Board wipe
| Board Wipe | |
|---|---|
| Mechanic | |
| Introduced | Alpha |
| Last used | Evergreen |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
A board wipe, also known as a board sweep or wrath, is an instant or sorcery spell that destroys or exiles all permanents of a certain type.[1] Board wipes are most often found in white, but exist in other colors as well. With a few exceptions, board wipes are usually printed with a rarity of rare. Board wipes have existed since Alpha with Wrath of God and Armageddon. Wrath of God is the name giver of the Wrath and appeared in every core set until Tenth Edition.[2].[3]
Description
A "wrath" is the most specific form of a board wipe. It can be defined as the symmetric removal of most, if not all, creatures in play by any spell or ability, as the effect of an instant or sorcery spell, an activated ability, or a triggered ability, or, loosely, any card that can produce such an effect.[4][5]
The precise board impact of a Wrath card is dependent on the current board state; but, as a general rule, Wrath effects are extremely powerful and a form of card advantage, as such, nearly all of them carry a rarity of rare.
No definitive definition of a Wrath effect exists; but, it is commonly understood that cards such as Wildfire and Destructive Force and cards that do damage to all, or a subset of all, creatures such as Earthquake, Hurricane, and Pyroclasm, regardless of the amount of damage dealt, are not Wrath effects per se due to the additional consideration of creatures' toughnesses and state-based actions; instead, such cards have "Wrath-like" effects.
Other than this, there are no restrictions on how Wrath effects remove creatures from play. Wrath effects have included the destruction of creatures without regeneration, removal from the game, and returning creatures and permanents to their owners' hands. Strictly speaking, considering the effect of the original Wrath of God, a Wrath effect is any effect that destroys all, or most, creatures, with or without allowing for regeneration.
Colors such as white and blue have variations on the Wrath effect. One such is non-destructive removal from play, by exiling or moving creature cards to another zone, such as the hand or the library.[6]
Black, interestingly and exclusively, has a variation upon the Wrath-like effect whereby it gives all, or a subset of all, creatures -m/-n (where m and n are constants or variables that are defined by the card). This, too, takes into consideration creatures' toughness and state-based effects and is thus a Wrath-like effect. An equivalent exclusive to red is dealing damage to each creature, such as Blasphemous Act.
Notable examples of boardwipes
From the Vault: Annihilation features board wipes.
References
- ↑ Magic Arcana (June 27, 2007). "Destroying it All". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Reid Duke (June 22, 2015). "Board Sweepers". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Trick Jarrett (March 25, 2014). "Wraths of God". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ The Ferrett (April 15, 2008). "The Death of Wrath". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Steve Sunu (July 22, 2020). "Three Small Words, One Great Effect". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mike Flores (April 19, 2012). "End of the Line". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.