MTG Top 10: Land Destruction | Magic: the Gathering | Episode 50

Here are the Land Destruction cards that didn't make the list, but have at least 1 point:
Pillage (PT: 9, GP: 2 = 20)
Dwarven Miner (PT: 7, GP: 1 = 15)
Rancid Earth (PT: 7 = 14)
Detritivore (PT: 2, GP: 8 = 12)
Wildfire (PT: 5 = 10)
Rolling Spoil (PT: 4 = 8)
Jokulhaups (PT: 3 = 6)
Orcish Settlers (PT: 3 = 6)
Dwarven Blastminer (PT: 1, GP: 3 = 5)
Demolish (PT: 2, GP: 1 = 5)
Flowstone Flood (PT: 2 = 4)
Creeping Mold (PT: 1, GP: 1 = 3)
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss (GP: 3 = 3)
Sinkhole (GP: 3 = 3) [definitely a surprisingly low score!]
Decree of Annihilation (PT: 1 = 2)
Helldozer (PT: 1 = 2)
Icequake (PT: 1 = 2)
Reap and Sow (PT: 1 = 2)
Boom // Bust (GP: 1 = 1)
Deus of Calamity (GP: 1 = 1)
Encroaching Wastes (GP: 1 = 1)
Rain of Tears (GP: 1 = 1)
Rain of Thorns (GP: 1 = 1)
Ravages of War (GP: 1 = 1)
Winter’s Grasp (GP: 1 = 1)
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[@voxkine9385]

Alternative title: MTG Top 10: reasons why your friends have hated you for 10 years now...

[@bernhardlangers778]

Wake of destruction, while expensive in terms of mana, was always dear to me. So satisfying to say to the control player "I destroy this island. " "Okay?" "And I also destroy every card with the same name". Got me quite a number of concessions

[@TOTALmtg]

Love me some Land Destruction! It means I have few friends but I love it haha

[@NoBody-ro3xj]

Scouting trek, Genesis wave

[@Thiseffinguyhere]

Yeah. That's why.

[@stalkerstomper6046]

My ALL TIME FAVORITE is Splinter... I pair it with a Liquimetal Coating and exile any and all lands of one type from the opponent's battlefield, graveyard, hand, AND library. It's particularly brutal against mono colored decks. My friend used to run mono blue Merfolk, and I would turn 1 mana dork, turn 2 liquimetal coating, turn 3 bye-bye all of his lands from everywhere. I even used that land that prevents an instant or sorcery from being countered at a cost of just 2 life for the win. The best part was that the Splinter could exile his Aether Vial of need be, so it almost always had value whether I had my Liquimetal or not!

[@Ouijawii]

Stone Rain was so good in RG in early MTG. Forest into Llanowar and Stone Rain on turn 2 meant you would have 3 mana sources while you opponent had 0 if you got to play first. Don't think I ever lost a game when that happened. *Edit* I got to play with Darwin Castle at your move games back in the mid 90's he was a chill dude.

[@castlemanpunk4436]

Raze is one of my favorite land killer. One red for, “sac a land, destroy any land”.

[@God-ch8lq]

Especially when you have a payoff for sacking a land, so it's now a 241

[@user-cn3kp6oj1n]

I had a really fun 30 land/30 spell red and black LD deck featuring Army Ants. It was mainly just a troll deck for matches with my friends lol

[@basicpigeonbee]

you deserve more subs.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@venkelos9]

I'm amazed Sinkhole didn't make this list, as it's the LD card my deck bases most around, and only costs 2 Black to play, but maybe it's because it wasn't red, and several others here are in that deck, too. Very fun video, and thanks for doing it.

[@sylta09]

Sundering titan: "But eventually they turned towards casting different huge monsters" He got banned. Would see lots of play if it wasnt.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

Isn’t it only banned in Commander nowadays?

[@sombertone395]

My first top 4 in a tournament was with a BG land destruction deck with Sinkholes. I'm sad they didn't make the list. It was a small town store so the "Legacy" tournament didn't have top tier decks represented. Good memories. I got to play my favorite pet card, 'Mirri's Guile' and had the greatest match win ever. In the swing game, my opponent had lethal on the board, but was on two life. My top deck? Ice Quake. Unfortunately for him he had decided to play all snow basics for 'coolness'. Oh, the rage was delicious.

