Price$1.23 – $549.69
Buy on TCGplayerSwords to Plowshares
Instant
LegalRemovalRank #11
Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.
Why is this card good?
Swords to Plowshares is the best single-target creature removal in the game, full stop. One white mana to permanently exile any creature — no destroy clause to dodge, no indestructible to care about, no regeneration. Exile also handles commanders cleanly, forcing them to the command zone or eating a recast tax. That efficiency is why it sits at #11 on EDHREC and belongs in essentially every white deck.
The lifegain drawback is almost irrelevant in Commander. Gifting an opponent a few life rarely changes a multiplayer game, and the upside of dealing with a threat now, at instant speed, for one mana vastly outweighs it.
Every white deck wants this — control, midrange, stax, aggro, combo. It's interaction that never gets cut for being too slow or too narrow.
The only time to skip it: lifegain matters when you're racing a single low-life opponent in a duel-ish spot, or you're playing a deck that specifically wants to deny opponents resources via destruction triggers. Otherwise, always include.
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Fateful Absence
2-mana white instant exiling any creature or planeswalker.
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2-mana white instant destroying creature or planeswalker.
Banishing Light
White enchantment exile of any nonland permanent.
Skyclave Apparition
White creature that exiles a nonland permanent.
Printings (87)
Show all 87 printingsShow fewer
Played by these commanders
Commodore Guff100% of 1
Dr. Madison Li100% of 1
Shiko and Narset, Unified100% of 1
Mondrak, Glory Dominus100% of 1
Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa100% of 1
Satya, Aetherflux Genius100% of 2
Sam, Loyal Attendant100% of 1
The Fourth Doctor100% of 1
Inquisitor Greyfax100% of 2
Gisela, the Broken Blade100% of 1
Combos (8)
- Swords to Plowshares + Jumbo Cactuar
→ Near-infinite lifegain
- Serra Avatar + Swords to Plowshares + Sanguine Bond
→ Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss for target opponent, Target opponent loses the game
- Serra Avatar + Swords to Plowshares + Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
→ Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss for target opponent, Target opponent loses the game
- Wall of Blood + Vizkopa Guildmage + Swords to Plowshares
→ Infinite lifeloss, Near-infinite lifegain
- Vizkopa Guildmage + Swords to Plowshares + Serra Avatar
→ Each opponent loses the game, Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss
- Soul of Eternity + Swords to Plowshares + Sanguine Bond
→ Target opponent loses the game, Near-infinite lifeloss for target opponent, Near-infinite lifegain
Rulings (1)
- 2022-12-08
Use the power of the creature from when it was last on the battlefield to determine how much life is gained.