MTG: How to Destroy Indestructible Cards (Magic the Gathering)

How to Destroy Indestructible Cards in Magic the Gathering (MTG)

In MTG, Indestructible is a keyword that has been around since the game’s very first set, Alpha. “Consecrate Land” is an enchantment-aura for W that reads as follows.

“Enchanted land has indestructible and can’t be enchanted by other Auras.”

This means the enchanted land cannot be destroyed nor enchanted by other auras, whether they’re your own or that of any opponent. Despite being around since Magic’s first set, the term indestructible did not become “keyworded” until Magic the Gathering’s Darksteel set, almost 11 years later. Since then, Indestructible has been placed on almost every permanent-type (I’m not counting the pseudo-indestructible ability Gideon of the Trials gives himself) and has been a pesky ability to deal with.

Indestructible MTG Cards Strategy & Tips

Different formats handle them in different ways. As a Commander player, you have access to all cards ever printed. If you’re a white mage, spells like Swords to Plowshares, Hallowed Burial, Terminus, Path to Exile, and Humility all either exile the creature, put them somewhere in the owner’s deck, or make them lose all abilities and turn them into measly 1/1s that no longer pose a threat to you. As a blue mage, however, you have a lot more control. Do you want it for your own to annoy the other players – even the owner – with? Gain control of the creature permanently with cards like Control Magic, Persuasion, Treachery, Bribery, Callous Oppressor, or Empress Galina. If you aren’t the type of person who steals creatures from other players – bless your heart – you can bounce them and make them cast them all over again for you to just counterspell on cast!

For blue, you have cards like Evacuation, Coastal Breach, Devastation Tide, Upheaval, Wash Out… Well, the list for blue goes on and on, really. Black, on the other hand, is a little more tricky, but it can still get the job done with Sacrifice effects! Despite a creature being indestructible, it is still vulnerable to sacrifice. Cards like Chainer’s Edict and Diabolic Edict have coined the term “Edict effects” which just refer to the ability of a creature being sacrificed, no matter what the name of the card is.

Red is a bit of a hodgepodge of the previous colors in that if it sees something it doesn’t like, it has the ability to tuck everything back in the owner’s deck via Warp World or Chaos Warp. It can gain control of creatures with cards like Insurrection for mass creature control or Traitorous Blood if only one creature is your issue.

If you’re playing Green, it is a bit tougher and will have to use its neighboring colors to get the job done. Green can deal with artifacts and enchantments really well but if you aren’t running cards like Nevinyrral’s Disk, All is Dust, or Brittle Effigy, then just smash face as fast and as hard as you can.

While Indestructible isn’t the best mechanic in the game, it is still very pesky to deal with. Edict and Exile effects are usually the easiest way to deal with Indestructible, but there are other ways. Reducing a creature’s toughness to 0 or below gets around indestructible. Burn from Within, Bonds of Mortality, and Hour of Devastation simply get rid of the indestructible ability off a creature. As Wizards of the Coast has said they’re moving away from Hexproof and other like abilities, there will definitely be more and more ways to deal with this keyword.

That’s really all there is to destroying Indestructible in MTG! If you need any more help, leave a comment down below and we’ll do our best to help you out with any more Magic the Gathering tips!

This post was originally authored by Alex Cruz.