[@09Dragonite]

I like Restore Balance, it isn't exactly "Land Destruction", but a friend of mine once brought a Naya Restore Balance deck to our local shop. It was just the Alara Boarderposts in Naya colors, a Greater Gargadon, and Restore Balance. I laughed so hard I cried when he beat the mess out of the shop with it.

[@dustinmccoskey2656]

Remember Reach

[@demilembias2527]

Recovering from being a land destruction player is a long and difficult process, but I'm proud of you for sticking with it

[@malcom91]

Where is sinkhole!! Did not expect that

[@WillisRude]

Gonzalo Orellana Not being playable in any format really hurts its numbers

[@dakotaroysyer4440]

@@WillisRude how is it not playable? Sorry little late to the comment if anything changed dealing with the card

[@runningarctic301]

@@dakotaroysyer4440 glad I'm not the only one watching this way after it came out

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I assume it is because Sinkhole requires 2 black mana to cast. Running that much black mana just for Sinkhole would make the deck less consistent.

[@draxthemsklonst]

Lack of reprints.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

2:45 Sundering Titan and UrzaTron were in Standard together. It was just the Ravager Affinity Standard, so he was good neither in comparison nor in the meta (Affinity played no basic lands). Some Tooth and Nail lists (some of which used Tron to pay 7 of the 9 mana of that card's cost) ran him once the Standard bannings unwarped the format a year later.

[@tefnutofhoney2832]

Helldozers my favorite. Repeatable black land destruction on a stick, that untaps when you destroy nonbasics. Overpriced as a creature, but its a zombie! Reanimate it, or play rooftop storm, or even undead warchiefs. ... okay its not good in most formats. But it feels fun.

[@logatt]

Played avalanche riders in my recurring nightmare deck a whole bunch of years ago. so many good times.

[@xaer0knight]

DINGUS EGG!!! Also Settle the Wreckage and Fall of Thran can be very good.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Dingus Egg doesn't destroy lands, nor does Settle the Wreckage.

[@xaer0knight]

@@NizzahonMagic true. Dingus Egg is fun in a land destruction deck. Is Limited Resources, Balance, Ravages of War, Catastrophe, Ruination, Bramblecrush, are good options? In your opinion, is Rain of Tears or Icequake too slow because its 1BB not 2B? Drain the Well destroys a land and gain 2 life. Choking Sands for 1BB destroys land but does 2 damage if its non basic. Creeping Mold at 2GG gives three options, destroy Land, artifact, or Enchantment. Vidicate 1BW could do it but why target a land? Other fun things with land destruction is bouncing lands back to the top of there deck, slow em down while you do damage, Plow Under, Fallow Earth, countless blue carda with a some type of mill. I did run a Rainbow Land Destruction deck.. Hard to do you have to complement it with bounch and control.

[@sceadumor]

Sad to see that Small Pox didn't even make the HM x'D

[@jc-rj1ox]

or even Sinkhole

[@burnttacoconspiracy5786]

Personally I like the Tomb of Yagmoth + Spreading Algae. You can shut down any land an enemy controls.

[@Akoustikus]

Listening to this video, Avalanche Riders intro made me realize how freaking good pro mtg players are at designing mtg cards. Avalanche Riders, Solemn Simulacrum, Snapcaster Mage, Ranger of Eos, Shadowmage Infiltrator, Dark Confidant, Meddling Mage, etc. Nearly every invitational card saw meta standard play.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Yeah, I actually have a video on the top 10 invitational cards haha

[@Akoustikus]

I'll watch that after i finish top 10 horrors. Great content :)

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@thomaswhite7238]

how about a Top 10 clone cards. or shapeshifters if cloning cards don't fill a full list. I have a full clone deck and it is one of my favorite. thanks for taking the time to read this.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thomas White Both sound interesting!

