We've all been in a game of Magic where we're soft-locked out interaction with something that might cost us the game. I want to discuss some of these cards and perhaps how to remove them, if it is reasonable to remove them in the first place. This is not an article discussing which cards that have no way of being removed; it discusses cards that are usually in their decks, or archetypes are tough to remove.

5. Sterling Grove

The first card isn't the biggest offender just reading the card: Sterling Grove. It costs two and is an enchantment that gives all other enchantments shroud. It also has pay 1 and sacrifice this permanent and you can tutor for any enchantment. Three total mana to tutor isn't a bad rate, but it seems easy to remove this card, right? Wrong. Decks with enchantment recursion will make sure this low-cost card doesn't stay gone for long.

In decks like Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, I've seen players make two copies of the card with a Doubling Season and now every enchantment has shroud. Without mass enchantment exile or destruction-basically Farewell and Austere Command-all of their enchantments are untouchable. This is the finicky part. When this card is played in enchantment decks, it becomes a tutor on the stick, recurrable with cards like Argivian Find. It is hard to target exile with cards like Devout Chaplain or Fate Forgotten, because players can sacrifice it in response and keep it recurrable from the grave.

4. The Scarab God

There is a little bit of a sub-theme of hating on Gods in this article. The next finicky card is The Scarab God. This card has a pesky knack from surviving destruction. When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step. That is so good. It's crazy how good that is. After a board wipe? Right back to hand. Letting it go to the graveyard is ideal because you'll never pay for commander tax. If someone exiles your graveyard you get the choice to put it to the command zone, and if you're opponent isn't playing any Black or White exile effects you're probably good all game. And how many pieces of exile removal is any one player or a one pod, for that matter, even playing? Are they using it all on The Scarab God?

It is annoying to pay the 5 to recast him but at the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of zombies you control. You just have to stick any of your zombies, or successfully reanimate them over and over until everyone runs out of removal. In these colors self mill and reanimate is very feasible, like Living Death. It makes it tough to interact with. Nothing a Swords to Plowshare can't handle, but still, finicky.

3. Xenagos, God of Revels and Purphoros, God of the Forge

I warned you. Gods be on this list. The next one I wasn't sure who was more annoying but either Xenagos, God of Revels or Purphoros, God of the Forge. The reason I can't choose is simple: When does it become a creature and how oppressive is its effect? Purphoros is some of the strongest damage from creatures entering effects in Commander. It is indestructible and not a creature unless your devotion is 5 or greater. How do you Path to Exile something that isn't a creature? How many of us are running targeted enchantment exile? Not a lot. That's what makes this finicky. However, 5 red pips aren't particularly hard to get to in a deck that runs Red. Eventually those enter effects will lead to devotion, leading to more reasonable removal.

Xenagos on the other hand, costs 1 mana more, but needs 7 devotion to become a creature. Being elusive in a better way than Purphoros makes this a little more compelling on its own. And Xenagos being able to potentially double the power of any creature and give them haste is an insane ability. Give any of those creatures evasion like mountainwalk, flying, or menace and it might be guaranteed damage. I'm not sure who is the bigger offender and more difficult to deal with, but here are both.

2. The One Ring

The One Ring is a card that is completely well established as one of the best protected cards in the format. It gives the player protection until their next turn when it enters, if it was cast. It is indestructible. It is also one of the best draw spells in the format. It is a card that HAS to be answered, but is so hard to respond to. There aren't a lot of exile target artifact effects. Something like Altar's Light is color-intensive and highly specific. It's tough to casually play around in deck construction and once again every turn you don't answer it, an immense amount of advantage is being given to that player. At some point it's too late to remove it.

Farewell will get it, but that's goodbye to all your own artifacts as well. Anguished Unmaking is really one of the only things that get at it for a good targeted removal, and that's hoping there isn't any interaction, bouncing or giving hexproof to it. It's really tough. A Druid of Purification gets it as well. It's tough to ensure, and so powerful that your timeline to respond to it is limited.

1. Reaver Titan

Now for the card that inspired the list: Reaver Titan. This card is absolutely insane. Protection from mana value 3 or less. That's every Chaos Warp, Beast Within, Generous Gift, Stroke of Midnight, Path to Exile, Anguished Unmaking, Dispatch, and Swords to Plowshares. It's insane how efficient removal has become and how we don't really run less efficient removal pieces to play around this absolutely cracked card. This card is a 10/10 Vehicle with crew 4, so most of the time this card isn't even a creature, so trying to exile it with a card like Bake into a Pie won't kill it unless it's crewed. No Vandalblast-ing it when it's not a creature because it's Red and Reaver Titan has protection from that. No Tragic Slip-ing either.

It's so finicky. And did I mention it's a 10/10 with crew 4? And that when it attacks-not deal damage, just attacks, it deals 5 to each player? Honestly, the only way to get rid of it is to get around protection. You need destruction effects that don't target. A Druid of Purification would get around it. I've thought long and hard about other cards aside from Farewell including artifacts and that's all I could come up with. If you figure something else out, send it to me @strixhavendropout on Blue Sky. I would love a way to destroy my arch nemesis.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hope this helps in your next deck-building session!