Board wipes are the panic button of Magic: The Gathering. You’re staring down a horde of zombies or a field of massive Eldrazi, and you need a way to clear the air. Fast. But usually, these spells are blunt instruments. They kill everything. Everything Comes to Dust is different. It’s surgical, expensive, and honestly, a little bit weird.
If you haven’t played with it yet, you’ve probably seen it sitting in a Commander deck box or a bulk binder. It’s a sorcery that costs seven mana. That’s a lot. In the world of Magic, seven mana needs to basically win you the game or at least flip the table. What makes this card fascinating is how it uses creature types to decide who lives and who dies.
It’s tribal. Well, kind of.
How the Card Actually Works
Let’s look at the mechanics. You choose any number of creature types. Then, you exile all creatures that aren't of those chosen types.
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Wait. Exile.
That’s the most important word on the card. In a game where every third deck is running graveyard recursion or "indestructible" nonsense, destroying things just doesn't cut it anymore. Sending a creature to the graveyard is often just giving your opponent a resource they can use later. Exiling them? That’s permanent. They’re gone. Poof.
The mana cost—$seven mana$ with two white pips—is the biggest hurdle. Most players look at a card like Farewell or Sunfall and wonder why they’d ever bother with this Odyssey-era throwback. But there is a very specific reason this card shines in the current 2026 Commander meta. It lets you keep your stuff.
Imagine you’re playing a Human tribal deck. Your board is full of soldiers and knights. Your opponent has a board full of... well, everything else. You cast Everything Comes to Dust, name "Human," and suddenly your opponents are staring at empty playmats while your army is still standing. It’s a one-sided board wipe. In a multiplayer game, that’s a death sentence for everyone else.
The Power of Asymmetry
Most board wipes are "symmetrical." They hurt you just as much as they hurt the table. Everything Comes to Dust breaks that rule. It rewards you for building a deck with a cohesive theme.
Honestly, the flexibility is what gets me. You aren't limited to just one creature type. The card says you can choose "any number" of creature types. If you’re playing a deck that’s a weird mix of Wizards and Elves, you can name both. You keep your utility creatures and your mana dorks while the rest of the world burns.
There's a catch, though. This card is a sorcery. That means you can't use it as a surprise during your opponent's combat phase unless you have something like Vedalken Orrery or Leyline of Anticipation out. You have to be proactive. You have to decide, on your turn, that the board needs to be cleared.
Why Nobody Used to Care (And Why They Do Now)
For years, this card was a "bulk rare." It was originally printed in Odyssey back in 2001. At the time, the game was slower. Creature types mattered, but not like they do now. We didn't have the insane tribal support that modern sets provide.
Then came the explosion of the Commander format.
In Commander, "Tribal" (now often called Kindred) is king. People love their Goblins. They love their Dragons. They love their weird little Myrs. Everything Comes to Dust became a niche powerhouse for these decks. It’s a way to clear the path for a lethal swing without losing your own momentum.
Also, look at the art. It’s classic Magic art. It’s evocative. It feels like a high-fantasy apocalypse. There’s something satisfying about casting a spell from 20 years ago and watching a modern, "tuned" deck crumble because it can't handle a tribal-based exile effect.
Comparisons: The Wipe Wars
Let’s be real for a second. If you’re building a deck, you’re comparing this to Wrath of God, Damnation, or Farewell.
Wrath of God is $four mana$. It’s efficient. But it doesn't exile, and it kills your stuff too.
Farewell is the gold standard right now. For six mana, it can exile creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and graveyards. It’s incredibly flexible.
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So why play Everything Comes to Dust?
Because Farewell is a reset button. Everything Comes to Dust is a weapon. You don't want to reset the game if you’re winning; you just want the other guys out of the way. If you have a board presence, Everything Comes to Dust is arguably better than Farewell because it preserves your "clock"—the amount of damage you can deal each turn.
The Nuance of "Any Number"
A lot of players misread this card the first time. They think they can only pick one type. Nope. You can pick as many as you want.
