CardsplainWhat is. Removal is any card that gets rid of an opponent's creature, or stops it from mattering. Look for these words and effects:
- "destroy target creature": Bilbo's Deadly Slice, Stir Up Trouble
- "deals N damage to target creature": Pinecone Strike (3), Spew Flame (5), Magnificent End (5), Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern (6)
- "gets -N/-N": Gnashing of Teeth (-5/-5)
- "": Celebrate the Mountain-king (until that leaves the battlefield)
- "": Crude Bent Blade
- your creature deals damage to theirs: Quarrel (only yours deals damage), Troll Negotiations (a fight, so both deal damage)
- locks it down: Enchanted River's Grasp (it taps the creature and removes its counters, and the creature loses its abilities and doesn't untap)
- puts it into the library: Uneasy Partings (its owner chooses top or bottom)
In our simulated drafts, decks averaged six removal spells. Take removal early, and take it over a creature of about the same quality.
Conditions and downsides. Most removal has a catch. Know it before the game starts:
- Crude Bent Blade: the opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice. If they have a 1/1 and a big , they give you the token. It's best when they have one creature, or after you've killed the others. You keep the (+2/+1) either way.
- Stone by Sunlight: only destroys a creature with power 4 or greater. Its other mode protects your own creature for the turn (it gains ).
- Magnificent End: it costs 5 mana normally, but 3 less if the target is . Creatures tap when they attack, so cast it on the opponent's turn after they attack. Creatures with , like Patient Instructor, don't tap to attack.
- Stir Up Trouble: costs one black mana plus an extra cost. You either sacrifice an or a creature, or pay 4 more. A token or an Equipment you no longer need is good to sacrifice.
- Pinecone Strike: its 3 damage kills most early creatures, not the big ones. A creature it kills is exiled instead, so it can't come back. It can also destroy an artifact token (a Treasure, for example), alone or on top of the damage.
- Quarrel: your creature deals damage equal to its power to theirs, and theirs doesn't hit back. You need a creature on the battlefield that's big enough.
- Spew Flame: the half of Smaug, the Great Calamity. It costs 5 mana, so you usually can't cast it before turn 5. Later you can cast the 7-mana flying Dragon from exile.
and . Instants (Pinecone Strike, Bilbo's Deadly Slice, Magnificent End, Stone by Sunlight, Quarrel) can be cast during the opponent's turn, so you can kill an attacker, or wait until the end of their turn to see what they played. Sorceries (Stir Up Trouble, Spew Flame, Gnashing of Teeth) can be cast only on your own turn, when nothing else is happening.