In a 100-card singleton format like Commander, it's common to diversify the kinds of cards in our deck. Ideally we want card draw, ramp, and spells that synergize with our strategy. Removal is one category that will likely take up the smallest portion of our deck and we can categorize it in multiple ways. The two most common are single target and mass removal. Mass removal seems to be the go-to type for multiplayer formats like Commander. While single target spells are perfect for halting the machinations of one player, mass removal can set the board back to parity and give us a clean slate to rebuild upon.

Today we'll focus on mass removal, and changing up what we play to either get additional benefit, slow down our own tempo, or both. Common mass removal spells for Commander are Wrath of God, Toxic Deluge, and Blasphemous Act. These each synergize with the mechanics of their colors and effectively clear the board, so it makes sense they are so popular amongst deck-builders. By being mana inefficient we can potentially increase the value of our mass removal, hit multiple types of cards and even set ourselves up for victory.

Honorable Mention: Crux of Fate

Crux of Fate is perfect for the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Any dragon Kindred deck that has the color Black in it should consider playing this over something like Damnation. For one extra mana we can choose between destroying all dragons or non-dragons. This simple effect can allow our sky beasts to soar to victory!

Number One

Fumigate is an easy pick for the list. It's a Day of Judgement that gains us life. If we're being swarmed by a token deck, or any creature deck that goes wide, we can make a huge tempo swing and potentially pull us back from the brink. While life is a resource, it is nice to be able to have a buffer between us and a game loss. This is a perfect example of playing mana inefficient cards to achieve a greater outcome.

Number Two

Whelming Wave screams Kindred! Commanders like Runo Stromkirk, Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep and Koma, Cosmos Serpent can take advantage of the ridiculous advantage provided by bouncing the rest of the board. We could overload a Cyclonic Rift, or we could save some mana and still leave a board wide open for our sea beasts to flood the board. In the case of the wave, we're choosing to make a more mana efficient choice for our kindred deck. This also lets us swap out a Game Changer to bring our deck down to a lower bracket for a more varied play style.

Number Three

Consume the Meek is a unique choice for this list because it only hits creatures with mana value 3 or less. While this won't take down our larger foes, it will make mince-meat of token decks and any deck that wants to jam as many small creatures as possible. The big benefit of this spell is that it can be cast at instant speed. Hold up your mana and prevent a monstrous alpha strike from the token player. Consume the Meek may not be mana efficient, but it is a silver bullet for decks that want to go wide. Compared to a card like Damnation, Consume the Meek has greater flexibility and has the ability to change how our turns work out.

Number Four

Chain Reaction has been a staple in Commander Precons for a while now. This speaks to how good this card actually is. Chain Reaction deals X damage to every creature, where X is the number of creatures on the board. While simple, this card gets exponentially better whenever another creature is added. More often than not, Blasphemous Act will deal 13 damage for one mana, but Chain Reaction has the potential to deal tons of damage for only four mana. All we need is one player to stretch their board a little too thin and we've got a full clear, regardless of the toughness on the board. Chain Reaction is a perfect example of how accessibility can be used to power down our decks.

Number Five

Ezuri's Predation has the highest mana value of any card on this list, but it has some of the wildest payoffs for a removal spell. When cast, for each creature your opponents control, you make a 4/4 beast that fights that creature. For eight mana, Predation can easily slam 40 to 50 power of creatures on your side of the board, creating a massive board state. Since we're already in Green, we could also drop a copy of Vigor to prevent any damage our tokens would receive and buff them up even larger. The combos are real with this card!

It's definitely not a Magic player's base instinct to want to power down our decks, but Commander is one of the best environments to experiment with our card flexibility. Cards like Consume the Meek, Fumigate and Ezuri's Predation give us great benefits for spending extra mana. Whelming Wave lets us swap out a Game Changer for an on-theme Kindred spell and Chain Reaction is a functional copy of a hyper efficient card in Blasphemous Act. Try some of these spells to change up your play patterns and experience new deck brackets.