The Best New Removal and Board Wipes of 2026… So Far

In the quest to maximize the efficiency and potency of our Commander decks, we’re always on the lookout for new removal options that offer the best bang for our buck. 2026 has been a great year for removal and board wipes – here are ten of the best that I can’t stop playing. 

THE BEST NEW REMOVAL AND WRATHS OF 2026 SO FAR

Looking through what we’ve been offered so far this year, we’re actually eating pretty good. There are at least another ten good options worth considering that didn’t make the cut here, from The Coming of Galactus to Kindred Judgment. Before I get into the picks proper, two honorable mentions. Two Sphinx spells, as it happens. 

With the coming popularity of The Ur-Sphinx, Archive Arbiter is an uncommon that’ll make it into a bunch of decks just for having the ability to snipe Planeswalkers, Artifacts and Enchantments. Alongside Chomping Changeling – a Sphinx-Turtle-Brushwagg-Human-Soldier-etc – they make up two new removal creatures that are strong options for typal decks.

THE BEST NEW SINGLE TARGET REMOVAL OF THE YEAR SO FAR

First up, let’s talk single target removal. These are the removal spells that I’ve been loving lately. 

5. FIGHT FOR THE THRONE

Fight for the Throne is one of the best fight spells in green nowadays, as it draws you a card most of the time. That’s above rate for most fight spells at two mana, and I want to make a note here that if you’re playing Hexhaven Invigorator, you absolutely want to be casting more fight spells and less punch spells in order to cheat your huge tracts of land in to play.

4. SURGICAL PRECISION

This new Pauper hopeful seems tailor-made for the new-school Lifegain Commanders we’ve seen recently. Sorcery speed removal is worth it when it makes you a Black Lotus in Kwia Vigorbloom, or draws you a card in Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Council. It’s worth it in Lathiel to increase counter production on End Step. Above all, you can cycle this card away and get the lifegain trigger anyways.

3. SHREDDER’S TECHNIQUE

Black has gotten quite good at destroying Enchantments, and it seems like the days of Feeding the Swarm and losing a chunk of life are behind us. You now lose a flat 2 life if you get rid of an enchantment, and nothing for getting rid of a creature – with the added bonus of having Sneak reduce the mana cost and rebuy you an EtB eventually. Alongside Withering Torment, mono-black is doing pretty well in the face of enchantments. 

2. MJÖLNIR, HAMMER OF THOR

Mjölnir is an absolute house. What doesn’t it do? It enters and removes something. It doubles your damage. You can cycle it for a Pyroclasm. What’s not to love here? While it’s most at home in equipment decks, it’s just a great card in general. I really like it in decks that care about Commander damage, or have Commanders that ping out damage – like Nico Minoru, Runaway. 

1. ERODE

Erode is one of my favorite cards of the year, never mind favorite removal spells. It’s a smashing one mana way to nix a creature or planeswalker, but more than that, it’s a ramp spell for any white deck that wants to do tokens or reanimator things. Much like Path to Exile and Settle the Wreckage, I view this as a modal removal/ramp spell – and it’s performing admirably. 

THE BEST BOARD WIPES OF THE YEAR SO FAR

5. AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED

Seeing play everywhere from Boros Ponza in Modern to Standard brews too, Avengers Disassembled is a fantastic three mana three damage wrath. Having access to a way to remove a problem land is always good, and besides running a Ghost Quarter or whatever in the mana base, getting some land destruction on your spells is the best way to do it. Blow up that Nykthos. Enjoy it. 

4. THE ECHOVERSE FULCRUM

I love that there’s now a definitive “why not just run X” when players aren’t sure about what wrath to run in their decks. The Echoverse Fulcrum is good not just because it loots on entry and later wraths, but specifically because it wraths later. A massive rattlesnake like this can really slow down a game when deployed in the early to mid-stages. 

3. WITHERING CURSE

Incidental lifegain is not hard to come by, and so Withering Curse is quite frequently a three mana Day of Judgment, which is kinda great. The cheapest wraths are the best wraths is a good heuristic to live by, and it’s why Blasphemous Act, Toxic Deluge and Vanquish the Horde see so much play. At worst, you have a turn three or four way to sweep away setup creatures, or a cheap way to brush off token swarms.

2. THE LAST RONIN

The TMNT set is something of a blip on the radar for a lot of Magic players, and one that has quickly faded into the rearview mirror. While the set might not have been the most enjoyable from a Vorthos point of view, some cards in it are really good. The Last Ronin is a saga that starts by wrathing the board. It then gets you a creature from your yard back into play and then gives a hefty life swing and combat buff the following turn. All of these are strong effects, and in unison, make for an underplayed option. 

1. SOUL IMMOLATION

This gnarly wrath might be one of my other favorite cards of the year. As long as you’re playing a deck with pretty chunky creatures – or a lot of +1/+1 counters – this wrath can do serious damage to everyone else’s board. You only lose your smallest creature – let me reiterate that – you blight onto your smallest creature or the one you don’t care about losing.

What takes this to the next level is the outgoing burn damage to face, and the lack of any damage to the rest of your board. Love it.

END STEP

2026 has been a great year for removal and board wipes, and the year still isn’t quite done. We have one more set around the corner with the Star Trek expansion coming very soon. I’ve already espied one good option from the set, and I wonder what else we’ll end up with.

Any strong options you’ve loved from this year? Sound off in the comments.