- Better than most players realize
Editor’s Note: Alternate title was “How Could I Just Really Kill a General” but figured kids these days wouldn’t get the reference. That’s something I’ve been wanting to do, more music titled posts.
I think that last week’s experiment was a success. There were a number of good responses, and I figured that this was a logical followup to the topic of Generals.
Getting rid of Generals can be a huge turning point in the game, especially if your opponent’s deck is built around him/her. Now, we’re not talking about killing a General like with Doom Blade or dealing it damage, but removing it from play. Every color (believe it or not) has ways to deal with Generals. What we’re going to do find find out some of the best ways to do that. Yes, this will be some of the better cards you should be playing with in this format.
Why am I not caring about “destroy target creature” cards? A) They’re boring B) The majority of them are in Black C) Not only can you deal with Generals, but if you’ve got anyone who landed their Eldrazi or Darksteel Colossus, this is also a great way for dealing with them too. There’s a variety of ways to get rid of Generals without triggering different cards; Sometimes you don’t want that Grave Pact to trigger. Don’t be surprised to see these cards in decklists all over the net.
Please remember: when I card says “Exile” and you do that to a General, they can decide to put it in the Command Zone. It’s the same thing that if you kill a General, they can put it in the Command Zone instead of the Graveyard. While I don’t agree flavorfully about it, it’s still the way the rules work. If that happens, they do have to pay the additional 2 colorless mana to re-cast them.
Here’s the list of non-lethal ways to get rid of a General. My personal Top 5 are after the list. I decided not to include permanents that deal with attacking or blocking creatures because it’s a great bluff but most of the time players won’t swing with that on the table.