The 29 Best Enchantment Board Wipes in Magic Ranked

Dismantling Wave | Illustration by Raoul Vitale

Each color in MTG deals best with a specific type of card. Red hates artifacts. Black hates creatures.

Since white and green are the Naturalize / Disenchant colors, it’s natural that hating on enchantments falls into the GW part of the color pie.

MTG has plenty of ways to prevent enchantment decks from getting out of control, and today we'll look at the best enchantment board wipes MTG has to offer. These can be a metagame call in some 1v1 formats, or regular players in your casual EDH decks – after all, enchantress decks are quite common.

What Are Enchantment Board Wipes in MTG?

Paraselene | Illustration by Ryan Yee

Enchantment board wipes are cards that get rid of all or most enchantments in play. They can get rid of other stuff too, and many cards destroy all enchantments and also destroy all artifacts, like Cleansing Nova. If a card is modal and has a “destroy all enchantments” among other options, it’s probably on the list.

Functional reprints/color-shifted cards won't occupy different spots on the list (e.g.: Tranquility, Tempest of Light). I’m avoiding cards that deal with all nonland permanents since these effects are too broad. No Ruinous Ultimatum or Hour of Revelation.

#29. Tranquil Path

Tranquil Path destroys all enchantments and draws a card. What else do you need? On second thought, the card could cost less and be an instant.

#28. Hush

You can also draw a card directly with Hush, if you want to cycle it, which was relevant in the Urza’s Saga era. 

#27. Reverent Silence

Giving 6 life to another player is not that steep of a cost, if you want to cast Reverent Silence for free. At least it has that option.

#26. Patrician's Scorn

Patrician's Scorn can be cast for free, but you need to double spell. Not that hard, eh? You can also synergize with all flurry cards this way.

#25. Serenity

The good side of Serenity is that you’ll only pay 2 mana. The weird side is that it sits on the battlefield and your opponents have a turn to interact with it.

#24. Paraselene

MTG has many “destroy all enchantments” sorceries for 3 mana, like Tranquility and Tempest of Light. With Paraselene, you're paying that much mana and gaining some life on top.

#23. Primeval Light

Paying 4 mana at sorcery speed for Primeval Light isn’t the dream, but it's at least a one-sided effect.

#22. Back to Nature + Spring Cleaning

Not only is Spring Cleaning an instant, but it can be a one-sided board wipe. It's a little better than Back to Nature.

#21. Fracturing Gust

At instant speed, you can destroy all artifacts and enchantments with Fracturing Gust, as well as gain a lot of life with this card. This saw some play in formats like Standard and Modern before better or cheaper alternatives existed. It’s expensive as a sweeper these days, so if you want to play this card, you’d better have some lifegain incentives as well.

#20. Cleansing Meditation

Cleansing Meditation can be the best card in this list if your enchantments all cantrip, or if you have enchantress synergies. That said, this card forces deck-building constraints, and you need threshold for it to excel, or else you’re in Tranquility tier.

#19. Kalemne’s Captain

Kalemne's Captain requires a hefty investment to be a true enchantment wrath effect, but at least you’ll get an 8/8. Its monstrosity effect is powerful, as it exiles rather than destroys. I’d say play it if you need an extra giant with a versatile effect in a typal EDH deck.

#18. Magus of the Disk

Magus of the Disk is a human version of Nevinyrral's Disk (slightly more fragile), so it tends to see play in human-based EDH decks, or in white decks that synergize with wraths (Zurgo Helmsmasher, Avacyn, Angel of Hope).

#17. Nevinyrral’s Disk

Nevinyrral's Disk is the classic sweeper from the ‘90s. The worst thing about this card is that, as it enters tapped, you can’t trick players into overcommitting, but at the same time, it slows the game down just by being on the battlefield. For EDH purposes, what matters most is that it’s a colorless board wipe, and very fitting for Grixis-color commanders () since most of this list is Selesnya cards ().

#16. Dismantling Wave

Dismantling Wave can be a “simple” three-for-one in your typical Commander game for just 3 mana. Of course, you can destroy everything for 8 mana and draw a card, but getting only three enchantments can be a good mana investment and a semi-board wipe.

#15. Cataclysm

We’ve got some Cataclysm variants in this list, so let’s begin with the original. When you cast this card, each player will sacrifice down to their best enchantment. It’s good that the sacrifice clause gets around indestructible/hexproof.

#14. Mythos of Snapdax

Mythos of Snapdax is a little 3-color twist on Cataclysm, where you can choose the cards that stay and the cards to be sacrificed when paying the full Mardu () cost, circling around the obvious downside. Now you get the best cards, and they keep the worst ones.

#13. Cataclysmic Gearhulk

Cataclysmic Gearhulk is the “best” Cataclysm since you can bounce it and reanimate it. Since it's an artifact creature, you have some flexibility in what you can keep around, too.

