Land Destruction is one of the most useful types of spells in the game; if your enemy doesn’t have land on the battlefield, they’re practically helpless.
Read on below and explore these 13 ways to destroy target land!
Armageddon
The first card on our list is one of the most brutal mass land destruction spells ever created by Wizards of the Coast. If you’ve ever played magic, you’d already know we’re talking about Armageddon.
Every land in play is destroyed when you cast this spell. Therefore the best strategy is to hold it until you’ve gathered the force needed for a major attack.
Once you have enough creatures to take down the opponent, demolish all lands, and then attack with everything!
Armageddon is a favorite card to many collectors, including us! That said, keep in mind that it doesn’t just get rid of the opponent’s lands, it also destroys your own lands as well.
Type: Sorcery
Color: White
CMC: 4
Rarity: Uncommon
Molten Rain
The second card on our list is another of the most brutal spells in the game, and it casts with instant speed.
This one not only destroys a target land but it also deals 2 damage to a player if the land that’s destroyed is a nonbasic land.
All land destruction decks should have a copy of Molten Rain among the other staple land destructing cards.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 3
Rarity: Common
Destroy the Evidence
The third land destruction spell on our list is a black spell of common status. It requires five mana to cast.
The great card advantage to this one is that the opponent also has to mill cards out of their deck and into their graveyard until they reach a land card.
In other words, when you play this card, the enemy already knows of the impending disaster.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Black
CMC: 5
Rarity: Common
Pillage
Pillage is one of the most popular land destruction cards of all time. It’s a Sorcery, so it plays at instant speed as well.
The downside is that after you use Pillage for its land destruction ability, it can’t be regenerated – no matter what.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 3
Rarity: Uncommon
Ruination
Ruination is one of the great vintage spell cards that specialize in mass land destruction. It’s one of the most useful land destruction cards for under a five mana casting cost.
When you cast it? All the lands that aren’t basic in the game are destroyed.
Most land destruction cast spells cost far more than four lands to play. The downside is that it doesn’t affect basic lands, so you’ll need to pack something else in your deck for that feat.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 4
Rarity: Common
Helldozer
Another of the most popular modern land destruction cards in the game, especially with the new generation of Commander players, is none other than Helldozer.
This big guy costs six lands to cast, but is well worth it: he comes onto the board with 6 power and 5 toughness.
Plus, you get to remove more target lands each time you pay three mana and tap the card.
The kicker? If you destroyed nonbasic lands, you may untap the card instantly and do it all over again if you have another three mana.
Type: Creature
Color: Black
CMC: 6
Rarity: Rare
Stone Rain
Stone Rain is one of the original land destruction spells, period. It’s short and sweet: pay three mana and destroy target land.
Sure, it’s a bit outdated, and therefore a bit expensive… but, it does allow you to demolish ANY target land you desire.
When it comes to collecting cards, in general, not just for gameplay, this is one of the most important land destruction cards to have in your collection.
If the card cost one mana less, it would be one of the best land destruction spells ever.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 3
Rarity: Common
Strip Mine
There are no zero mana land destruction spells, this card comes as close as it gets.
Strip Mine is a colorless land that allows you to add mana to your pool each turn. It also allows you to tap it, sacrifice it, and remove a target land from the game.
In land destruction decks, this card is an absolute gold mine. There are very few cards that grant you mana as well as a land destruction ability.
If you plan on packing one or two lands into your deck as wildcards for sacrificing, make them Strip mine! Destroying lands is real power in war, but having plenty of mana yourself is equally important.
Type: Land
Color: Colorless
CMC: 0
Rarity: Uncommon
Seismic Spike
Seismic Spike is a red spell that enables you to destroy a single target land. When you play this land destruction ability, you may add two mana back into your mana pool.
The card costs two mana, colorless, and two red lands, to bring into play.
When you barely have the mana but need to simply destroy expensive creatures the opponent’s casted, Seismic Spike is the way to go as it will produce mana for you after you destroy the said creature.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 4
Rarity: Common
Rolling Terrain
The next card is another classic: Rolling Terrain, a common red Sorcery card.
When you play it, you demolish a land of your choice plus deal damage to the land’s controller equal to the number of land cards the player has in their graveyard.
