You may be wondering, what are the best black board wipes MTG has ever printed? Believe it or not, there have been tons of black board wipes in MTG throughout the years. As with all cards, some of these black board wipes much better than others. But, which of the MTG black board wipes stand out from the rest?
In terms of ranking all the MTG black board wipes, Damnation is the best black board wipe ever printed. Thankfully, there are many other top tier black board wipes MTG has created in addition to Damnation. Follow along as we identify the best black board wipes and rank them. There is even a little bonus section at the end for a few budget MTG black board wipes!
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The Best MTG Black Board Wipes Ranked
There are many, many black board wipes MTG has printed. Some of these board wipes are better than others. This ranking has identified the best of the best and organized them into three different rankings. Up first are the overall best black board wipes MTG has to offer. Following that are some very good options if you are running tribal decks. Lastly, there are a few really good black board wipes for budget players.
The Overall Best Black Board Wipes
Here are the overall best MTG black board wipes. As you might expect, the top 3 are incredibly powerful, with a price tag to match. If you are looking for a way to eliminate creatures from the battlefield, this list has got you covered. Starting things off with Damnation, the best black board wipe:
1. Damnation
Hands down, the best of all the black board wipes MTG has ever printed is Damnation. This is quite literally the black version of Wrath of God. For just 2 black and 2 generic, you get a sorcery that does the following:
- Destroy all creatures.
- They can’t be regenerated.
The reason that Damnation is so good (plus a bit pricey!), and takes the top spot on the MTG black board wipes rankings is because this is an extremely cheap, no downsides effect for black. Usually your black board wipes will cost more mana to cast, require hoops or additional costs to be paid, or both. Damnation is just a flat out board wipe with no downsides for 4 total mana.
2. Toxic Deluge
Another one of the best MTG black board wipes is Toxic Deluge. Toxic Deluge requires you to pay life in order to execute it, so the more life you have, the better this card is. Casting cost wise, this is the least expensive of the MTG black board wipes, coming in at just 1 black and 2 generic. It is a sorcery that states:
- As an additional cost to cast Toxic Deluge, pay X life.
- All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn.
In formats where you starting life total is more than 20, say Commander, this card can be an all-star. Toxic Deluge gets around indestructible since its does not deal damage or destroy, but rather gives all creatures -X/-X. Since it only costs 3 total mana, this can be cast at nearly any point in a game. It is a very strong card, and one of my favorites.
3. The Meathook Massacre
While not the absolute best, The Meathook Massacre is still one of the most powerful (and expensive!) black board wipes MTG has created. On a side-note, it is also my favorite black board wipes for many reasons. The artwork is phenomenal, it is a noncreature permanent that can potentially be recurred and it gives you additional benefits even after the board wipe! The Meathook Massacre is a legendary enchantment that costs 2 black and X colorless with the following abilities:
- When The Meathook Massacre enters the battlefield, each creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
- Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
- Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, you gain 1 life.
While The Meathook Massacre is not nearly as mana-efficient as Toxic Deluge or even Damnation, it has the useful abilities to drain your opponents and give you life. In an Aristocrats Commander Deck, for example, this board wipe can mean certain doom for your opponents! There have been many times where I will just play this for 2 black mana, making X = 0, just so it is on the battlefield. I am able to rack up on its triggered abilities when creatures do end up dying in later turns.
4. Blood Money
Coming in as number four on the best MTG black board wipes list is easily Blood Money. Blood Money is basically a ramp spell merged into a board wipe because for each creature destroyed by it, you get to create a tapped treasure token. For a hefty 2 black and 5 generic mana, you get a sorcery that does the following:
- Destroy all creatures. For each nontoken creature destroyed this way, you create a tapped Treasure token.
One thing to be careful of and remember, the treasure tokens do enter the battlefield tapped, unfortunately. I guess if they entered untapped, this card would be waaaay too overpowered; ya know, OP, as the youngins says. In all seriousness, Blood Money essentially pays for itself, albeit a turn later. If you can stay alive until your next turn when all the treasure tokens it creates untap, you will be in full control and should have no problems closing out the game.
