The 25 Best Rakdos Removal Spells in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 12, 2026

Bedevil | Illustration by Seb McKinnon

Greetings, fellow Magic players. If you favor red and black in MTG, chances are you’re more than interested in removing opposing creatures from the board, something that both colors do very well on their own. Rakdos () isn’t a subtle color combination at all, so we look at destruction, direct damage, fire, -1/-1 counters, and so on.

Rakdos embraces chaos, and while doing so, other creatures aren’t safe. Today, we take a look at the best removal spells Rakdos decks can jam.

Let’s dive in!

What Is Rakdos Removal in MTG?

Dreadbore | Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Rakdos removal refers to spells aligned with the BR color identity that destroy, exile, or otherwise get rid of pesky permanents on the battlefield – usually one or two, or else we’re in sweeper territory. In these colors, creature removal is king, but you can also remove planeswalkers with a certain ease. Red and black are also traditional colors that can destroy lands.

Unlike green and white, red and black struggle to remove artifacts and destroy enchantments. For the purposes of this list, we consider hybrid and gold BR cards, and cards that are red with a black flashback cost, for instance. We can also consider permanents that trigger a removal ability when they enter or leave the battlefield as removal spells.

#25. Tsabo Tavoc

Although very old, clunky, and slow, Tsabo Tavoc still has a function: getting rid of enemy commanders in EDH. In this day and age, every deck has plenty of legendary cards due to their sheer power, but repeatable commander removal is good, and this Phyrexian horror can also block legends like a champ.

#24. Wrecking Ball

This instant is a bad creature removal spell, but it’s one of the more flexible land destruction spells overall. Wrecking Ball was printed during an age when bounce lands were common Constructed-playable lands, and if you play in a slow environment like casual cubes, this Rakdos card can make the cut sometimes.

#23. Auger Spree

Limited all-star Auger Spree is an efficient removal spell that you can used as a combat trick or even to finish off big creatures. It’s also one of the few Rakdos removal spells that get around indestructible/regenerate.

#22. Terminal Agony

Terminal Agony is unplayable without madness, and a very good spell if you’re discarding cards for value. Instead of drawing and discarding, you can destroy something and draw a card in the process.

#21. Bituminous Blast

Bituminous Blast is a bad removal spell, but adding cascade changes the math quite a bit. I’d play this only if you have any cascade synergies or cast-from-exile synergies, like a Prosper, Tome-Bound EDH deck.

#20. Cut // Ribbons

Cut is reasonably priced as a 4-damage, 2-mana sorcery. The thing is, adding Ribbons changes the card dramatically since it’s a finisher on its own. It even has the “each opponent” rider, something that we see regularly these days. A removal spell early and a finisher late is what makes Cut // Ribbons so good.

#19. Pyretic Rebirth

Depending on what you have in your graveyard, this can be a nice two-for-one, as the combination of removal spell and Raise Dead can give you an edge in grindy games. The worst part about Pyretic Rebirth is that it can be a dead card in your hand, but it’s awesome when it works.

#18. Unlicensed Disintegration

Unlicensed Disintegration is a very clean Rakdos removal spell. Very strong in aggro decks, especially when you have artifact synergies or vehicles around. Decks like Mardu () Vehicles played a bunch of this. Just when you think you’re safe… they’ll kill your blocker, ding you for 3, then attack you for 10.

#17. Bedeck // Bedazzle

Bedeck // Bedazzle represents two different removal spells in the same card. Bedeck is a light removal spell in the vein of Last Gasp, while Bedazzle destroys their best nonbasic land and can even snipe a planeswalker with a few loyalty counters. Yes, it’s 6 mana and very expensive, but this card was in the same Standard as powerful lands like Search for Azcanta / Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin and Legion's Landing / Adanto, the First Fort, so it was nice to have a main-deckable answer to these.

On the topic of quirky removal and split cards, I want to cram in a fun removal spell that is a color bleed of red removal into black. Cramped Vents uses damage to destroy a creature, and at a decent rate too, I mean, imagine if Orbital Plunge traded the lander token for lifegain?

#16. Fulminator Mage

Fulminator Mage used to be a classic sideboard card in Modern against many decks, including Modern Tron. It’s a way to punish 3+ color decks, and you can really hose a mana base if you have any scam synergies going on (like Undying Evil).

#15. Rakdos Charm

Rakdos Charm barely made this list, but it’s eligible as artifact removal. This charm does so much more, as exiling your opponent’s graveyard is very relevant when they build their decks around it. This charm can work as a surprise finisher if your pesky opponents are into infinite creature combos or going wide.

#14. Grub's Command

The third mode down on Grub's Command is removal for two of the most common card types. Aside from this mode, the other three work well together, but tacking a kill spell onto any of the others is solid and often enough to put the goblins over the top.

#13. Hurl Through Hell

Hurl Through Hell is part removal spell, part theft spell. At the very least, you’re paying 4 mana to exile a creature, and if you have enough mana available, you can cast it. It’s even better than stealing in some cases, especially if the creature has a good ETB effect. It won’t work on enemy commanders, though.

#12. Angrath’s Rampage

Before the existence of Sheoldred's Edict, people used to run this card. It’s not strictly better, as this card gets artifacts after all, but it feels bad to play Angrath's Rampage when they have any creature token. Still, it’s one of the best edict effects available, so play this card if you have sacrifice synergies.

