The 41 Best White Board Wipes in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 22, 2026

Farewell | Illustration by Seb McKinnon

White might not be the best color in Magic for card draw or even targeted removal, but white thrives when it comes to board wipes. Board wipes can have a big impact on a game. They can keep you from getting too far behind, give you a chance to reset the battlefield, or even win you the game if timed correctly.

It can get a little tricky choosing board wipes in Eternal formats or formats with bigger card pools like Modern. There are a ton of white board wipes to choose from, but not all of them are going to be right for your deck.

I’ve hand-selected the best board wipes for a mono-white deck. Let's go through why I think these are the best for your decks!

What Are Board Wipes in Magic?

Wrath of God | Illustration by Kev Walker

Board wipes are spells that destroy all or most cards on the battlefield of a certain card type. “Board wipe” isn’t an official card type in Magic. It’s the slang nickname that players have given spells that destroy all of a certain type of permanents.

They can be incredibly useful against permanents with hexproof, shroud, ward, or protection that prevent them from being targeted directly. It can also be a great way to wipe out a lot of troublesome permanents on your opponent’s side of the field, especially if they have more threats on the board than you. Board wipes are also great inclusions for control decks that don’t put as many creatures of their own onto the battlefield.

We'll focus on board wipes with a mono-white color identity, which exclused cards like Damn and Supreme Verdict.

#41. Balance

Balance is perhaps the strongest card on this entire list, but slots in last place because there are plenty of times where it's not really a board wipe. The goal is to minimize your own resources and make your opponents fall to your level, but the card's also banned in just about every format. This will always be a 2-mana one-sided board wipe in decks with no creatures, and sometimes it'll take out lands and cards in hand as well. Probably for the best that you can't play it in most places.

#40. Armageddon

Mass land destruction isn’t the type of board wipe that most decks want to use. But if you’re playing a land destruction deck, Armageddon is probably your best bet to destroy all lands. It’s affordable and doesn’t come with any caveats. Ravages of War can be a backup copy if you really don't want people to play the game.

#39. Planar Cleansing

Planar Cleansing hits all nonland permanents, which makes it more of a true reset than other board wipes. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword because you’ll probably have some permanents of your own on the battlefield.

You can select more targeted board wipes that only hit the type of permanents you won’t be relying on, but they also won’t set your opponents back as much as a full wipe does. Planar Cleansing is a little expensive, but that's pretty standard for a lot of board wipes with this kind of coverage.

#38. Ondu Inversion

Ondu Skyruins is a nothing-card, and Ondu Inversion is a full 2 mana more expensive that Planar Cleansing which already isn't very exciting, so why play this card at all? MDFC lands get their power from flexibility, that's why. There are tons of scenarios and matchups where a board wipe is awful, and giving that card an alternative option of being played as a land is a great failcase. Hiding a sweeper in your manabase is sneaky good, even if it's not super efficient when you cast it. Imagine drawing this instead of Plains number eight; it's going to be a relief most of the time.

#37. Cleansing Meditation

One-sided board wipes are some of the most powerful in the game. While Cleansing Meditation destroys your enchantments as well as your opponents’, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to get them right back.

This is also a huge asset for you, because you can benefit from any abilities that trigger when your enchantments re-enter the battlefield.

#36. Urza’s Ruinous Blast

The good thing about Urza's Ruinous Blast is also what holds it back from the top spots on this list. This can be a great way to keep your good cards on the table while taking out some threats if you’re running a lot of legendary permanents.

But if the threats on the other side of the table are also legendary, this isn’t going to help you out too much.

#35. Damning Verdict

The dream with Damning Verdict is to play it in a deck where all your creatures have counters on them, breaking symmetry on a wrath and making this a one-sided sweeper. In the same way that people have tons of legendaries that Urza's Ruinous Blast might miss, opponents will often have stray counters on their creatures, so Damning Verdict will rarely sweep the entire board. It'll be effective in +1/+1 counter decks often enough, though.

#34. Akroma’s Vengeance

Akroma's Vengeance is almost a full board wipe, hitting most everything but planeswalkers. This can be a huge asset if you’re playing a superfriends deck, or a deck that revolves around a specific planeswalker.

It’s also nice to have cycling if you draw into the card and don’t need it or it’s too early in the game.

#33. Dismantling Wave

Dismantling Wave can double as targeted removal or a board wipe. This can come in handy if you just need to take out a few big threats on the board or slow down your opponents by taking out their mana rocks. While 8 mana is expensive for a board wipe that just hits artifacts and enchantments, you do get to draw a card as well so it offsets it a bit.

#32. Dusk // Dawn

Decks that like to play low-to-the-ground creatures can really benefit from a board wipe like Dusk // Dawn. If you can keep a board full of tiny creatures while wiping out your opponent’s blockers, you can do a lot of damage after.

