The 19 Best Green Board Wipes in Magic

Last updated on April 29, 2024

Ezuri's Predation | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov

The color pie in Magic dictates what each different color gets to do in the game. Green’s wheelhouse is ramp and big creatures, which it excels at compared to other colors. Removal and sweepers? Well, that’s a different story.

Green comes in last place where board wipes are concerned. After all, it doesn’t make much sense for the “creature color” to have a heavy emphasis on creature sweepers. Still, green has a few options when it comes to clearing the board, even if it usually does it in a unique or very “green” way.

So what are the best green board wipes in Magic? Let’s dive in and find out!

What Are Green Board Wipes in Magic?

Apex Altisaur (Commander 2019) | Illustration by Simon Dominic

Green board wipes don’t look like your standard run-of-the-mill sweepers. Don’t expect any color-shifted Wrath of God variants on today’s list. Green sweepers forgo the usual “destroy all creatures” clause in favor of effects that deal with fliers or artifacts/enchantments, as well as fight effects that can hit multiple targets. In classic Magic color pie fashion, green's board wipes fall in line with what its regular removal spells do.

Green decks usually rely on colorless board wipes like All Is Dust or Nevinyrral's Disk to deal with the board. But this list focuses on mono-colored board wipes that you could play in either your green control EDH deck or a mono green Commander deck.

Just know that green board wipes are in short supply.

#19. Back to Nature / Tranquil Grove / Multani's Decree

The lowest slot on our ranking is a stand-in for all of the green effects that destroy all enchantments. Back to Nature tends to be the simplest version, but there are lots of others. You can take your pick from among Calming Verse, Reverent Silence, Hush, and a number of other comparable effects, rarely available as instant-speed sweepers.

At slower speeds you have Tranquil Grove which gives you repeatable enchantment kill power. Multani's Decree might be a sorcery, but the life gained can be a huge help.

#18. Polukranos, World Eater

The monstrosity ability on Polukranos, World Eater is better at dealing with a few small threats than it is at wiping the board. Still, Polukranos can do its best impression of a sweeper for decks that can generate large amounts of mana, often dying as a result.

#17. Rampage of the Clans

On one hand, Rampage of the Clans is an instant-speed way to deal with all artifacts and enchantments on the board. On the other hand, your opponent is likely lash out with the 3/3s you just gave them.

It’s more of a combo card for turning your own permanents into threats than it is a way to set your opponents back.

#16. Windstorm

Windstorm is one of many green sweepers aimed at dealing with fliers. Effects like this are often one-sided against your opponents since flying rarely shows up on green creatures.

Windstorm is one of the weaker versions of this effect, but it’s an instant and scales well against bigger threats.

#15. Hurricane

Unlike Windstorm, Hurricane is a sorcery but deals damage to players as well as flying creatures. It’s essentially the airborne version of Earthquake, which can double as a way to take players out of the game. Just be careful not to deal too much damage to yourself.

#14. Primeval Light

The cleanliness of Primeval Light is much appreciated like a spring cleaning. Deal a major setback to those enchantress decks, oh wait, this goes just fine in enchantress decks and is a huge blow to any rivals. Are there enough enchantment-laden decks running around your playgroup?

#13. Creeping Corrosion

This brings up the conflict of man vs. nature and pits green against artifacts. Creeping Corrosion is excellent if you're not relying on artifacts, and brutal for opposing artifact creature decks. Just be mindful that you might be aiding the effort of some artifact sacrifice strategies.

#12. Squall Line

Squall Line is the middle ground between Windstorm and Hurricane. It’s a full mana more expensive than either one but combines being an instant with the damage-to-player aspect of Hurricane.

#11. Whirlwind

Whirlwind sidesteps all the nuances and differences of the earlier entries by just being a clean sweeper for fliers. No damage to players, no fussing around with X costs, just four mana to remove all the fliers from the battlefield.