[@bcurtis208]

Thomas White I've got one too! Should share your deck details I'm new ha ha

[@Dreznin]

I will always love Wake of Destruction, as it was the greatest salt mine ever when my friends and I were still fairly new to the game.

[@jostkohler-kae2997]

Good Job man. Very nicely done. Really enjoyed this and saw so many cards, in all your videos, that ive never seen before. Have to say i didnt play a few years, but didnt expect to miss so freaking much. Only thing I see very diffrent is Sundering Titan has to be top 3. If u cast it early the game is over. My personal favorite is Avalanche Riders played that a lot. If u combine with other land destruction spells u can get ahead so fast.

[@Ouja]

I haven't built a land destruction deck since 99 . It was so evil, my pod stopped playing for years. It was 5 color, used the full set of sac lands, lots of rocks, lots of mana fixing, meekstone, smoke, manabarbs, power Surge, ankh of Mishra, dingus egg, mana web, naked singularity, Armageddon, color specific land hosers, and targeted land destruction. At the time, they were all playing mill decks (which I have always despised, so I decided to give them a taste of their own medicine). Looking back, I would never make such a petty and hateful deck again, yet they still seem to have no problems with those types of decks and think it's hilarious (unless, of course, they're on the receiving end).

[@sagethegreat4680]

I always loved desolation angel she is expensive mana wise but she is basically an Armageddon with 5/5 flying

[@aaronsmith6632]

Yay, I love land destruction!

[@krzysztofkurzaj2755]

Back in Mirage block era Choking Sands was a card played quite a bit. It was a good alternative for Sinkhole but never got reprinted in Standard.

[@zool84]

Years ago I had a green/red/artifacts extended deck of this kind. I never lost a game with that deck and... I just dropped it out of boredom.

[@Bob-vp3dc]

I have a Reaper King deck that can literally blow up every creature and land on a four-player board. I ended up nuking 28 permanents the other night 🤣

[@alexrobkin4629]

Sundering Titan was in standard with the Tron Lands and got played in Tooth and Nail.

[@iangenuine]

Khalia of the vast with Cataclysm. 🔥🔥

[@jackpabich763]

Mwonvuli is my favorite. I understand it got some points, but it is just such a fun card... to have. Not played against.

[@NoBody-ro3xj]

My combo.. Tap all land Armageddon Scouting Trek Genesis Wave Fill mana pool Destroy all lands Search Deck for land put it on top Put those lands on battlefield ( Then use those lands to play whatever you want) ... I use all basic lands but 4 so this works for me.

[@dovahkiin2259]

Parallax Tide followed next turn by tapping your lands, removing four of them and casting Armageddon was usually game over.

[@TheInfiniteMag]

I forget what the card is called but there's a Green version of Stone rain that was printed in the early sets but it's like hundreds of dollars

[@TreeCutterDoug]

I'm blown away that sinkhole didn't make the list, especially seeing as stone rain did.

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

AVALANCHE RIDERS! I played 4-of in a few block and 'standard' black/red recursion deck that also featured Ghitu Fireslinger and Bone Shredder

[@DMofDMs]

What about Sinkhole? 2 for destroy target land is awesome, even if it is BB. I've been tinkering with a G/R land destruction concept for a while, but it's surprisingly hard. The key seems to be to destroy things as fast as possible (Raze, Spirit Guide, Birds of Paradise) without sacrificing your tempo too much (Solfatara, Turf Wound), while also not hyper-focusing on lands so you can deal with other threats/actually win the game (Creeping Mold, Pillage, Argothian Wurm).

[@RagingPoo]

Beast Within #1

[@matthewgagnon9426]

I know it's more of a Land Disruption card, but I love Plow Under. It just feels so dirty to set them back two card draws temporarily.

[@DMofDMs]

It's even better than that; you drop their mana base by 2 AND effectively keep them from drawing twice. I've got a weird green control deck with Plow Under, Stunted Growth, Winter's Grasp and Root Maze. It's as obnoxious as any blue deck, for sure.

[@natebullock6555]

No sinkhole huh awesome card💪

[@subzoronltd7779]

Ld can still work today too, haphazard bombardment and star of extinction are awesome, then they reprinted crucible of worlds as well

[@imJordanBlake]

Field of Ruin is definitely in the next version of this list.