This is huge in a deck like Morophon, the Boundless or any "Changeling" deck. If your creatures are every creature type, you basically just name whatever your opponents have, and since your creatures are also those types, they stay. Or, more simply, you name a type your creatures have and your opponents don't.
It’s also a meta-call. If your local game store is full of people playing "Goodstuff" decks—decks that just play the best cards regardless of synergy—Everything Comes to Dust is devastating. Those decks usually have a mix of Humans, Beasts, Demons, and Angels. You name "Human," and you might only leave them with one or two creatures, while your dedicated tribal deck stays fully intact.
Limitations and Risks
I’m not going to sit here and tell you this is a perfect card. It’s not.
Seven mana is a massive investment. If someone has a Negate or a Counterspell, you’ve just spent your whole turn doing nothing. You’re tapped out and vulnerable.
There's also the "Changeling" problem. If your opponent is playing Changelings, this card does nothing to them. Since Changelings are every creature type, they will always match whatever type you name. It’s a rare occurrence, but it’s a feel-bad moment when it happens.
And let’s talk about the "non-creature" problem. Unlike Farewell or Austere Command, Everything Comes to Dust only touches creatures. If you’re losing to a bunch of powerful enchantments or artifacts, this card is a dead draw. It won’t save you from a Smothering Tithe or a Rhystic Study. You have to have other answers in your deck for those threats.
Strategic Tips for Using Everything Comes to Dust
If you're going to slot this into your 99, you need to play it smart.
Don't just jam it into any deck with white mana. It belongs in decks where the creature types are consistent.
- Sliver Decks: This is an auto-include. Name "Sliver." Watch the world end.
- Soldier/Knight/Human Decks: These are the most common homes for it.
- Eldrazi Decks: While most Eldrazi decks are colorless, some splash white for cards like this. Naming "Eldrazi" usually clears the board of everything that isn't a world-ending horror.
One sneaky trick? If you’re playing a deck that produces a specific token type—like 1/1 White Soldiers—you can name "Soldier" to keep all your tokens. Sometimes, a hoard of tokens is all you need to win the game after the "real" creatures are gone.
The Financial Aspect
One of the nice things about Everything Comes to Dust MTG is that it’s generally affordable. Because it hasn't been reprinted into the ground like Wrath of God, and because it’s a bit of a niche "high mana" card, you can usually find copies for a few dollars. It’s a budget-friendly way to get a powerful, asymmetrical effect in your Commander deck.
It’s the kind of card that makes people pick it up and read it. "Wait, it does what?" That's a great feeling in a game of Magic. Using an older, slightly obscure card to tilt the game in your favor is part of the fun of the format.
Future Outlook
As Magic continues to lean into "Type Matters" sets—like we saw with Ixalan and Kaldheim—cards like Everything Comes to Dust only get stronger. The more synergy the game introduces, the more valuable selective board wipes become.
In the 2026 landscape, where power creep has made creatures bigger and faster, having an exile effect that ignores your own board is more than just a convenience. It’s a necessity for certain archetypes to survive.
Actionable Next Steps for Deckbuilding
If you're considering adding Everything Comes to Dust to your collection or your next deck, start by auditing your creature types.
- Count your types. If more than 70% of your creatures share a primary or secondary type (like "Human" or "Wizard"), this card is a strong candidate for your "wipe" slot.
- Check your mana curve. Ensure your deck has enough ramp (like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or Land Tax) to reliably hit seven mana by turn five or six.
- Evaluate your local meta. If your friends play a lot of indestructible creatures or graveyard-heavy decks (like Muldrotha or Merkurio), buy this card. The exile clause alone will win you games.
- Look for the Odyssey printing. The original art is iconic and looks great in a physical deck, though the newer "List" or "Mystery Booster" versions are often cheaper and easier to find.
Everything Comes to Dust isn't for every deck. It’s a specialized tool. But in the right hands, it’s a one-sided blowout that turns a crowded board into a clear path to victory. Take a look at your tribal decks and see if you have room for a seven-mana game-changer.