Swords to Plowshares

For STP 5 stars!!!

A Must have in any white deck... freakin sweet, see'in an opponent's face when a prized creature goes down...

This is the best removal card in the game. It puts codemn, smite, unmake and even (barely) Path to Exile to shame. THe life gain is a minor drawback that you can play around. Remove their only blocker and have them gain 3 life, then hit them for 6? the lifegain is already null. Unmake is just crap, and smite and condemn are a little too conditional for me. I run 4 StP's and 4 PtE's in my control deck.

I can't remember the last white deck I built that didn't have 4 STP's. It is without a doubt, one of the best cards ever. Top 50 or so for sure, maybe even top 25. There is no freakin' way I would swap them out for Unmakes. Man, that's just crazy talk. However you can only have 4 in a deck(very sad. I would use at least 7 if I could. ) , so I also include things like Condemn, Reciprocate, and Smite to help keep my opponent in check. Of cours, none of them is as good as STP, but they are still pretty effective cards. And, if you're playing on a budget, you can probably get a set of each of them for around what 1 copy of STP would cost. Without a doubt though. STP is absolutely the best.

@Mark from Wisconsin: Ding, ding, ding to Jens! Those who play Type 1 understand that speed kills! With the exception of Pro-White & Shroud creatures, Swords & Path are ultra quick, ultra cheap & ultra effective!

@Mark from Wisconsin & Mark N from Marshfield: Swords to Plowshares is undoubtedly one of the best removal spells in the game. Why? - let me tell you:

1. It only costs one mana.
2. It exiles the creature, which is extremely powerful considering its manacost.
3. The drawback is life gain, which doesn't help your opponent in any way whatsoever. I
would gladly give my opponent 11 life to keep his or her Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from bashing me and killing a lot of my permanents. Life usually isn't as important as cards, because life alone can't win you the game alone.
4. It's a INSTANT! Instant speed removal is far superior to Sorceries because you can do a lot of unexpected stuff with it. Exiling creatures during the combat step or in response to, say, an Aura being cast, can easily swing the game in your favor.
Compare this to Unmake:
Unmake has no drawbacks and is an instant too, but it has the same manacost as a lot of other strong cards of its colors. You'll often be choosing between casting spells that help you win, or spend your whole turn exiling a single creature.
Compare this to Path to Exile:
Path to Exile is (in most cases) worse than Swords to Plowshares because the drawback is cards to your opponent. Giving your opponents extra lands early in the game is basically giving them an extra turn. Late in the game it might be better because you won't need the mana anyway, but I prefer StP because I won't have to worry about disadvantage when casting it. Some might argue that you can PtE your own creatures to get lands early on, but I’ve rarely seen that happen - you'd want to save removal for your opponents' creatures. Besides, you can also StP you own creature to gain life enough to survive an otherwise fatal attack. Don't get me wrong though, Path to Exile is a good card, but most of the time, I think it’s worse than StP.

That being said, I love the new artwork and wording from Elspeth vs. Tezzeret.

@Mark - I completely concur with Jean-Michel. If your opponent plays first turn goblin lacky and then 2nd turn beats in for 1 and drops Siege-Gang Commander, was giving them one life in order to remove their lacky from the game really a bad play instead of waiting turn 3 to play your other removal spell by which time you've probably lost the game already? I don't want to be like Mark and try to use the most remote possible situation under which the card would be good/bad to justify my view on it however turn 1 Lackey is quite the common play. And sorry, but I don't have any problem STP'ing my opponents turn 2 Tarmogoyf and giving them 3-5 life. It's about tempo and being able to swing in with your creatures after you've removed your opponents blockers.

@Swords to Plowshares - Best removal spell in the game. Due to the unbelievably low cost it allows you to play down creatures and other spells while removing your opponents best guys at the same time! If you run white there's a fairly good chance this card should be in your deck.

@ This is ok, but it gives you opponent life and that's just not smart game play. Just use unmake instead. it is better

Wait, WHAT??!! Unmake instead of SWORDS??!! Spend 3 mana instead of one??!! Anyone knows that Swords is one if not the best white card ever! Well there's Path to exil but its better in the end game since you care less about your opponent having 1 more basic land tapped. Also, but its SO conditionnal, if your mana short and your opponent wanna blast one of your creatures, you can ''Path to exil'' it to give yourself one more mana for your next turn. But for my point of view, Swords is a bit better. And in a weenie deck, you don't wanna play Unmake when you can play Swords PLUS two 1/1 for 1.

Definitely Swords!

My personal favorite white card in Magic. I don't remember the last time I played a white deck that didn't use 4 of these. What is not to love about removing any big creature from the game for 1 white mana? I play with 4 of these from 4th ed. and Anthologies, judging by the artwork (and how the card works), I call it "Jesus." 5/5.

Awesome creature removal, and in a color that doesn't normally get such straightforward removal.

RFG can be useful if you run into Indestructible, but dealing with opposing critters is useful anywhere.

Ironically, I run it in my Soldier deck. :)
*And most of my other white decks where it's format-legal.

Quite simply a very solid card.

Definately a lifesaver. Removes from game is the especially deadly part. Sure the opponent gets life, but now that he has one less blocker or attacker, thats not a big problem. One of the best one mana cards out there since it ALWAYS has a place in a deck that is part or all white. As some other guy said about ancestral, yes its a great one mana drop, but not as great as this, there are a lot more times in games over the last 13 years of playing where i'd much rather be able to pop an annoying creature then draw three cards.

When it comes to creature kill, there is nothing better than swords! not bolt terror or incenarate every white deck should definetely have four of these!

as youve read definitely one of the best white cards of ALL TIME. I like to see the look on peoples faces when its used on 'em. Also about that last idea on the whole "save your skin" deal, use it on a blocker who is about to get crushed, the other creature is still blocked AND you get the life (and the relief that your opponent didn't kill it).

Great removal, the best. no questions asked, but i do not agree that this is the best 1-drop, what about Ancestral Recall?

It's magic's ultimate sniper rifle! Think about it for one mana a creature is compeltely removed from play! The life gain will usually be minimal and in a good white weenie deck will be broken even quick. Another useful effect of this card often overlooked is that you can swords a creature of your own, to save your skin! Immensely powerful, short list all the way and a must for any white deck!

One mana for instant creature removal is sick. The life gain for your opponent is nothing worth worrying about as every decent magic player knows that life gain sucks. Hey it even removes Spiritmonger!

The most efficient creature removal ever printed, hands down.

Perfect to clean up those creature cards which you don't like. And that for only 1 mana. It even doesn't matter if the creature card is tapped or not. Your opponents gets a bit of life, but it's irrelevant... Conclusion buy it...

Swords to Plowshares is one of the two best creature elimination spells ever printed, along with Terminate. Both can remove anything that can be targeted. Some have even argued Terminate is better, but I don't think so. Many creatures have protection from black and/or red, Swords costs less and is only a single color, and Swords removes the creature from the game so it can't be returned by graveyard recursion. The life isn't nearly as important as controling the board. Every blue-white control deck not in Type II should play 3 or 4, as should Counter-Oath, White Weenie, and Five Color Control.

Sorry Khurtz from Fairport, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't take the advice of someone who claims that Krosan Grip is a better card than Tarmogoyf. And if I'm not mistaken, didn't you also say that planeswalkers had no place in a tournament deck? It sounds like you have even more to learn about MTG than I do.

This is ok, but it gives you opponent life and that's just not smart game play. Just use unmake instead. it is better