The 10 Best MTG Green Board Wipes

Green is often regarded as one of the strongest colors in Magic. It excels in ramp, card draw, and powerful creatures, but it still has its weaknesses. When it comes to board wipes, green is the weakest of the five colors.

Green only has a few board wipes. Between the five colors, it has the fewest options available. Perhaps more concerning is that green board wipes also have niche effects. Rather than destroy all creatures, for example, they can destroy all creatures with flying.

There are also multiple options for removing artifacts and enchantments. While these effects can efficient and useful, they’re still narrow because of how focused they are on certain card types.

Just because these board wipes are niche doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever run them. Choosing the right sweepers for your deck and your meta can make a huge difference in your games.

What Types of Green Board Wipes Are There?

There are typically two categories that green board wipes can fall into. Although they’re mixed together in the following list, you might want to run a certain type over another regardless of how they’re ranked.

Board Wipes for Fliers

There are plenty of green options for taking out fliers. Most of these actually function like red board wipes because they deal damage to creatures based on how much mana you spend.

RELATED: The 10 Best MTG Red Board Wipes

Every green deck needs to be able to answer fliers. As a green player myself, I’ve lost plenty of games due to one or two flyers that I simply couldn’t block or find removal for. If this is one of your deck’s biggest weaknesses, you could consider running at least one of these.

Board Wipes for Artifacts and Enchantments

Green also excels at removing artifacts and enchantments. There are plenty of efficient options in this category, but they can also be rather niche. Some board wipes only destroy enchantments, while others only destroy artifacts. Although these can still be devastating effects, there’s also a chance that they won’t have much impact when you draw them.

RELATED: MTG Saga: Everything You Need to Know

When Should You Run Green Board Wipes?

We’ve already gone over how narrow green board wipes can be, but it’s also worth noting that they shore up your weaknesses or devastate certain strategies. So when should you run them?

First, you need to consider your deck. If you’re running an enchantment deck, you probably won’t want to run board wipes that destroy enchantments. A lot of green sweepers are symmetrical, so you need to consider how much they’ll hurt you, as well.

Second, think about your meta. Does your playgroup often run artifact strategies? Or is there someone who always plays their dragon deck? Tailoring your removal for what your opponents play will help you win games. It will also make your interaction more impactful, so you’ll have a bigger presence in each game.

Honorable Mention – Rampage of the Clans

Rampage of the Clans has a lot of points in its favor. It removes artifacts and enchantments, unlike narrower green board wipes, and it does so at instant speed. Four mana is also a good cost for this effect. The only problem is that it replaces those permanents with 3/3 creatures, and that can be a pretty big downside.

You might not think this drawback is all that bad; after all, Beast Within sees a ton of play! Although this is true, Beast Within can remove more permanents than Rampage of the Clans. It’s also going to be used for a single, huge threat, so a 3/3 creature is likely a significant downgrade.

Rampage of the Clans can destroy Ashnod’s Altar and Skullclamp, but you’ll also get treasures. Is giving your opponents half a dozen 3/3s (or more) really worth removing some treasures or utility pieces? Maybe, but there are other sweepers that can get the job done without adding to your opponents’ boards.

Recommended Formats: Commander

The 10 Green Board Wipes

Now that we know what to expect from green board wipes, it’s time to go over the best of the best! I’ve ranked these cards below, but keep in mind that you should be looking for the right fit for your deck.

Unless I’m playing a mono-green deck, I usually rely on sweepers from the other colors in my deck. I think the following cards work best when they’re solving a specific problem with your deck or meta, or taking advantage of something your deck doesn’t do.

#10: Whirlwind

Whirlwind is the most efficient choice for removing fliers. For just four mana, you destroy every flier on the board. If your deck has particular trouble against fliers, or your opponents often have creatures in the sky, this might be worth a slot in your deck.

However, removing flying creatures usually isn’t strong enough to justify running a card. There are plenty of threats Whirlwind can’t handle, and you really want to destroy a lot of creatures with your sweepers. As we’ll see, there are other options for handling fliers that also have secondary effects. These make them playable even when the skies are fairly clear. As a result, Whirlwind only ranks at #10.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#9: Back to Nature

If your meta sees lots of enchantments, Back to Nature could easily be worth running. It’s the cheapest board wipe on the list, and you can cast it at instant speed. These two factors combined mean that you can use most of your mana on your turn, then sweep the board of pesky enchantments whenever you need to.

Of course, this is another niche pick. Enchantments are much less common than artifacts, and plenty of decks run no enchantments at all. On the other hand, most decks have at least some artifacts, such as mana rocks or graveyard hate. Back to Nature can overperform, but you really need to consider how it will do in your meta.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#8: Hurricane

Next up, we have a way to remove fliers that can also knock players out of the game. Hurricane deals damage to both flying creatures and players, so it still has some utility no matter the board state. Since green can generate so much extra mana, it’s not unreasonable for this card to steal you some games. I’ve definitely won games from using random burn effects, and it’s really nice to give your deck some extra reach.

