Wrath of God (Original Art)

Wrath of God is a four-mana white sorcery that destroys all creatures, they can’t be regenerated. First printed in Alpha (1993), it has been one of the defining control spells in Magic’s entire history. Wrath of God is known as the original board wipe, the template for all “destroy all creatures” effects since 1993. It’s an unconditional and efficient removal spell that can reset the board when you’re behind. It punishes overextension from aggro decks and creates some form of inevitability, since control decks can rely on it to survive to the late game. Wrath of God has been part of nearly every major white control deck since Magic’s early competitive days. During Standard Pro Tour New York 1996, Michael Loconto’s winning UW Control list played the full four copies of Wrath of God. Wrath of God continued to be a four-of staple in UW(x) Control throughout Extended and early Standard formats (1997-2005). It used to be played a lot in various Legacy and some Vintage UW(x) Control decks, but newer sweepers like Supreme Verdict and Terminus have mostly replaced it. Nowadays, Wrath of God still sees some competitive play in certain Modern decks (e.g. Mono White Control, Martyr Life, and Urzatron). In Old School (93/94), UW(x) Control (“The Deck”) still occasionally plays some copies. Wrath of God is not on the Reserved List, it has been reprinted many times.