When deck-building in Commander, we are always looking for cards to cut to put in shiny new neat synergies. Sometimes we choose lands, but sometimes it's removal. The question today is: Is that the right call?

What is Removal?

What exactly falls into the category of removal in Commander? When starting the conversation about Commander, we use the term interaction and removal interchangeably sometimes. Removal is typically things like Beast Within, Generous Gift, Swords to Plowshares, Reality Shift, and Vandalblast. What about board wipes and counter magic and bounce effects?

Countering a Craterhoof Behemoth is removal of a threat, without using Path to Exile, which after it enters might not be nearly as effective. Cyclonic Rift is one of the best slowdown and removal in the game. And Farewell or Toxic Deluge are some really good mass removal. Do all of these things count as removal? I'd say for the sake of this article, it is. Being able to handle a threat is the core of "removal," thus a counter and a bounce and a board wipe must fall into this category.

How Much is Enough?

How much removal should I be running in my Commander deck? The first thing we have to consider is how much space do we have for removal. There are a lot of theories about how much removal a deck should run. On average people run between 7-15 removal pieces, accounting for extremes on either side. At least that's what I hear around the Magic: The Gathering water coolers aka Reddit.

However, I don't think it's that simple. Color and Commander dictates a lot. In The Mycotyrant, there is a lot of self-mill that is looking for permanents so running tons of instants and sorcery removal might not be best. In Primal Surge decks, you might want to run low on them as well. Then again, you might be running a spell slinger deck, with lots of cantrips like Stella Lee, Wild Card, where you want to filter through your deck, draw cards, and stop people from getting there before you combo off.

Always Having It

When should I use my removal in Commander? How many of us know a person who always has the counter or the removal spell at the right time? How do they always have it? This is tougher than it seems. Sometimes someone is slowly setting up value pieces like Shalai and Hallar and the counters are slowly steam rolling to a win. What do you remove? The Hardened Scales or the Shalai and Hallar on the stack or the Bristly Bill? Or do you hold your removal for when you're close to winning to protect yourself, pushing the rest of the table to handle the counters deck?

The tough thing about always having it, is balancing the amount of removal spells you run in your deck, to see them, while simultaneously not letting it interrupt the amount of pieces you see that push your deck's goal forward. You need to first have it, not need to use it on someone else's win, hold up the mana during your winning turn, and hope they don't have it either. What do you do then?

How do you know when to use it? From what I've learned in my own pods of Commander, it really comes down to research. Play against a Commander often enough and you'll know the weakness and the problem cards. Yeah, it'll cost you a few wasted removal spells, and a few losses against the deck, but soon you'll know that Bolas's Citadel and Aetherflux Reservoir are combo pieces in K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and you absolutely need to counter or remove them.

Also, it comes down to hedging bets, waiting in turn-order to discuss if you have an answer. Don't get too hasty to stop something. That's something I struggle with myself. Read the energy of the table for removal before speaking up. Don't gamble with someone else having an answer, though. You don't want to pass your priority just to find out they can't handle the threat. Be proactive, but follow turn-order.

Pros and Cons

What are the pros and cons to running a ton of removal?

Pros:

• You can always answer a threat
• You slow down the speed of the win
• You use up resources of the other players
• You are flexible and reactive to board states

Cons:

• You're behind on furthering your game plan
• You're giving up cards often, putting your hand behind
• You're balancing three player's board states
• You might get flooded with removal with nothing proactive to do

Summary

All in all, it's incredibly subjective-based on your deck and goals in your deck-deciding how much removal you should be running. You can stick to generic numbers or you can let the deck-building gods guide you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hope this helps in your next deck-building session! @cashindson X