5. In Garruk’s Wake
Another one of the best black board wipes MTG has printed is the card In Garruk’s Wake. This is a pretty inexpensive black board wipe, monetarily speaking, that is a completely one-sided effect. If you can muster up 9 total mana and pull this off, all of your creatures and Planeswalkers remain intact while your opponents’ going bye-bye. As mentioned, for 2 black and 7 colorless, this sorcery reads as:
- Destroy all creatures you don’t control and all planeswalkers you don’t control.
On a side note, and just like The Meathook Massacre, the promo version of In Garruk’s Wake (see photo) has the BEST artwork ever, in my opinion. Garruk looks like a freakin’ horror film serial killer standing in the swampland all menacing with his giant axe. By the slimmest of margins, it beats The Meathook Massacre for best artwork in my mind.
I have In Garruk’s Wake ranked higher than Plague Wind because unlike Plague Wind, this hits opponents’ Planeswalkers too! If you anticipate playing against any sort of Planeswalker deck, I would highly recommend including a copy of this card in your deck(s) with black in them. Even if you don’t anticipate facing Planeswalkers, it doesn’t hurt to have the extra insurance.
6. Plague Wind
Plague Wind is another one of the MTG black board wipes that doesn’t hit your creatures. It is an extremely powerful card that has one sided effect with a mana cost to reflect that. It is a sorcery that costs 2 black and 7 generic that reads:
- Destroy all creatures you don’t control.
- They can’t be regenerated.
As is the case with In Garruk’s Wake, if you’re playing a mono black deck that relies on combat damage, Plague Wind is almost certainly a must include. Casting this could outright win you the game, if you have enough power on the battlefield. At worst, it resets everyone except you, and at best, it will create a huge momentum swing.
7. Decree of Pain
The number 7 spot on the best black board wipes MTG has printed belongs to Decree of Pain. This card is all about drawing cards and killing creatures. Decree of Pain is a 2 black and 6 generic mana sorcery that also has a nifty cycling ability, should you chose to use it. The card reads as:
- Destroy all creatures. They can’t be regenerated.
- Draw a card for each creature destroyed this way.
- Cycling 2 black and 3 generic
- When you cycle Decree of Pain, all creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.
Whether you hard cast Decree of Pain, or cycle it, you will be drawing cards. If you can pair this with a Thought Vessel or a Reliquary Tower, you could be looking at 10+ cards in your hand with an empty battlefield! This is a very expensive card to cast, but the cost is well worth it if you’re able to draw 5 or more cards in addition to clearing the board.
A Couple of Tribal Black Board Wipes MTG has Printed
Now that we have identified the overall best MTG black board wipes, let’s get into some tribal support. The following black board wipes will be very useful in you’re playing a specific creature type. With these, you can potentially create a one-sided-effect by eliminating all of your opponents’ creatures while leaving yours intact.
1. Crux of Fate
Probably the best of all the tribal black board wipes MTG has created is Crux of Fate. This is a 2 black and 3 colorless sorcery that gives you the option to:
- Choose one –
- Destroy all Dragon creatures.
- Destroy all non-Dragon creatures.
What makes Crux of Fate so good is its relatively cheap cost to cast. As you may have noticed, black board wipes in MTG are usually expensive to cast (aside from Damnation – which is why it is ranked #1 overall) or require you to jump through hoops.
Even if you are not playing a Dragon tribal deck, this is still a very good inclusion. Dragons are very popular, and there is a good chance you will be facing someone who is playing Dragons. It gets infinitely better if you are the one playing a Dragon tribal deck. Then Crux of Fate becomes a one-sided board wipe, favoring you and your dragons. Hopefully there aren’t many Dragons that your opponents’ control.
2. Kindred Dominance
Another one of the great tribal black board wipes MTG has printed is Kindred Dominance. This card is similar to Crux of Fate with the exception that you get to pick the creature type, rather being locked in to ‘Dragons’. With that freedom comes a price; 2 extra mana to cast. Kindred Dominance is a sorcery that costs 2 black and 5 generic that reads:
- Choose a creature type. Destroy all creatures that aren’t of the chosen type.
If you have a lot of synergies in your deck revolving around a specific creature type, this is the perfect black board wipe to include in your deck. You can turn this into a one-sided-effect by saving your creatures of the chosen type while eliminating all other creatures. Just like Crux of Fate, this can easily be game ender.