#12. Rampage of the Clans

At instant speed, Rampage of the Clans is a massive Beast Within for artifacts and enchantments. It’s an interesting response before a wrath effect. You don’t even care if you lose some of your cards, as they’ll be upgraded. This card is interesting in decks that make a lot of artifact tokens or Treasure/Food, as a way to hit hard the next turn.

#11. Fade from History

Besides the lovely art, Fade from History is a very powerful way to reduce all enchantments down to just a couple of 2/2s. Similar to Rampage of the Clans, you want this against decks that make artifact tokens, and you’ll play it in Commander decks that care about bears or 2/2 creatures (Ayula, Queen Among Bears, Duskana, the Rage Mother).

#10. Akroma’s Vengeance

Akroma's Vengeance destroys almost everything you want, or you can draw a card by cycling it. Six mana is expensive, but it’s something you can easily maindeck in casual EDH.

#9. Cleansing Nova

Cleansing Nova is a flexible wrath, with the main mode getting creatures but also getting a nice second mode. It’s from a time when 5-mana wraths weren’t so abundant, too. That said, in some metagames where players go crazy with stuff like Hallowed Haunting, or Simulacrum Synthesizer, it’s nice to have a good backup plan.

#8. Nevinyrral, Urborg Tyrant

Nevinyrral, Urborg Tyrant strongly synergizes with its own disk, as you can use the disk to destroy creatures, cast it right after, and make some Zombie tokens. For enchantment destruction, you need to have a way to sacrifice it. Players with many enchantments aren’t firing a removal spell at this creature, that’s for sure.

#7. Everything Comes to Dust

Everything Comes to Dust is a very nice sweeper for token decks or typal decks, considering that you can use your mass of creatures to convoke this spell, protect most of your creatures, and exile a lot of stuff for potentially very cheap. Think of it as a one-sided creature sweeper with extra benefits.

#6. Bane of Progress

Bane of Progress is a very interesting way to mix in a threat and an enchantment board wipe. It’s probably going to be a 7/7 or 8/8 in an average EDH pod, and much bigger if you actually line it up against an artifact/enchantment player.

#5. Season of Gathering

Season of Gathering has many different useful modes, with one of them being “destroy all enchantments.” The best thing about this card is that you can use it to buff your cards, to trigger your +1/+1 counters synergies, and draw a card as the main mode, and if needed, you can blast some enchantments.

#4. Cease // Desist

Cease // Desist sees some play in Standard, giving that it’s good against aggro in the early game, you can cycle it and gain some life while hating on a graveyard. It also has a mana value of 8 for any of the more demanding collect evidence cards.

#3. Austere Command

Before Farewell, there was Austere Command. This card is very powerful and versatile as a modal sweeper, and many times, you’ll wreck their board while keeping yours. You’re playing small creatures and artifacts? Better get rid of their enchantments and big guys. The card is played in token decks and decks that want to get rid of tokens alike.

#2. Merciless Eviction

A little worse than Farewell, but Merciless Eviction can get rid of the types of cards you want, or the ones that give you the best possible outcome. It’s also one of the few sweepers that can deal with planeswalkers.

#1. Farewell

Farewell is one of the best and most flexible board wipes ever. For one, you exile stuff you choose, and almost every deck takes a huge hit from this card, except maybe superfriends decks and fast aggro, which can get under it. Most people think this card is unfair, especially in EDH, where it’s almost impossible to play around it.

Best Enchantment Board Wipe Payoffs

Enchantment board wipes can be explored by your deck in certain ways, especially if you line everything up so you're profiting from all the enchantment destruction that’s going on.

Sometimes you’ll benefit from enchantment destruction by playing cards like Replenish or Brilliant Restoration. This is especially true if you have enchantments that work as removal or as cantrips (Spirited Companion, Omen of the Sea). Dance of the Manse is also a strong follow-up to an enchantment board wipe.

A commander like Bello, Bard of the Brambles makes your non-aura enchantments with mana value 4 or greater indestructible. Go board wipe team!

Muldrotha, the Gravetide usually doesn’t care about having its enchantments destroyed since it can cast at least one from the graveyard each turn.

Cards like Enchanted Evening convert all permanents into enchantments, so a simple 2-mana Back to Nature resets the board.

Starfield of Nyx can reanimate your lost enchantments, and even serves as a wincon for a board full of them.

Cantivore is Lhurgoyf’s lesser-known cousin. This card thrives in games where you’ve wiped the board of all enchantments. It even has vigilance to make it a better beatstick.

Wrap Up

Back to Nature | Illustration by Howard Lyon

One thing is for sure: MTG has a lot of ways to deal with enchantments. The thing is, you’re probably including cards that are more flexible in your deck overall. That’s why flexible cards like Farewell or cards that deal with all nonland permanents tend to see more main deck play. Depending on the meta, or depending on that friend of yours that loves enchantment prison decks, you might need a laser-focused answer like a Back to Nature in the sideboard.

What are your favorite ways to deal with enchantments? Any of these see maindeck play for you? Let me know in the comments section below, or over on the Draftsim Discord.

As always, thanks for having me and thanks for reading!