[@izzoxp4016]

1 - Sinkhole? :D

[@ManaDrain315]

Number 1 most powerful is obviously Strip Mine followed closely by Wasteland.

[@pokemaniacqolem6495]

Avalanche Riders I play with Alesha who smiles at death, in EDH. Everyturn 1 land is killed, is a hella nice tempo stop

[@dustinmccoskey2656]

Sinkhole!? What? Didn't even get an honorable (or maybe dishonorable) mention? I'm confused, did I miss something here? Lmao

[@ManaDrain315]

But it only fits in questionable decks like Pox, and Wasteland is so much better in legacy.

[@faunatique5110]

Though the criteria meant destruction, I always considered plow under to be the best type of land disruption while screwing opponents draws. So yummy.

[@kootmcgoot8677]

Look man i know it doesnt say land. But Misguided Rage is crazy amazing, if youre hitting em good they haven't played much so when they choose the permanent to sacrifice they have to choose between their precious land and their one creature. Its a second four of of stone rain and also the closest ive ever felt to being Lucifer.

[@Welverin]

Wasteland seemed like the obvious top card, surprised no one else guessed it.

[@NizzahonMagic]

+Welverin Indeed.

[@P4r4k]

Hey Nizzahon make a top 10 of one drop creatures!

[@jessicagalvin4598]

Do you think Field of Ruin will ever get on this list? It’s a pretty new card.

[@NizzahonMagic]

+Jessica Galvin It might, some people are pretty into it non-rotating formats. Will be interesting to see if it lasts.

[@jamesstaggs4160]

People really hate playing against land destruction. It pisses people off more than mill or an absolute control deck. I've played quite a few casual games with dedicated land destruction decks and I had to stop. The people I was playing against just weren't having any fun.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

I bet if Pauper were getting tournaments a few of those guys just off the list would start ticking up. Sinkhole isn’t legal (wasn’t common on MTGO and would probably be banned in paper) so that wouldn’t go up, but Icequake and a few of the others would.

[@madbr3991]

i got a cool idea from this video thank you hint crucible of worlds

[@Laach826]

Your a demon. That said, I hope you bring suffering and horror upon your friends. :)

[@madbr3991]

well my commander is atraxa so ya... oh and one of my friends plays slivers

[@Nastard2]

1:45 is where the actual list starts

[@nicholasperkins4655]

Before watching I'm guessing Fulminator mage as it is a staple sideboard for many modern decks.

[@venkelos9]

My deck that does Land Destruction isn't good, but Sinkhole is the best thing in it, for killing enemy lands, so I am a bit surprised it wasn't here. Otherwise, very nice.

[@elementaleighteight]

Desolation angel???

[@TheScoed]

I don't see Pox, Smallpox, or Death Cloud yet I think I remember being part of strong decks of their time,

[@matthewhumber4122]

The only land destruction card I have is seismic shift and I did doubt that it would be on this list

[@deathkitty23]

Surprised Sinkhole didn't make the list

[@sirmaterac]

I'm suprised there is no Argothian Wurm or planar chaos Shivan Wumpus but they had 'any player may sacrifice a land' instead 'destroy land'

[@jaredt2590]

Boil was a pain back in the day.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I expected Sinkhole on the list, but then I realized it takes 2 black mana to cast, while most other cards on the list are red, green and white. Running that much black mana just for Sinkhole makes the deck less consistent.

[@Shivan_16]

Where is sinkhole at on this list?? xD

[@racg174]

i’m here after the best land destruction card in standard got banned: agent of treachery

[@TheLOKIpvp]

tectonic break, wildfire???

[@Inforza]

1st thing that came in mind before watching the video was avalanche riders and strip mine..

[@tomnicholls8920]

What's the outro music you use at the end of this video?