#10. Setessan Tactics

Taking a brief break from flying hate, Setessan Tactics admittedly stretches the definition of a sweeper. It’s not always going to clear the board of threats, but it can turn all of your creatures into pseudo-removal spells by letting them fight for the turn for a hefty chunk of mana.

With enough big creatures and enough mana to strive multiple times, this can help remove a sizable chunk of opposing creatures.

#9. Arashi, the Sky Asunder

Okay, back to the flying hate. Arashi, the Sky Asunder has a slightly different take on the “destroy all flyers” formula. Since the sweeper effect is a channel ability, it’s harder to interact with and counter than a normal spell would be.

Arashi can also sit on board and snipe fliers down one at a time, if a little less efficiently.

#8. Nylea’s Intervention

You usually include Nylea's Intervention in decks that care about the land-searching mode, but you’re happy to have access to the sweeper effect when it’s relevant. Having a back-up mode makes this less of a risk to main deck than other similar effects since it’s never a dead card in your hand.

#7. Silklash Spider

Silklash Spider pulls double-duty against fliers. Not only does it have an activated ability that serves as a repeatable sweeper for fliers, but it also sits on board as a 2/7 with reach and blocks all day long. It’s a great silver bullet card for decks that want an out to an army of flying creatures.

#6. Whiptongue Hydra

Whiptongue Hydra was released in Commander 2018 and has been the champion of flying hate ever since. While most of the mass flying removal we’ve seen is in instant and sorcery form, this Hydra destroys all fliers as part of an ETB ability, which means your reanimation or blink effects allow you to reuse the trigger.

#5. Wave of Vitriol

Moving away from flying hosers, green offers a couple all-star sweepers for artifacts and enchantments. Wave of Vitriol deals with all of them at once as along with sweeping up nonbasic lands in the mix.

This is especially punishing against 5-color decks that skimp on their basic land count, and sometimes sets a player way behind on board and on mana.

#4. Bane of Progress

Bane of Progress was the blueprint for Whiptongue Hydra, focusing on artifacts and enchantments instead of flying creatures. It clears the battlefield of most problematic noncreature permanents while leaving you up a giant creature.

This is a symmetrical effect, so be careful not to sweep up too many of your own cards.

#3. Apex Altisaur

It’s no Damnation, but Apex Altisaur can definitely put a damper on your opponents’ creature bases. It fights on ETB, which triggers the enrage ability.

After that the Altisaur keeps fighting until it dies or is run out of creatures to fight. Giving it indestructible means it won’t ever die from damage, so it can essentially kill every other creature your opponents control.

#2. The Great Aurora

Green sweepers definitely aren’t cheap. The Great Aurora adds a layer of randomness to the game while dealing with everything on board at nine mana.

What the game state ends up looking like after it resolves is entirely up to chance. The best use is to flood the board with as many permanents as possible and then hope you spike more lands than the opponents off the redraw.

#1. Ezuri’s Predation

Green’s closest card to a traditional board wipe and the one that takes the top spot on this list is Ezuri's Predation. It sweeps the board in a very green way, creating an army of 4/4 tokens and having them fight the opponents’ creatures.

This isn’t that different from casting an overloaded Mizzium Mortars, but it usually leaves you with your own army of Beast tokens once the dust has settled.

Best Green Board Wipe Payoffs

The payoff for using a green sweeper depends. Ready to destroy all artifacts? Viridian Revel gives you a bunch of cards back. Fought a bunch of creatures? Lumberknot loves that and becomes massive, while Ghoultree is already massive and can become much cheaper from your fighters going to the graveyard.

Wrap Up

The Great Aurora (Magic Origins) | Illustration by Sam Burley

If you came here looking for a longer list of cards then I’m sorry to disappoint. Green isn’t traditionally known as the sweeper color, so its options in the wrath department are a bit limited. If you’re looking for flying hate or mass artifact/enchantment destruction, green’s got you covered. Otherwise you’re looking at just a handful of cards that can reasonably be called board wipes.

Did I miss any of your favorite green board wipes? What do you think of my rankings for these cards? Do you have any creative ways to deal with threats in your mono-green decks? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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