3. Liliana, Death’s Majesty
If you have a Zombie deck, the next couple of tribal MTG black board wipes are just for you. First up is Liliana, Death’s Majesty. This is a Planeswalker who will generate you Zombie tokens and eventually, with her ultimate ability, wipe all non-zombies off the board. Coming in at 2 black and 3 generic, Liliana, Death’s Majesty has the following abilities:
- +1: Create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token. Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.
- -3: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature is a black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types.
- -7: Destroy all non-Zombie creatures.
The biggest thing to remember about Liliana, Death’s Majesty is that you will need her to stick around for a little while in order to pull off the board wipe. You will need to be prepared to defend her as well because she will become a huge magnet for any sort of removal because your opponents will not want you wiping their boards and will do anything possible to bring down her loyalty.
4. Zombie Apocalypse
Another one of the Zombie tribal black board wipes MTG has given us is Zombie Apocalypse. Though, this isn’t a ‘full’ board wipe. The biggest appeal with this card is that you can reanimate all of your Zombies with the added effect of destroying all Humans. Zombie Apocalypse is a 3 black and 3 generic sorcery that reads:
- Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped
- Then destroy all Humans
Zombie Apocalypse should really be included in any sort of Zombie deck. If someone else has wiped the board recently, you should have a few Zombie creatures in your graveyard that this will just bring back for you.
Bonus: MTG Black Board Wipes for Budget
In addition to a few of the black board wipes mentioned above, specifically In Garruk’s Wake, and Decree of Pain, there are some really good budget black board wipes, too. For a card to fall under the ‘budget’ umbrella, my criteria is the cost has to be $1 or less. With that being said, here are some really good black board wipes MTG has printed that fall within that budget umbrella:
1. Deadly Tempest
Deadly Tempest is one of the best budget black board wipes MTG has created. Casting it could very well end the game for one or more of your opponents due to its tacked on life loss ability. Deadly Tempest is a sorcery that costs 2 black and 4 generic that reads:
- Destroy all creatures.
- Each player loses life equal to the number of creatures they controlled that were destroyed this way.
The ideal scenario for casting Deadly Tempest is during the late game when life totals are low and the battlefield is clogged up with loads of creatures. Just make sure you have enough life to survive since it will also destroy your creatures, resulting in your losing life as well.
2. Massacre Girl
I feel like Massacre Girl is on of the budget board wipes MTG has printed that is often forgotten about. If the conditions are right, this card could completely wipe out everyone’s creatures, leaving Massacre Girl as the only creature left on the board. A non-fancy version of Massacre Girl is very inexpensive with massive upside. It is a 4/4 legendary creature that has the following abilities:
- Menace
- When Massacre Girl enters the battlefield, each other creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
- Whenever a creature dies this turn, each creature other than Massacre Girl gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
The ideal scenario when casting Massacre Girl is that there are multiple 1 toughness creatures on the battlefield. Since each one of them will die from the initial -1/-1, you will rack up additional -1/-1 triggers. This will hopefully result in a complete board wipe!
3. Extinction Event
Next on the list of budget MTG black board wipes is Extinction Event. This is sort of a half-measures kind of card. Unless every single creature is odd or even mana cost, you won’t be able to remove everything. One thing that Extinction Event has going for it is that it doesn’t destroy, but rather exiles, which is very nice to see. This is a sorcery that costs 1 black and 3 generic that has the following text:
- Choose odd or even.
- Exile each creature with converted mana cost of the chosen value.
There isn’t a whole to say about this card. Identify the biggest threat on the battlefield and then determine if its casting cost is even or odd. Cast Extinction Event and eliminate that threat, along with any other even/odd creatures and continue on your merry way.
Final Thoughts
Black specializes in creature removal and has no shortages of black board wipes. Within this article, we discussed the overall best black board wipes MTG has printed along with a couple of tribal options and a few budget options as well. If price is of no concern to you, by far the best black wipes are Damnation, Toxic Deluge and The Meathook Massacre.
There are many other black board wipes MTG has printed throughout the years, but these are what I consider to be the best of the best. Do you agree with my rankings of the best MTG black board wipes? What card would you put in these lists? What card would you take out in its place? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you very much for reading and happy deck building!
The Meathook Massacre artwork was done by Chris Seaman from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.
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