Last updated on April 2, 2025
Ezuri's Predation | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov
The color pie in Magic dictates what each different color gets to do in the game. Greenโs wheelhouse is ramp and big creatures, which it excels at compared to other colors. Removal and sweepers? Well, thatโs a different story.
Green comes in last place where board wipes are concerned. After all, it doesnโt make much sense for the โcreature colorโ 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 โgreenโ way.
So what are the best green board wipes in Magic? Letโs dive in and find out!
What Are Green Board Wipes in Magic?
Apex Altisaur (Commander 2019) | Illustration by Simon Dominic
Green board wipes donโt look like your standard run-of-the-mill sweepers. Donโt expect any color-shifted Wrath of God variants on todayโs list. Green sweepers forgo the usual โdestroy all creaturesโ 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.
#22. 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.
#21. 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.
#20. 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.
Itโs more of a combo card for turning your own permanents into threats than it is a way to set your opponents back.
#19. 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 itโs an instant and scales well against bigger threats.
#18. Hurricane
Unlike Windstorm, Hurricane is a sorcery but deals damage to players as well as flying creatures. Itโs 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.
#17. Fade from History
Gifting a single bear to players is rarely an issue when it's a bunch of artifacts or enchantments that cause you problems. Fade from History is a good answer when no amount of Naturalizes will do.
#16. Spinning Wheel Kick
Spinning Wheel Kick is a stretch because it still targets and suffers from the cost a lot more than many of green's board wipes because you need to pay per target. Quite an upscale on your Bite Down and a good way to bite lots of creatures at once.
#15. 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?
#14. 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.
#13. Squall Line
Squall Line is the middle ground between Windstorm and Hurricane. Itโs a full mana more expensive than either one but combines being an instant with the damage-to-player aspect of Hurricane.
#12. Season of Gathering
Season of Gathering is a great card, and as a board wipe, it's flexible even if it only hits two permanent types. The other modes on this spell are good and if you only need to get rid of artifacts or only enchantments, you have enough pawprints to draw a chunk of cards.
#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. Itโs 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 โdestroy all flyersโ formula. Since the sweeper effect is a channel ability, itโs 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. Nyleaโs Intervention
You usually include Nylea's Intervention in decks that care about the land-searching mode, but youโre happy to have access to the sweeper effect when itโs relevant. Having a back-up mode makes this less of a risk to main deck than other similar effects since itโs 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. Itโs 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 weโve 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
Itโs no Damnation, but Apex Altisaur can definitely put a damper on your opponentsโ 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 wonโt ever die from damage, so it can essentially kill every other creature your opponents control.
#2. The Great Aurora
Green sweepers definitely arenโt 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. Ezuriโs Predation
Greenโs 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 opponentsโ creatures.
This isnโt 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. Board wipes give Keen-Eyed Curator lots of trash to sort through.
Wrap Up
The Great Aurora (Magic Origins) | Illustration by Sam Burley
If you came here looking for a longer list of cards then Iโm sorry to disappoint. Green isnโt traditionally known as the sweeper color, so its options in the wrath department are a bit limited. If youโre looking for flying hate or mass artifact/enchantment destruction, greenโs got you covered. Otherwise youโre 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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4 Comments
Cool thank you was looking for things like this. Liking Setessan tactics and was Considering cutting Nyleaโs intervention from a list in brewing but you convinced me to keep it in.
A couple that I also like but didnโt see here, Monstrous Onslaught (real similar to polukronos) Arachnogenesis can be used to take out multiple creatures. And if you have a decent Board state Great Oak Guardian, The 6cc Flash Treefolk can Surprise One sided boardwipe by Untapping all your creatures and giving them all +2 +2 when an opponent swings in.
Nice suggestions, thanks!
Another good option is spinning wheel kick, especially if you have a deathtouch creature to deal the damage with.
That’s a good one. I left it off the list because it can be a big blow-out when your creature gets killed from underneath it, but if you time it right this fits the bill.
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