Having the aftermath side of the card is also a great way to get back some of your creatures if you need more cards to play.

#31. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

Elspeth, Sun's Champion is just a better version of Elspeth Tirel. Not only can it immediately activate its board wipe ability, it can create Soldier tokens with a plus ability.

Its ult might be harder to activate, but it’s also a very powerful buff to your creatures.

#30. Fell the Mighty

By allowing you to select a specific creature’s power, Fell the Mighty can really help you make sure you’re keeping any permanent you want to hold onto. This is a great board wipe for white weenies or token decks.

#29. Sunscour

Offering alternate casting costs can be very helpful on cards like Sunscour. Seven mana is a high cost for a wipe, but ditching two white cards can be a very quick way to cast this spell. You also have the option to cast it for full price if you draw it later in the game and don’t mind the extra cost, so it has some nice versatility.

#28. Phyrexian Rebirth

One downside to board wipes is that they likely leave you without a board state too. With Phyrexian Rebirth you’ll be left with a creature of your own, and potentially a very powerful one. It definitely justifies the extra mana cost by giving you such a big possible threat. Starfall Invocation has similar potential if you're willing to gift a card to someone.

#27. Descend upon the Sinful

Descend upon the Sinful is a strict improvement over Final Judgment, assuming you can realistically get delirium in your white deck. That's neither a given nor that hard, but even if you don't get the 4/4 angel you'll still get exactly what you would've gotten by casting Final Judgment instead.

#26. Play of the Game

Plenty of times in multiplayer formats, one player is ahead while the rest of the table is looking for a way to handle the situation. Play of the Game allows other players to help you pay for the cost of the card if you can’t yet, allowing for some good teamwork to stay in the game.

#25. Depopulate

Four-mana creature wipes in white are pretty standard, and several of them will allow players meeting a certain requirement to draw a card, as seen with Depopulate. I chose this over the others because it’s great to include in a multicolored deck since you know it’ll likely draw you a card. No Witnesses and Shatter the Sky are similar Wrath of God with “downside” designs.

#24. Doomskar

Doomskar is a great board wipe, especially if you draw it early on in the game. Being able to foretell the card is a good way to avoid it being discarded either to hand size or an opponent’s spell.

It's also cheap to cast when you foretell it, allowing you to wipe the board cheap and probably drop another creature after.

#23. Day of Judgment

Day of Judgment is probably the simplest creature board wipe to include in a deck, in a good way. There aren’t any added stipulations and it won’t draw your opponent any cards. It just does what it does for a reasonable mana cost, and thanks to Foundations it's Standard-legal for the foreseeable future.

#22. Wrath of God

Wrath of God is basically the same as Day of Judgment with the slight benefit that it doesn’t allow creatures to be regenerated. Though regenerate isn’t that popular of a mechanic anymore, it's still a nice addition on the off-chance it matters.

#21. Austere Command

The nice thing about Austere Command is the versatility. You can pick and choose modes that are best suited to your current needs. The only downside is that it’s a little expensive if all you want to do is destroy creatures.

If you’re specifically looking for creature-hate board wipes, there are much better options. But if you want a board wipe that covers all your bases, this is a great option.

#20. Rout

Because Rout can be cast at instant speed, it allows you to play it at the most opportune times. You can play it on an opponent’s turn after they tap out, meaning you won’t have your spell countered and they might have cast even more creatures that turn so you’ll be setting them even further back.

#19. Fumigate

White has a lot of good payoffs for lifegain, and Fumigate fits well into a lifegain deck. It has the potential to gain you a good amount of life if the board gets big, and it can help you stay in the game longer if you’re getting close to running out of life.

#18. Terminus

Poor Terminus doesn't get the love it deserves in Commander, perhaps because the 6-mana casting cost is daunting. It takes set-up (or luck-sacking), but a miracled Terminus is among the top board wipes in all of Magic, as evidenced by this card's former dominance in Constructed formats. Tucking creatures away on the bottom of the library is also one of the cleanest forms of removal, which you can also get out of Hallowed Burial if you want to double down.

#17. Fated Clash

Fated Clash is very strong as an “instant speed, middle of combat” wrath effect. It doesn’t even need to be your combat step. You can use it as a political tool, or to save your best creature and their worst one. It’s bad in 1v1, but as a Commander card, it has a lot of potential to wreck boards.

#16. Avatar's Wrath

Avatar's Wrath isn’t the best wrath by any means, and can be very clunky, but it’s exceptional if you care about replaying your own creatures. On a board where your opponents have tokens or Baneslayer creatures, but you have lots of value creatures, it pulls you ahead nicely.

