Commander: The Best Spot Removals (in all colors!)

Commander players, particularly beginners, often feel as if their deck is still missing something. Sometimes, that is card draw, mana, or, the one that hurts the most: removals.

Have you ever had to deal with a permanent that completely destroyed your game plan, but, even after searching through your entire deck, you couldn't find a way to deal with it? That's what we're talking about. Luckily, considering how many cards are Commander-legal, we have a huge array of spot removals that can help us in these situations.

In this article, we gathered the two best spot removals in each color so you can remove anything you want. Before we go into it, though, let's see how we selected these spells and ranked them.

To rank these removals, we analyzed how much each spell costs, their speed, versatility, and how popular they are in EDHRec (after all, the community is always right!).

We ranked removals that hit more than one target, like Generous Gift, which hits permanents, higher than Return to Nature, for instance.

Each color also has its own restrictions and characteristics; you can see this quite clearly when you look at these removals and how different they are from one another.

At the end of each section, you'll find a link for a full article with the best removals in that color. In these articles, we explored each of them thoroughly and explained why they're the best.

Without further ado, let's see the best spot removals in Commander!

White

Generous Gift

The most versatile white removal, Generous Gift, puts an Elephant in play!

This instant can get rid of any permanent that is in your way or giving your opponent far too much value. For three mana, you can destroy your opponent's Maze's End win condition or a Sheoldred, Whispering One that is disrupting your game plan.

Stroke of Midnight

Similar to Generous Gift, Stroke of Midnight destroys any nonland permanent.

You can't use it to remove an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, but it still hits other problematic permanents, like Rhystic Study.

Whoever controls the permanent you targeted with this spell will get a 1/1 Human token, which will hardly be an issue for you, and doesn't represent any danger as a blocker or attacker.

If you'd like to see more white removals, check out our top 10 best white spot removals for Commander!

Blue

Reality Shift

Many players fear a Blue player when they still have two mana left to play because of Counterspell, but Reality Shift proves there are other hidden dangers in blue decks.

Reality Shift stands out in blue because it is cheap and efficient; its effect exiles a target creature and makes its controller manifest the top card of their library.

See how counters are not the only threat blue has?

Pongify

Who doesn't like an efficient, cheap removal?

Pongify costs only one blue mana and destroys a target creature. That creature's controller then creates a 3/3 Ape token.

There's no reason to not use this removal in your Commander decks.

If you'd like to see more blue removals, check out our top 10 best blue spot removals for Commander!

Black

Deadly Rollick

Spells that are better when your commander is in play are always welcome, and Deadly Rollick's effect is one of the best there is.

You can cast this spot removal for free if you control your commander, and then exile a target creature. And the best of all: it's an instant!

Baleful Mastery

Baleful Mastery definitely earned its spot as one of the top two best black removals.

Firstly, it has an alternative cost that is half the mana you'd usually need to cast it. Secondly, this removal exiles a target planeswalker or creature.

To use this alternative cost, one of your opponents will draw a card - it doesn't even need to be the one that controls whatever you exiled!

If you'd like to see more black removals, check out our top 10 best black spot removals for Commander!

Red

Chaos Warp

What can we use to deal with an Indestructible permanent? The answer is simple: Chaos Warp!

Unlike removals that destroy or exile a target card, Chaos Warp forces its controller to shuffle it back into their deck. Next, they'll reveal the top card in their deck and put it in play if it's a permanent.

This card is truly "chaotic", but it is also very efficient!

Wild Magic Surge

DnD fans know that wild magic is known for being unpredictable; Wild Magic Surge definitely brought this idea to Commander matches.

Just like Chaos Warp this instant makes your opponent reveal cards from the top of their deck until they reveal a permanent that shares a type with the permanent you destroyed.

For instance, if you destroy an enemy Sol Ring, your opponent will reveal cards until they find another artifact and put it in play. Then, they'll shuffle the rest of the cards they revealed into the bottom of their deck.

If you'd like to see more red removals, check out our top 10 best red spot removals for Commander!

Green

Beast Within

When the matter is green removals, Beast Within has a spot in any ranking!

This instant is a classic that can destroy any permanent. In exchange, its controller will get a 3/3 Beast token.

A 3/3 token in exchange for removing something problematic, like a Portal to Phyrexia? That's a good deal!

Archdruid's Charm

This is an interesting spell for any green deck.

You can use Archdruid's Charm as a removal, as it exiles a target artifact or enchantment. However, this spell also includes a few useful abilities that can meet any demand you have as a Commander player, such as:

- Get a land or a creature from your deck;

- Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Then, it will deal damage equal to its power to target creature you don't control. (in certain situations, you can also use this as a removal).

If you'd like to see more green removals, check out our top 10 best green spot removals for Commander!

Besides the articles about the top spot removals in each color, we also covered the top colorless spot removals for your Commander deck and the top multicolored spot removals for your Commander deck.

Before we finish, let's see the best colorless and multicolored spot removals as a bonus!

Colorless

Null Elemental Blast

For one colorless mana , you can counter a multicolored spell or destroy a multicolored permanent.

Colorless decks are much better with Null Elemental Blast!

Multicolored

Utter End

Exiling a permanent definitely hurts, and Orzhov removals are masters at it.

Utter End exiles any nonland target permanent and doesn't give its controller any new resource in exchange (like life or a land). It also doesn't have a drawback for you (like losing life, sacrificing a creature, or similar).

I always learn new, surprising things when I research removals. Many times I end up saying, "wow, I didn't even know this card existed!".

Our goal with this article is to help players who have just begun playing Commander, or who don't have a lot of experience, but want to improve their decks.

We hope this article helps you build your next deck, and that, if it doesn't, the other articles we linked above help you find the answers you need!

What is your favorite removal? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!