#11. The Scorpion God

The Scorpion God is an awesome source of creature removal. What’s more, when they die with a -1/-1 counter, you get to draw a card. It’s like a repeatable Skullclamp of sorts. With enough mana, you get to remove all sorts of creatures on the battlefield, and players won’t be too keen on creating tokens while Scorpio is around.

#10. Chaos Defiler

Chaos Defiler is one of the few ways Rakdos has to get rid of noncreature permanents. You don’t get to choose exactly which one will bite the dust in an EDH game, but having this strong effect tied to a strong body already makes this Rakdos card a worthy inclusion in your decks. It gets even better if you have ways to sacrifice it, or to make copies of it until end of turn.

#9. Kill! Maim! Burn!

Kill! Maim! Burn! is a slightly more expensive and effective Kolaghan's Command, more suitable for Commander purposes. It’s not hard to get someone’s commander and a mana rock using this modal spell, and the 3-damage mode is always free. Even at instant speed, it’s 5 mana, so it’s not an auto-include in most decks.

#8. Murderous Redcap

Murderous Redcap starts small as a 2/2 that shocks a creature, but the infinite damage combos you get with the persist loop makes this small goblin see play in many MTG formats. You probably won’t run this without the other combo pieces.

#7. Munitions Expert

Alone, this is a 1/1 that deals 1 damage. In a goblin deck, however, Munitions Expert can be a flash Flametongue Kavu or better, and it’s even blinkable. Ironically in EDH, the best goblin decks are mono-red, so being a Rakdos card limits the playability of this guy.

#6. Kolaghan’s Command

Kolaghan's Command is a grindy Command that gives you a two-for-one no matter what you do. The best case usually is to snipe a small creature and an artifact, or a card from their hand. Even if there’s nothing going on you can deal 2 damage to someone and Raise Dead a creature. It’s nice that you can run main deck artifact removal that’s never dead.

#5. Bloodtithe Harvester

Bloodtithe Harvester is incredibly efficient as a 3/2 vampire with lots of added benefits. You can sacrifice it later to give -2/-2 to another creature, and it gets better in multiples, or with a few more Blood tokens.

#4. Terminate

Terminate is still king, but nowadays, the number of relevant creatures that regenerate are few and far between. It doesn’t get better than this if you’re interested in destroying a creature at instant speed for 2 mana.

#3. Dreadbore

Dreadbore saw a lot of play in formats like Standard and Pioneer as a direct, cheap answer to creatures or planeswalkers, even at sorcery speed. It’s still a go-to removal spell in Rakdos colors in EDH, while in 60-card formats you might want to check out Molten Collapse.

#2. Molten Collapse

Molten Collapse is a strictly better Dreadbore (and I’ve read it a lot of times to see if there’s a catch). You destroy more than one card if you descended (hello fetch lands), and we have many relevant targets in older formats: Skullclamp, Aether Vial, Chained to the Rocks, just to cite a few.

#1. Bedevil

Instant speed? Check. Destroy three different and relevant card types? Check. Bedevil is a very good catch-all card and a Rakdos staple.

Best Rakdos Removal Payoffs

Black has plenty of incentives to run removal spells. Those range from cards with the morbid mechanic to cards that care if a creature died this turn. Some examples are Morbid Opportunist, Fire Nation Sentinels, and Reaper from the Abyss.

There’s a subset of cards that get better or cheaper the more creatures die during a single turn. Cards like Blood for the Blood God!, Mahadi, Emporium Master, and Callous Sell-Sword fit this bill.

Colors like Grixis () and Mardu () often have payoffs for firing off removal spells, some in the form of the crime mechanic. Look out for cards like Gisa, the Hellraiser, Intimidation Campaign, or Marchesa, Dealer of Death.

Mathas, Fiend Seeker gives you an incentive to point a removal spell at a creature that has a bounty counter. Village Pillagers rewards you with treasure when you take out any opposing creatures with counters, whether that's a creature you put a -1/-1 counter on, or one with any kind of counter, and would count if you did an edict too.

If we’re talking sacrifice-based removal, we have a few payoffs like Tergrid, God of Fright, Legate Lanius, Caesar's Ace, or Mayhem Devil.

How Does Rakdos Remove Enchantments?

Actually, Rakdos doesn’t kill enchantments very well. Red doesn’t remove enchantments at all, while black has some enchantment removal, but it’s the weakest color that does so. If you really need to remove enchantments with a Rakdos () deck, your best bet is to play black removal spells like Feed the Swarm, or straight-up artifacts like Meteor Golem. There’s a few exceptions like Molten Collapse or Hidetsugu Consumes All that get enchantments with mana value 1 or less.

Wrap Up

Murderous Redcap | Illustration by Dave Allsop

And that’s about it for Rakdos BR removal spells folks. Every deck needs ways to interact and to get ahead on tempo, or just to break opposing synergies apart. Rakdos decks are no exception, and this color pair really appreciates several flavors of removal spells. Just remember to enjoy those payoffs for creatures dying here and there.

What about you, guys? Which removal spells are a mainstay of your Rakdos decks? Let me know in the comments, or over Draftsim Discord.

Stay safe out there folks, and thank you for reading!