottom of my library.

#29. Boompile

Boompile

Coin flips bring out the gremlin in me. Boompile doesn’t punish you for losing the flip and doesn’t cost mana or anything to activate, both of which are appreciated. Four mana is a very good rate considering the chance involved, but this could still be a pretty quick board wipe.

#28. Titan’s Presence

Titan's Presence

Titan's Presence can be a really good removal instant depending on what you’ve got in your hand to reveal. If you’re using it in a colorless deck, lots of larger colorless threats have mana costs that should let you get rid of just about anything.

#27. Lux Cannon

Lux Cannon

Lux Cannon is an artifact in the family of those that you can pump with counters to destroy something later. It’s pretty much the archetype of what you want out of something like this: you get to keep it around, and trading three counters to destroy any permanent is a very fair rate.

#26. The Mightstone and Weakstone

The Mightstone and Weakstone

We’re talking removal, so we’re not even interested in melding The Mightstone and Weakstone with Urza, Lord Protector into Urza, Planeswalker. We don’t even care about the other two ETB options.

This lets you give a creature -5/-5 until end of turn, good enough to remove many different types of threats. Five for five is an acceptable rate, especially considering the other options you have.

#25. Unstable Obelisk

Unstable Obelisk

Unstable Obelisk works as a colorless mana rock until you decide to sacrifice it. It’ll cost you seven, but you’ll be able to get any permanent that you can target and destroy. Universal Solvent is a 1-mana version of the same sacrifice ability without the mana gen.

#24. Blast Zone

Blast Zone

Counters go boom. Blast Zone is pumpable at a rate of two mana to one charge counter, but you can use it to wipe nonlands when you’re ready.

Oh, and it comes with a counter ready to go. Thanks!

#23. Oblivion Stone

Oblivion Stone

Mechanically, Oblivion Stone is pretty neat. Once it’s on the field you can pay mana and tap it to place fate counters on permanents you want to save from its eventual sweeping effect. Unless you don’t plan on saving much, this is a removal effect that opponents will see coming. It’s up to them if they want to let it happen or prepare for it otherwise.

#22. Bane of Bala Ged

Bane of bala Ged

Bane of Bala Ged gives you an annihilator-adjacent attack trigger. In this case your opponents send their permanents to exile rather than the graveyard. Youch. This and many of the big Eldrazi have a home-away-from-home in decks that have creature cost reduction, especially for big, big creatures.

Jhoira of the Ghitu and its activated ability to suspend your cards can also make good use of Bane of Bala Ged and anything bigger. I’m heckin’ shivering.

#21. Scour from Existence

Scour from Existence

It’s expensive, but Scour from Existence lets you exile a target at instant speed. Big beaters, indestructible targets, legends, and stax pieces are just some of the things you can get rid of. Costing seven mana feels about right for a common like this.

There’s a part of me that wishes this had a convoke or similar ability to reduce the cost, but adding anything either drives up the base cost or the rarity.

#20. Tectonic Edge

Tectonic Edge

Tectonic Edge is like a Wasteland with conditions. It costs mana to activate its land destruction ability, and you can only activate it when your opponent has reached a threshold. Still a decent little destruction spell, but there’s a markedly better option.

#19. Eldrazi Conscription

Eldrazi Conscription

I think I can cheat the definition and count Eldrazi Conscription as two forms of removal. Annihilator 2 is one form, of course, but +10/+10 to nearly any statline will make the enchanted creature capable of removing most creatures it faces.

#18. Meteor Golem

Meteor Golem

Seven mana to cast a 3/3 without keywords can be a headscratcher. But Meteor Golem gives you an ETB that fits its name: you destroy an opponent’s nonland permanent as though this guy landed on it and made it go “splat.”

Bosh, Iron Golem’s activated ability likes that seven mana value, and now all you need is some way to recur your Golem. Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded can also turn this into a quick remover/attacker. Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer can buff it thanks to its golem typing.

Being an artifact and a high-cost card give it some niche places that it wouldn’t fit otherwise. Standard removal, but the other parts give this lots of homes.

#17. Portal to Phyrexia

Portal to Phyrexia

Portal to Phyrexia can get you up to nine permanents when it enters the battlefield in a game of Commander. That’s pretty much the best-case situation for this artifact’s removal effect. The fact that you can steal an opponent’s creature on your upkeep is pretty great and should be what you’re casting this for.

#16. Karn Liberated

Karn Liberated

I like that Karn Liberated’s second loyalty ability costs less than its first ability produces (although it doesn’t give you a discard trigger). Exiling any permanent for -3 is a fair rate of removal to have on a planeswalker.

You’re probably sleeving up Karn Liberated to have access to its ultimate, but the removal is nice to have along the way.

#15. Sword of Sinew and Steel

Sword of Sinew and Steel

Sword of Sinew and Steel is a great piece of equipment to have on hand. As removal it “only” gets you a planeswalker and an artifact when you deal combat damage to a player. The second half feels relevant but not all decks run planeswalkers, singular or plural.

#14. Argentum Armor

Argentum Armor

Argentum Armor is an equipment that gives the equipped creature an attack trigger that destroys a permanent every time the attached creature attacks. The stat boost is immense, regardless of the creature’s starting stats.

Nahiri, the Lithomancer’s first loyalty ability gives you readymade, equip-cost skipping soldiers. Let the mayhem begin!

