In the 99 - Hitting the Reset Button

Welcome to In the 99, a series of articles where each time I pick a theme and discuss seven Magic: the Gathering cards, focusing on their uses in the Commander format.

The boardstate’s all gummed up. The other three players have some very serious permanents threatening your ability to stay alive. You could pass the turn and hope for the best, but Player A is one card away from their combo while Player B could just steal this whole game with their army of tokens and Player C, well you’re not certain what they’re doing, but whatever it is, it isn’t good. Wouldn’t it be better if you could just make it all go away? You know, like hitting the reset button on an old video game console?

Sweet, sweet redemption.

Sometimes, you just have to say no to everything and everyone at once, and that’s where sweepers come in. The term sweeper, for the unfamiliar, is used for any card that can deal with a large number of cards all at once. Instead of chipping away at each player’s permanents costing you precious cards and time, opt for some of these choices:

Austere Command

Few sweepers in the game have the level of detailed boardstate sculpting that Austere Command offers. Its four modes allow the caster to keep exactly what they need while getting rid of everything else. Have a ton of tokens and want to get rid of big threats? Done. Don’t like the potential artifact combos on the board? Boom, gone. Some enchantments dragging your game down? Not anymore, they’re not. At its worst, it’s a Wrath of God for 2 more mana, but at its best it’s a massive card advantage swing and can downright win you the game if timed well enough.

Cyclonic Rift

Austere Command can win you the game if it’s well timed, but Cyclonic Rift can win you games most of the time. This card is one that has been up for debate for banning for years, and with good reason. If taking extra turns is one of the most powerful things you can do in Magic, to the point that most new extra turn cards that Wizards of the Coast prints have a self-exile clause to keep from looping the effect over and over again, then Cyclonic Rift can be like taking 5 extra turns. First, you get to keep everything you have in play, unlike most sweepers where you usually give up at least something. Second, you put each opponent much further behind than you, they will most likely have to spend the next 3 or 4 turns just getting back to where they were. Third, it clears your path to victory. Timing this spell at the end of your last opponent’s turn can leave the entire board vulnerable during your turn.

Toxic Deluge

Having options in Commander is a huge plus. The more things a card can do in your deck, the more situations you can get out of with that card. If you pack many of these cards into your deck, you’ll find that you’re never out of fight. We see this implicitly with Austere Command, but Toxic Deluge is bit more subtle. As I have said previously, shaping the way you utilize your sweepers for maximum advantage will ultimately help you win games, and that’s exactly what Deluge does. At the low, low mana cost of 2B, you can kill tokens, deal with indestructible creatures, or just remove everything. You don’t usually get that kind of power even at 4 or 5 CMC. Don’t be worried by the life payment portion, starting at 40 life in a game of Commander makes the payment essentially worth about half what it appears.

Warp World

Spin the wheel! A lot of players don’t embrace the chaos that red can provide, but Warp World can be a surprisingly smart card. This isn’t a card you instantly put into any deck that fits its colors, like you can with this article’s other examples. You have to plan around it, and make sure its weaknesses are minimized. Essentially, you need to limit the number of non-permanent spells and Planeswalkers in your deck. Cards that produce more than one permanent are great too, especially creatures that make creature tokens, because Warp World allows you to get more value out of these “army in a can” cards. But the true beauty lies in the fact that your opponents are more than likely not on the same plan as you and will probably end up with less of a board state than you. Coupled with the total chaos caused by this card, you will completely screw up your opponent's game plan while more than likely getting rid of the problem.

The Great Aurora

Is this green’s version of Warp World? Kinda. There is less you can do with this to maximize your gains, but it has markedly less potential to help out your opponents. The best thing about this card is that you get to essentially play your turn again after you cast this spell. So you can have priority in getting exactly what you want out for that turn. Couple this with tokens and/or cards that give you no maximum hand size, and you have a combination that can be downright devastating. And since you are already playing green, you have access to the be mana ramp spells in the game, especially those that put lands directly into play. This card is like a mix between Cyclonic Rift and Warp World. You get a board reset that is somewhat random and you get to play whatever you’d like after this resolves.


Merciless Eviction

I believe this will be a mantra for all subsequent articles: choice is always a good thing. This card sits right at the top when it comes to choice, similar to Austere Command. Sure, you only get to remove a subset of cards and aren’t able to mix and match like Austere Command can, but you make up for that with the fact that it exiles whatever you don’t like. The hierarchy for removal is as follows: gain control of the permanent > exile the permanent > shuffle the permanent into its library > destroy/force sacrifice the permanent > return the permanent to hand. There are few cards that sit any higher on this hierarchy that can affect as many permanents as this can. Merciless Eviction primary weakness is that it is a two color card, limiting it to fewer decks. However, you should definitely play this if you can.

All is Dust

Our final card can bring finality to most of the board. All is Dust can be a be all, end all when it comes to sweepers. Only most artifacts and most Eldrazi can survive the resolution of this card. The best thing about this card is that it forces sacrifices and does not destroy anything, which gets around indestructibility without issue. Control decks want this card more than others since they care less about permanents on the board, and this card is a shoe-in for any colorless Commander deck, as you completely maximize your gains on casting this spell.

So there you have it, seven ways to clear the board and inch you much closer to victory. But remember, simply jamming these cards into your deck won’t automatically make it better. Sweepers require a great sense of timing to utilize the card to its utmost ability. When in doubt, my advice is to wait until you are absolutely certain that you won’t make it to your next turn.