Lost Caverns of Ixalan launch day is approaching, and with it, an entire arsenal of removal spells will be available for Standard and Limited formats. Some removal is only fit for Limited play, whereas other spells are best for Standard. To succeed in both formats, it is vital to distinguish premium removal from the rest.
Removal for Limited
If one thing is certain in Limited, removal is king. No matter the strategy, no matter how lucky or unlucky players get opening a fresh new booster, if they pull at least a couple of decent removal spells, they’ll have a fighting chance of winning. Luckily, Lost Caverns of Ixalan comes with an abundance of removal spells.
Dead Weight
- Mana Cost: B
- Type: Enchantment – Aura
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Enchant creature. Enchanted creature gets -2 / -2
Mana efficient and straightforward, Dead Weight has become a staple in limited play. For only one mana, this aura enchantment will get rid of a great number of “bears” and other small creatures. In the worst-case scenario, it will make opponents’ creatures significantly smaller, hence more manageable.
Cosmium Blast
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Cosmium Blast deals four damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
This instant feels like a combat trick since it can only be cast on an attacking or blocking creature. Nonetheless, Cosmium Blast deals a whopping four damage to a creature, which should be enough to take down just about anything in this set.
Petrify
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Enchantment – Aura
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Enchanted permanent can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be activated.
Petrify is reminiscent of Pacifism, with two significant upgrades. Firstly, Petrify can be enchanted on any permanent, including vehicles. Secondly, not only does it stop permanents from attacking and blocking, but it also prevents them from activating their abilities. This card halts a plethora of permanents of doing just about anything.
Abrade
- Mana Cost: 1R
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Choose one – Abrade deals three damage to target creature. Destroy target artifact.
Originally printed in Hour of Devastation, Abrade is a fantastic reprint for this set. Both options are strong, either bolting down a creature or destroying the opponent’s best artifact. The versatility alone makes this card an early pick.
Eaten by Piranhas
- Mana Cost: 1U
- Type: Enchantment – Aura
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Flash. Enchant creature. Enchanted creature loses all abilities and is a black Skeleton creature with base power and toughness 1/1.
The flash ability really makes this card playable over other options. Flash allows this spell to be played at instant speed, thus allowing for some mischievous combat trickery. Turning an enemy creature into a miniature 1/1 with no abilities makes blocking it, hilariously easy.
Chupacabra Echo
- Mana Cost: 2BB
- Type: Creature – Beast Horror Spirit
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Ability: Fathomless descent – When Chupacabra Echo enters the battlefield, target creature an opponent controls gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of permanent cards in your graveyard.
Although Chupacabra Echo is not strictly considered a removal spell, this horrific beast of Latin American folklore does a fantastic job removing a creature with its enter-the-battlefield effect. Even with only a few permanents in the graveyard, players can put a solid 3/2 on the board while eliminating an enemy creature.
Removal for Standard
A few removal spells from Lost Caverns of Ixalan have the potential to find a slot in established Standard lists such as Esper Control, Golgari Midrange, or Rakdos Sacrifice. Though it will be hard to substitute top-notch removal spells of the likes of Go For The Throat and Cut Down, the following list looks to challenge the hierarchy of premium removal in Standard.
Molten Collapse
- Mana Cost: BR
- Type: Sorcery
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Choose one. If you descended this turn, you may choose both instead. Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Destroy target noncreature, nonland permanent with mana value one or less.
Molten Collapse is a strict upgrade from Dreadbore. Not only does it destroy a target creature or planeswalker, but it can also remove a permanent with a mana value of one or less, as long as it’s not a creature or land. This card will be a perfect addition to Rakdos Sacrifice strategies that can easily activate the descend condition.
Get Lost
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Destroy target creature, enchantment, or planeswalker. Its controller creates two Map tokens.
Get Lost eliminates one out of three of the most important types of permanents on the board. This instant speed removal spell does have one noteworthy downside that rewards opponents with two Map tokens. Donating opponents two Map tokens is not a terrible option if the removed creature would otherwise have taken over the game.
Bitter Triumph
- Mana Cost: 1B
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Ability: As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or pay three life. Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
Being able to destroy Planeswalkers on top of creatures seems to be a trend in this set, as Bitter Triumph is yet another removal spell that allows the player to choose one of the two options. Even though Go For The Throat won’t rotate out of Standard for a while, Bitter Triumph is an excellent addition to black decks looking for more versatility.
Join the Dead
- Mana Cost: 1BB
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Common
- Ability: Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn. Descend 4 – That creature gets -10/-10 until end of turn instead if there are four or more permanent cards in your graveyard.
At first sight, the three mana cost may seem a bit steep, but Join the Dead is, in the current Standard meta, an excellent choice of removal. There is a scarce number of creatures in Standard right now that could survive a -5 / -5 kill spell, let alone -10 / -10.
Lost Caverns of Ixalan is set to release on Nov. 17 this year, with more spoilers expected to come out as we near the launch date.