Still, you might have to spend your whole turn on this card to remove every flier. There are plenty of large dragons and demons that you’ll need to pay lots of mana to remove. If you care about X spells or can produce a ton of mana, Hurricane might be worth it.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#7: Squall Line

Squall Line is essentially an improved version of Hurricane. You might have to pay one extra mana, but in return you get to cast it at instant speed. That’s a fair trade-off since instant speed cards give you so many more lines of play. It has the same inefficiency problem as Hurricane (in fact, it’s a bit worse), but it might not take much mana to catch your opponents off-guard.

RELATED: What Is The Stack in MTG and How Does It Work?

Recommended Formats: Commander

#6: Wave of Vitriol

Wave of Vitriol has a powerful effect that can punish optimized decks. Destroying artifacts and enchantments is useful, but what pushes this over the top is its land destruction. There are plenty of non-basic lands in the format, from dual lands to utility pieces, which this card removes. Your opponents can search for basics to replace them, but if they don’t run many basics, you could end up ruining their mana base.

RELATED: MTG Dual Lands: All Your Questions Answered

Of course, land destruction is a big taboo in the format. You should discuss it with your play group before running this effect, but having some ways to punish land-focused decks can be crucial. Wave of Vitriol is also incredibly expensive. Seven mana is a lot for this effect, even if it has a big impact on a game.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#5: Nylea’s Intervention

Nylea’s Intervention is my favorite board wipe for taking out fliers. First, it deals twice X damage instead of just dealing X. This not only makes it more efficient than Hurricane or Squall Line, but it also gives you the same flexibility as those cards.

Second, its alternate mode can be useful all on its own. Usually, cards that search your deck for lands can only get you basics, but Nylea’s Intervention can get you any land. You could get Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth with this card. It could get you the tron lands. Whatever utility land you need, this card can get for you. It’s very possible that you would run this card to search for lands, and only use the board wipe effect when you need it.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#4: Creeping Corrosion

It might surprise you that Creeping Corrosion is so high on the list. After all, some of the other narrow options, like Back to Nature, are much lower.

The difference here is that artifacts are becoming more and more common in EDH games. Plenty of decks run cheap mana rocks, generate treasure tokens, and artifacts like Lightning Greaves can enable some dangerous plays. Creeping Corrosion not only gets rid of these threats, but it can also slow your opponents down by taking away their ramp. Just make sure your ramp isn’t getting blown up, as well.

RELATED: The Best Mana Rocks in Magic: the Gathering

If your meta sees lots of artifacts, this could be a great option. Still, it is narrow, so make sure it’s right for your table.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#3: Bane of Progress

Bane of Progress is a classic sweeper in EDH, and it’s still good today. It’s more expensive than the best board wipes, but it’s still a solid option in green.

Destroying all artifacts and enchantments will impact most board states. Even better, Bane of Progress gets a +1/+1 counter for each permanent it removes. Casting this often means you set your opponents back while giving yourself a solid beater, which is never a bad thing to have lying around.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#2: Fade from History

Fade from History hasn’t even been released as I’m writing this, but I’m sure it’ll leave its mark on EDH. This card is the most efficient sweeper for artifacts and enchantments, and it only has a minor downside.

You’re giving your opponents a 2/2 with this card, but small vanilla creatures often don’t change the outcome of a Commander game. Especially when you compare it to Rampage of the Clans, Fade from History‘s drawback is negligible.

This sweeper removes a wide variety of targets at an efficient mana cost. If you’re worried about these card types, Fade from History is the cleanest answer available.

Recommended Formats: Commander

#1: Ezuri’s Predation

Without a doubt, Ezuri’s Predation is the best green board wipe. It’s the only option green has for non-flying creatures, and it can give you a huge board in the right circumstances. However, it isn’t perfect.

Since your beasts can only kill creatures with four or less toughness, there are lots of threats that Ezuri’s Predation can’t handle. It’s also very expensive at eight mana, so it can be a liability in the early game. Even later on, you might struggle to cast this right when you need to.

Even with these downsides, the ceiling on Ezuri’s Predation is incredibly high. It destroys mana dorks and utility creatures, and it tears token decks to shreds. If you don’t see too many big creatures at your table, Ezuri’s Predation will rip apart your opponents’ boards.

Recommended Formats: Commander

End Step

Green isn’t really known for its board wipes, but it still has plenty of strong options. I hope this article has changed your perspective on green sweepers, or at least given you some new cards to add to your library!