#13. Spine of Ish Sah

Spine of Ish Sah

It doesn’t have any impacts when it stays on the field and it doesn’t give you a way to sacrifice it, but Spine of Ish Sah can act as a form of repeatable colorless removal. Daretti, Scrap Savant can make good use of this with its -2 to get something back, and then Spine of Ish Sah will be in your hand.

Megatron, Destructive Force’s attack trigger is another way to get Spine of Ish Sah off the field.

#12. Ulamog’s Crusher

Ulamog's Crusher

Opponents who face Ulamog's Crusher will be happy to have multiple tapping effects in hand. You do not want to let this guy attack, let alone get through. You don’t get to choose what gets removed, but that feels secondary.

#11. Artisan of Kozilek

Artisan of Kozilek

I consider annihilator 2 a good baseline for that ability. If your opponent is consistently hitting land drops, it’s easier for them to keep building up permanents when you’ve got annihilator 1 on board. Artisan of Kozilek’s ETB lets you bring something back from the graveyard, which can be a big deal considering what else we’ve been talking about.

#10. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger’s value comes from exiling cards before they reach your opponents’ hands, but it exiles two permanents on casting. Depending on the format Ulamog exiles half, a third, or a fifth of your deck every time it attacks.

I’ve lost my appetite…

#9. Sundering Titan

Sundering Titan

When something’s so good that it can be abused, that’s when you run into format bans. Imagine blink shenanigans combined with Sundering Titan. You trigger it coming in and heading out. Yeah. That’s a lot.

You won’t get to use Sundering Titan in Commander, but have fun everywhere else!

#8. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Annihilator 6. Excuse me while I rehydrate; just saying that is salty enough.

I can see why Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is banned in Commander. It can’t be countered, but it can be abused. Its placement is related more to how tough it is to get out than anything else.

#7. Field of Ruin

Field of Ruin

Depending on which nonbasic land you’re destroying, Field of Ruin can wind up ramping one of your opponents. You’ll definitely be ramping other opponents in a multiplayer setting. Field of Ruin doesn’t come in tapped, though, and its activated removal is fine.

#6. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

You’re going to start cutting into your opponents’ boards really quickly once you have Kozilek, Butcher of Truth on board and attacking. Making them sacrifice four permanents when Kozilek attacks is brutal, especially to decks that don’t have many disposable permanents.

Gosh, and if you can find ways to make it attack more than once per turn… No. It’s time to stop.

#5. Nevinyrral’s Disk

Nevinyrral's Disk MH2

Unless you’re running untap effects, Nevinyrral's Disk won’t be activated the same turn you cast it. When you do it resets the board and bring itself with it. It wipes all these permanent types but leaves lands and planeswalkers alone for one of the more optimal board states to have post-board wipe.

#4. Wasteland

Wasteland

I personally prefer the Tempest art for Wasteland. Trading this in for a nonbasic land can be a smart play. Another Wasteland perk is that it doesn’t come in tapped, allowing you to use either of its tap abilities as soon as it comes in.

#3. Strip Mine

Strip Mine

Strip Mine sounds a lot like strychnine, and I’m not entirely sure that’s a coincidence. Strip Mine gives you the same land destruction as Wasteland, except it isn’t limited to nonbasics.

#2. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon comes in with enough loyalty to do some real damage with its -X ability. Its +2 also deals three damage, which can be enough to remove a bunch of targets whether buffed or not.

Also, not a dragon!

#1. Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

You get two types of removal with Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. It destroys a permanent on casting but also comes with annihilator 4. This Ulamog has indestructible and goes back to your library once it goes to the graveyard.

Truly infinite.

Best Colorless Removal Payoffs and Synergies

A major appeal of colorless is that you can play these spells in any deck, even with Commander’s color identity restrictions. Colorless lands, by nature, can be played anywhere. Some of the bigger creatures with removal options can also be your commander, but you don’t have to stay in a colorless palette.

Rakdos, Lord of Riots Braids, Conjurer Adept

There’s potential for a lot of big creatures with annihilator or another removal ability between artifacts and Eldrazi alone. Commanders that can reduce their cost or cheat them out can turn to these colorless removal options to set up their end game. Think Rakdos, Lord of Riots reducing your creature spell costs based on the life your opponents have lost, or Braids, Conjurer Adept putting an artifact, creature, or land into play on your upkeep.

Balan, Wandering Knight

There are also a bunch of commanders that pay you off for running artifacts in general. We just did The Brothers’ War; do I really need to tell you who? Equipment artifacts have their own individual synergies and payoffs. For example, Balan, Wandering Knight gets double strike when it has two or more equipment and comes with an ability that attaches all equipment to it.

Removal artifacts can include charge counters or other counters that pump up their power over multiple turns. Proliferating those counters can help you get to a bigger payoff sooner.

Wrap Up

Nevinyrral's Disk - Illustration by Mark Tedin

Nevinyrral's Disk | Illustration by Mark Tedin

Game, set, match for colorless removal. Hopefully you’ve discovered or remembered a few more options to annihilate your opponent’s board. There’s all kinds of artifacts at your disposal if that’s your style, but you can always count on the Eldrazi to bring along some destruction.

What do you think of these rankings? Are there cards I’ve left off that you think deserve a spot? Where do you use colorless removal? Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to take the discussion to Draftsim's official Discord.

After all of this grayscale thinking I think I need to feast my eyes on something bright and colorful. Streaming services, here I come!


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