Price$0.41 – $6.64
Buy on TCGplayerCulling Ritual
Sorcery
LegalRampRank #578
Destroy each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less. Add or for each permanent destroyed this way.
Why is this card good?
Culling Ritual is a one-sided-ish sweeper plus a ritual stapled together, which is exactly what midrange Golgari decks want.
The magic is the mana refund: in a developed game you'll often blow up 8-12 mana rocks, dorks, tokens, and small creatures, then pump that mana straight into a giant X-spell, an Eldrazi, or your commander. It's a board wipe that advances your board state instead of stalling it.
Who wants it:
- Big-mana Golgari ramp decks that want to reset a cluttered board then immediately deploy a haymaker.
- Decks hurt by go-wide tokens, mana dorks, and cheap value engines (hatebears, aristocrats with token swarms).
- Commanders like Meren, Korvold, or any BG ramp shell that abuses the mana surge.
When NOT to play it: if your own deck leans on cheap permanents — token swarms, mana dorks, low-curve aristocrats, Voltron auras — you'll nuke yourself harder than your opponents. It also whiffs in high-curve metas where few 2-or-less permanents exist.
Related cards
Pernicious Deed
BG board wipe destroying low-cost permanents at chosen value.
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Black sweeper scaling against small creatures.
Bontu's Last Reckoning
Cheap board wipe with ramp-like tempo cost.
Ritual of Soot
Destroys cheap creatures, similar low-CMC sweep.
Dictate of Erebos
Pairs with mass destruction in BG aristocrats.
Black Sun's Zenith
Scalable black wrath hitting small creatures.
Mass of Ghouls
Damnation
Black mass removal alternative for creature swarms.
Printings (13)
Played by these commanders
Gonti, Canny Acquisitor100% of 1
Dina, Essence Brewer100% of 1
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa100% of 1
Winter, Cynical Opportunist100% of 1
Anikthea, Hand of Erebos100% of 1