#15. Final Showdown

You'll have to pay the cost on Final Showdown to make this a wrath effect, but you can tack other modes onto this spree spell, mana permitting. There's a lot of flexibility here, with the potential to keep one of your creatures around post board wipe, as well as strip a sticky creature of indestructible before everything dies. You can even cast it for just its cheaper modes in a pinch. And better yet, all these options happen at instant speed.

#14. Starfall Invocation

Starfall Invocation’s strength depends solely on what you can get back. When you have a powerful creature in your graveyard like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in Commander, or Beza, the Bounding Spring in Standard, it’s worth gifting your opponents a card to get a powerful haymaker back.

#13. Slash the Ranks

Because Slash the Ranks hits planeswalkers as well as creatures, it’s very worth the mana cost. This card can be absolutely devastating against superfriends decks. The only downside is that it doesn’t help you out if you need to remove a commander.

#12. Ultima

Ultima sees a lot of play in formats like Standard because you get creatures and artifacts (vehicles, equipment, spacecraft) in the same wrath effect. Control decks usually play planeswalkers and enchantments, which stay unharmed. The end the turn clause is sometimes good on your turn, but definitely stronger if you can cast Ultima with flash, like with Teferi, Time Raveler.

#11. Split Up

Three-mana wraths like Split Up are intertestnig, and the ones that exist deserve attention. You have to jump through a few hoops for this card to be good, but the most common cases are fighting back against aggro decks after they hit you, or getting rid of a stalled board with all creatures untapped. You can attack and wrath after, or play cards like Authority of the Consuls to make sure your opponent’s creatures enter tapped.

#10. Wrath of the Skies

Wrath of the Skies excels in two homes: Energy decks in Commander, and control decks in Modern. The thing that's not immediately apparent about this Modern Horizons 3 card is that you don't even need to be an energy deck to make use of it. It generates its own energy if you need to scale up towards destroying more expensive permanents, but you can also just fire this off for and X=0 to clean up 0-mana clutter on the board. That means Urza's Saga in Constructed and Treasure in Commander, among others.

#9. Settle the Wreckage

can be such a devastating card to play against. It gives your opponent resources, but basically guarantees you can't die mid-combat, and really punishes overcommitting to an attack.

#8. Hour of Revelation

It won’t take too long for there to be 10 or more permanents on the field, so Hour of Revelation is often one of the cheapest wipes on this list that also hits all nonland permanents, not just creatures. This is an especially good board wipe in multiplayer formats since there are more permanents on the field more quickly.

#7. Crisis of Conscience

Crisis of Conscience is pretty unique board wipe all things considered. It can exclusive hate on tokens, or nontokens. More often than not, you'll be hitting nontokens, and that's even better than normal if you're the one playing the token deck!

#6. Cloud's Limit Break

I love Cloud's Limit Break as a flexible mix of removal spell and wrath effect. It can be expensive if you pay the full , but the first and second mode are very good and you can get a lot of card advantage this way, at instant speed no less.

#5. Cleansing Nova

The versatility that Cleansing Nova allows players is great, and I always see this as a good option to include for only 5 mana. If you like to play at stores and not just with a personal playgroup, it’s great to have a card that can handle most types of permanents based on the situation you’re facing.

#4. Tragic Arrogance

I can't sing the praises of Tragic Arrogance enough in Commander. It whittles nearly all resources down to just one of most permanent types, and you have complete control over what gets left over. In other words, you keep your best cards and your opponents keep their worst. This is an exceptional answer to decks built around a single permanent type (think superfriends, enchantress, etc.), but trims the boardstate in a way that doesn't feel as miserable as Farewell.

#3. Vanquish the Horde

Vanquish the Horde was a great addition to the board wipe realm. It’s basically white’s version of Blasphemous Act, and it’s great that it can cost so little if the board gets big enough.

I definitely think this should be a white Commander staple.

#2. Sunfall

We entered into a new age of white wraths with Sunfall and Farewell. When people say “indestructible and hexproof aren't as good as they used to be,” they're referring to these incredibly powerful exile-based sweepers, among other effects in other colors. Sunfall not only clears all creatures that aren't literally phased out, but also leaves behind a massive Incubator token too. That makes this the ultimate control card: It catches up from behind and leaves a wincon on the battlefield.

#1. Farewell

Options are always great on a card because you know you can put it to good use in at least one way.

Farewell can be very effective in removing your opponent’s best cards while getting to hold onto your own if you have different strategies. This is also one of the few board wipes that also has graveyard hate attached.

Wrap Up

Wrath of God (Secret Lair) | Illustration by Kevin Gnutzmans

I hope you now have a good idea of which board wipes you want to include in your next deck. All of these cards are good in some way and you might even find one lower down the list to be more helpful for your specific needs, so don’t feel like you need to grab from just the top 10.

What board wipes are your favorites? Do you have another color you prefer board wipes from? Let me know in the comments below or on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Hope you now have all the tools to wipe out the competition, and I’ll see you in the next one!