When the opponent begins declaring war and casting stuff like Orcish Settlers, Fulminator Mage, and Molten Pinnacle it’s time to strike back with a land destruction strategy and reverse the impending disaster.
Rolling Terrain is one of the cards you don’t just play the minute you pick it up. You wait, even if you have to sacrifice other spells in order to hang onto it until the time is right.
The more lands that end up in your “friends” graveyards before you play this spell, the better!
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 4
Rarity: Common
Consuming Sinkhole
The Consuming Sinkhole is an interesting card for land destruction decks. It doesn’t target normal lands, or nonbasic lands either.
Rather, the card allows you to choose from exiling a specific land creature or dealing four damage to a player.
Consuming Sinkhole is one of the only cards in the MTG world that allows you to exile land-type creatures.
Of course, it’s a hard decision to choose whether to play a damage spell or exile something!
Type: Instant
Color: Red
CMC: 4
Rarity: Common
Jokulhaups
This vintage Magic card has one of the most impressive land destruction abilities in all of Magic’s history: bury all artifacts, lands, and creatures.
Yes, you really did read that correctly. This card destroys not just all lands, but creatures and Artifacts as well! It’s mind-blowing, isn’t it? In the whole world of MTG, very few cards(even of Mythic Rare status) come close to producing the hell this one unleashes.
You know the war is almost over when you draw this card. It simply offers too much control over the opponent.
The obvious drawback is that it also buries your own lands as well!
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 6
Rarity: Uncommon
Pain and Suffering
Pain and Suffering are two cards in one, a black and red set of Sorceries. Pain lets you force a discard from an opponent, for one mana.
Suffering offers a basic land destruction ability, for a bit more mana: remove one target land from the game.
The downside to this double-card is that you can only pick one of the Magic spells.
That said, if you’re playing land destruction decks, Suffering is the way to go as demolishes lands of any sort with ease.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Black and Red
CMC: 1 + 4
Rarity: Uncommon
Ravages of War
Aside from Armageddon, no card is more destructive towards ALL lands than Ravages of War.
This white card costs just four mana and has the ability to “Destroy all Lands”.
Mono white decks with Ravages of War and Armageddon both are practically undefeated in their ability to clear land from the board.
Type: Sorcery
Color: White
CMC: 4
Rarity: Rare
Raze
Raze is a red spell with a one mana casting cost. In addition, you need to sacrifice a land card as well.
The reward? You may remove anyone land from the game that you desire.
Like many of the older land destruction-type spells in MTG, Raze is a bit basic. That said, the more than low price to bring it into play makes it well worth using.
Type: Sorcery
Color: Red
CMC: 6
Rarity: Uncommon
FAQs About Land DestructionAre Land Destruction Decks Worth it?
If you’re into land destruction abilities, crafting an entire deck around the ability is well worth the time. With the best land destruction cards in the game, like Armageddon and Molten Rain, these decks allow you to control what the opponent can and can’t afford mana-wise, right from the draw. There is little hope to win when you can’t keep enough mana on the board to pay for anything!
What are the Top Cards for Destruction Decks?
Depending on your playing style, and how you like to arrange your decks, the top cards for land destruction decks include Armageddon, Helldozer, Destroy the Evidence, Ruination, Stone Rain, and Pillage. That said, colorless, Artifact, and nonbasic lands with protection are also among the best cards to play in land destruction decks as they can’t be destroyed if an opponent is playing with a similar style and strategy.
What Types of Cards Destroy Lands?
Just about every type of card made for playing MTG has a few versions that feature land destruction abilities; creatures, artifacts, enchantments, sorceries, instants, and even lands are capable to destroy lands. That said, aside from red, white, and black sorceries, these types of spells are somewhat rare… cards you only come across once in a blue moon.
Are Colorless, Artifact, and Nonbasic Lands Destructible?
All lands in the game may be destroyed by one sort of spell or another. If a land destruction spell doesn’t clearly state that it only affects certain types of land(such as Artifact or nonbasic) its land destruction power works on every land type. Unlike indestructible creatures, there are very few lands that are completely indestructible. Wizards of the Coast and the MTG team really have made things as fair as possible in this sense.