[@gregfatass3341]

Fulminator Mage

[@daviddiehl6286]

I played against a guy who was playing ajani vengent in a commander game, he said he wouldn't use the ult because he hates being "that guy"

[@jacfac9969]

So my commander deck is azusa lost but seeking. Needless to say I have tons of artifact and land tutors so I can fetch up my azusa crucible of worlds strip mine combo and just annihilate the board. When that goes online nobody is going to be getting very ahead on mana for a while

[@Holystewe]

What about Vindicate? It's the best permanent removal in my opinion

[@christophercombs7561]

Stripmine, sinkhole, or wasteland is #1 if i had to guess

[@imGrisky]

Fulminator but strip mine is probly best

[@jeffsonnefield6199]

What about Ruination, Stench of Evil, Wake of Destruction?

[@Deus69xxx1]

anyone else get chills when they goblin welder in a sundering titan on turn 2?

[@philharding9965]

How did sinkhole not make the list:(

[@errolwilloughby]

Sure, destroying an enemy's land is bound to frustrate them... But I prefer to steal their lands for my own use. 😘 But... I suppose doing both in the same deck would be especially irritating.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Annex is one of my favorite cards, so I am with you.

[@kainshannarra2451]

My LD deck has a few conquer in it

[@faunatique5110]

I was expecting Pillage to make it

[@bushido8077]

I made a rgb land destruction way back at original ravnica with all shock lands included so strong they hated me

[@felipesampaiodeoliveira62]

Pillage is awesome, idk why you didnt include in your list =/

[@NizzahonMagic]

Points

[@hitmangfx7162]

Before I watch this video, I'm calling Strip Mine at #1

[@ManaDrain315]

It's obviously the best, but it got restricted in Vintage and Standard way too quickly after they reprinted it in 4th Edition when Standard still had a restricted list. It quickly got banned everywhere but Vintage whenever they made a new format it would've been legal in ever since then.

[@hitmangfx7162]

@@ManaDrain315 It survived in Standard for awhile. I remember the meta evolving into everyone running four strip mines and it was a pain in the ass, especially if you played control. It took some time for people to realize how powerful they were, believe it or not.

[@tolarianadept7919]

#1 sinkhole

[@getlefty82]

How many points did Sinkhole have?

[@brianmorgan7703]

Sadly my favorite did not make the list: Balance

[@nicolasstaudt5714]

1 should be strip mine, sinkhole or orcish settlers

[@myky992]

numot the devastator? I only play casually but ever since i randomly found him in a booster pack so so long ago i loved it, built an entire deck with those colors just to play him eheh but i guess he is not that great in actual competitive plays

[@JAM_564]

My geuss is Din of The Fireherd

[@sntreulfravn2321]

What about dwarven driller, I know it barely got any play but you could've included it as an honorable mention but it is one of the best land destruction cards as when you tap it, you deal 2 damage to your opponent and destroy one of their lands

[@DMofDMs]

It's 2 damage OR destroy a land, opponent's choice. So you pay 4 for a 2/2, then next turn he can tap...probably to do 2 damage. So...it's like a 2/2 unblockable for 4. I tried running him. Too expensive, too slow and not potent enough.

[@AngelofChaosMad]

My favorite is "Wildfire": gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=5566&type=card Forever. 💜

[@NizzahonMagic]

That is probably my favorite too. It made my top favorite cards list.

[@doctorteethomega]

Where's sinkhole?

[@MrJ6H]

Has an artifact destruction list been done? :)

[@alaraplatt8104]

there is a top 10 disenchant effects video

[@somehoweverynameiwantistak5535]

Crucible of worlds + stripland anyone?

[@karemabbismal3376]

no sinkhole?

[@kingmasterlord]

is this what happened to Athas?

[@bluesmanshoes]

Balance!

[@hyperguyver2]

To me this shows that players are fairly uncreative when it comes to land destruction because it's only in red and green, yet I run a mono black land destruct deck that puts most red burn aggro decks in their place right out the gate.

[@kainshannarra2451]

Mine is red, black, green and does pretty well in 1 v 1 matches. Not likely to win me any tournament, but still fun to break out every now and then

[@Datttsnake]

@@kainshannarra2451 Jund is great what cards do you like best in that deck?

[@hankschaefer4381]

fall of thran is best land destruction 👌

[@NizzahonMagic]

Lawl