Grixis Needs Enchantment Removal?

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on Dec. 23, 2019, 3:50 p.m. by Last_Laugh

It seems weird to me that 60% of the colors in MtG can't deal with enchantments outside of a few color pie breakers like Chaos Warp or severely overpaying for something like Meteor Golem .

3 out of 5 colors not being able to deal with a very common card type feels unbalanced to me. There is so much more overlap on other types of removal... Naya has artifact removal, all 5 colors can remove creatures, all 5 colors can remove planeswalkers, etc. Enchantments are harder to remove than lands for any deck that doesn't have White or Green... that ain't right.

If one more color could get access to enchantment removal... what color would you choose? Blue, Black, or Red? I'm personally leaning towards Blue because Black or Red flavor-wise don't feel like colors that would be adept at something like this (Black maybe but Red definitely not).

Anyone else with me on this?

hejtmane says... #2

It may come out of black Mire in Misery is this fore shadowing

December 23, 2019 4:37 p.m.

GhostChieftain says... #3

Blue doesn't need the help. They can bounce any permanent or counter any spell. Blue has all removal pretty much covered because of that. Flavor wise they would be my pick due to the magical nature of enchantments, but I would prefer to make no additions to blue.

I could maybe see a case made for red getting it, but I dont think that is my pick. They destroy artifacts because they break things, and I think enchantments arent necessarily destroyed in the same way.

Black I think would be my pick overall. They oppose white and green and those are the colors of the enchantresses so black being able to ruin their enchantments is on brand. All colors can deal with creatures and planeswalkers, but black is the only color that focuses so hard on the creature removal that they have no other real removal. White and green get artifacts and enchants, red gets artifacts, blue bounces and counters anything, black has ???

December 23, 2019 5:05 p.m. Edited.

Pervavita says... #4

I agree Blue can bounce and counter so no need.

Black I think should be able to do much more but at heavy cost like it does with card draw and needing to pay life or sacrifice a creature. Black having counter magic as well as artifact and enchantment removal but with some resource loss that fits Black as well as probably mana wise not as efficient as there core color counterparts.

December 23, 2019 5:30 p.m.

xtechnetia says... #5

As mentioned, black is explicitly getting enchantment removal (see https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/186869030893/just-saw-mire-in-misery-this-is-the-black).

Mire in Misery is the first card which shows it off, and we should eventually see something similar come to Standard (and thus Pioneer/Modern as well).

December 23, 2019 8:47 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #6

You'll never get rid of a problematic enchantment with Mire. If Black's answer is punisher type cards that let your opponents choose, consider me unimpressed.

December 23, 2019 8:58 p.m.

JANKYARD_DOG says... #7

Agreed on points of blue, and that black should get it. Curses are enchantments, animation spells can be enchantments; so it would then make sense that black would have some way to decurse or remove their own if not others effects, thematically speaking.

December 23, 2019 11:47 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #8

If Red got enchantment removal it'd have to be something chaotic like a red Aura Shards type enchantment that destroys an enchantment at random (has a chance to destroy itself) whenever a creature etb under your control.

Black I would love to get a Caustic Caterpillar type self sac creature with like 2-3 points of life loss and enchantment targets only. The 'if target was white or green, get bonus effect' would be a nice flavor addition as well.

December 24, 2019 11:33 a.m. Edited.

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