Selective Obliteration
Sorcery
Each player chooses a color. Then exile each permanent unless it's colorless or it's only the color its controller chose.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Modern Horizons 3 Commander
- Price
- $0.79
- EDHREC rank
- #3659
Selective Obliteration wipes the board of every nonland permanent that doesn't share a color with its controller's commander — in a five-color deck, that's effectively a one-sided Wrath of God that leaves your stuff standing. Ulalek, Fused Atrocity turns it into a free board wipe the moment you cast any Eldrazi, which is the most broken version of the effect in Commander right now.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity triggers a copy of every spell you cast with the same mana value, so casting a single Eldrazi causes Selective Obliteration to resolve multiple times — but even once is enough to clear the table while Ulalek's colorless permanents survive untouched.
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion cares about casting and copying spells with large mana values, and Selective Obliteration fits cleanly into that shell as a late-game reset that leaves a five-color commander's board completely intact.
Dawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought
Dawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought runs a high-cost Jeskai shell where most threats share its colors, making Selective Obliteration a one-sided wipe that punishes opponents playing outside white, blue, or red.
The Capitoline Triad
The Capitoline Triad gives you three commanders across different colors, and Selective Obliteration protects whichever permanents share any of those colors — the breadth of color identity makes surviving the wipe much easier than it looks.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Selective Obliteration is a Commander card through and through — the effect is explicitly built around the commander-identity rule, and it's at its most lopsided in five-color decks where opponents can't predict which side of the wipe they'll be on. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but competes against more efficient answers, and the commander-dependent condition makes it nearly unplayable outside of casual brews there. Oathbreaker is the one other format where the mechanic translates cleanly, since every deck has a designated planeswalker that doubles as a color anchor.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.79 bulk tier
At $0.79, Selective Obliteration is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a four-of or to slot into any five-color pile without thought. Demand is driven almost entirely by Ulalek, Fused Atrocity's popularity, so the price is stable as long as that commander stays in fashion.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
- Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
- Dawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought
- The Capitoline Triad
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.