Weekly Recs - 08/05/24
Get these powerful staples before they creep back up in price!
Removal on the cheap!
Weekly Recs
Highlighting five cards that could be worth picking up. (Note: These are sent to subscribers first and then posted a week later)
Each color has its go to, single target removal spells.
Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, and Generous Gift in white.
Go for the Throat, Feed the Swarm, and whatever the newest variant of Murder is in black.
Nature's Claim, Naturalize and Beast Within in Green.
Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, and Resculpt in blue.
Chaos Warp and Lightning Bolt in red.
This week I want to present some potential new cards to add alongside those.
Tear Asunder
1 year ago - $2.03
Today: $1.32
4 mana to exile anything is a pretty good rate. Generous Gift destroys a nonland permanent for 3 mana, so one more to exile with Tear Asunder is definitely worth looking into. The flexibility of this spell is what makes it so good, because you get to decide how much mana to pour into it based on your situation. It is just a solid, golgari removal spell and can easily find a home in any deck with those colors.
Types of decks to put it in
- Any golgari deck
Collective Resistance
1 year ago - N/A
Today: $0.28
Types of decks to put it in
- Mono green
- Decks where you need your spells to have multiple purposes
Collective Resistance is a more powerful Naturalize combined with Tyvar's Stand. Both are commonly played cards, with the former being a great removal spell and the later seeing play because it protects a high value creature from removal. The modality on this spell is insane as you get to choose how many of these effects you want to use. For example, for 2 mana, you can destroy an artifact, add an additional mana to destroy an enchantment, or spend 4 mana to do both of those AND give your commander hexproof and indestructible. I am a huge fan of the Confluence spells, the Charms, the Commands, and the Spree spells because of their modality. The newest entry into the Escalate spells is a banger, so pick this one up.
Static Prison
1 year ago - N/A
Today: $0.50
Static Prison essentially reads "exile any nonland card for 3 turns." Sure, your opponent will get it back, but at the point at which you need to cast this, three turns means you either stop them from winning or it gives you the chance to win. I would not worry about the energy clause on this card. Plus, if you flicker it, you can just re-target the permanent and continually keep it exiled.
Types of decks to put it in
- Energy
- Blink/flicker
Cyber Conversion
1 year ago - N/A
Today: $2.35
Did blue need another amazing creature removal spell? Not really, but hey here we are. Cyber Conversion can often be better than a straight up destroy spell because it turns the creature face down, making it lose all of its abilities. This negates any potential graveyard reanimation your opponent may have because their facedown commander is still on the field.
It is a little pricey, compared to the rest of the cards on this list, because it has only been printed once in the limited run Dr. Who commander deck set, which is why it is worth picking up a copy now.
Types of decks to put it in
- Mono blue or two colored spellslinger
Ghostfire Slice
1 year ago - N/A
Today: $0.14
What is typical of non-red removal spells is that they completely get rid of the target. Chaos Warp is the only real corollary to these other spells. I want to propose testing out Ghostfire Slice in your decks as a more ubiquitous form of creature removal. On EDHREC, of the top 50 commanders, 35 can be removed with 4 damage, whereas only 16 can be removed with 3 damage from Lightning Bolt. I am starting to replace Lightning Bolt with Ghostfire Slice, because in commander, most commanders are multicolored, meaning this spell will cost just 1 mana most of the time. 1 mana to have a chance at removing 70% of commanders? Seems pretty good to me.
Types of decks to put it in
- Mono red decks, specifically those that are less aggro focused
End step
The theme this week was cheap removal! While it is likely most efficient to play the standard suite of removal spells in your decks, it can be fun to branch out and see what else WOTC is giving us. I truly believe that all of these honestly have a good case to nudge out some existing removal spells in your decks as they are that good. Especially Collective Resistance and Tear Asunder due to their modality. Ghostfire Slice is a better Lightning Bolt, Cyber Conversion is another fantastic blue creature removal we did not know we needed and Static Prison has "flicker me" tattooed on its forehead. Try these out in your decks and see how they perform!