TLDR
- Around 10 dedicated answers is a useful starting point for many Commander decks.
- Slower and control-oriented decks may want 12 or more.
- Run cheap spot removal instead of relying entirely on expensive answers.
- Include ways to deal with more than creatures.
- Most decks also benefit from a few board wipes.
- Adjust the numbers after actual games instead of treating any deckbuilding formula as law.
There is a very specific moment in Commander when you realize your deck does not run enough removal.
Someone plays a permanent that absolutely has to go.
You look at seven cards in your hand. Then you look at the graveyard. Then you look at the other players with the universal facial expression for “surely one of you brought an answer.”
Nobody did.
So how much removal should you run in Commander?
For a normal Commander deck, I like starting around 10 dedicated pieces of removal and adjusting from there. That is not a sacred number. Aggressive decks can sometimes go lower. Control decks frequently want more.
But ten is enough to force you to make room for interaction instead of filling all 99 slots with things your deck hopes to do.
Commander Creates More Problems to Answer
A normal Commander deck contains 100 cards including the commander and generally follows singleton deck construction.
That already makes drawing one specific answer less reliable than it would be in a format where you can run four copies.
Then there is the multiplayer problem.
You are not facing one opponent’s threats. You are facing three players who are all developing their own boards.
You should not try to remove everything they cast. You would run out of cards immediately.
But your deck needs a reasonable chance of finding an answer when something actually matters.
Start With About 10 Answers
Different Commander writers use slightly different baselines. Recommendations around 8 to 14 dedicated removal spells are common, with the number changing based on archetype and playgroup.
For a first draft, I would start somewhere around:
- 5 to 7 pieces of targeted removal
- 2 to 3 board wipes
- 1 to 3 flexible answers
There can be overlap.
A flexible spell that destroys several permanent types is still targeted removal. A modal spell may be useful in several categories.
The point is not making your spreadsheet beautiful. The point is making sure your deck can answer different kinds of threats.
Cheap Removal Is Better Than Removal You Cannot Cast
Commander players love value.
That can lead to interaction packages full of four-, five-, and six-mana spells because those cards technically do more.
But sometimes you just need the creature gone now.
If an opponent is threatening to win and your only removal costs five mana, it does not matter that the card would have generated excellent value next turn.
Include several answers you can cast while still advancing your own board.
One- and two-mana answers are especially useful because you can keep them available without advertising that your entire turn is being held open.
Do Not Only Kill Creatures
Newer Commander decks often have plenty of creature removal and almost no way to touch anything else.
Then an artifact, enchantment, planeswalker, land engine, or graveyard strategy takes over the game.
Your interaction package should reflect what your colors can realistically answer.
White and green have access to broad permanent removal. Blue can counter, bounce, and redirect. Black has excellent creature removal and increasingly broad tools. Red handles creatures and artifacts well.
You do not need equal numbers for every permanent type.
You do need a plan.
Flexible cards become especially valuable because they reduce the chance that an answer sits dead in your hand.
Board Wipes Are a Different Tool
Single-target removal solves a problem.
A board wipe solves a situation.
If two opponents have built overwhelming boards, trading one card for one creature does not get you very far.
A few sweepers give slower decks a way to reset games that have moved beyond ordinary spot removal.
But too many wipes can also clog your hand, especially in creature-heavy decks that are trying to build their own battlefield.
Two or three is a reasonable starting point for many decks. Control lists may want more. Fast proactive lists may want fewer.
Count Interaction Your Commander Provides
Your commander can change the math.
If your commander repeatedly destroys, bounces, counters, fights, or otherwise neutralizes opposing cards, your deck already has access to interaction from the command zone.
That can justify trimming a spell or two.
The opposite is also true.
A commander that only generates cards, tokens, mana, or combo pieces is not helping you answer anything. Those decks usually need a stronger interaction package in the 99.
Tune the Deck After You Play It
The best interaction number is the one your actual games support.
After five or ten games, ask:
Did I repeatedly die with no answers?
Did I constantly draw removal while falling behind on my own plan?
Could I remove creatures but never artifacts or enchantments?
Was all my interaction too expensive?
Did my sweepers save games or sit dead in my hand?
Those questions are much more useful than blindly following somebody’s deck template.
FAQs
Is 10 Removal Spells Enough in Commander?
Often, yes, as a starting point. Slower decks, control decks, and high-interaction playgroups may need more.
Do Counterspells Count as Removal?
I would count them as interaction rather than literal removal, but they can fill some of the same deckbuilding slots because they stop threats before those threats resolve.
Does Protection Count as Interaction?
Protection helps your plan survive, but it does not always answer what an opponent is doing. I would normally track protection separately.
Final Thoughts
So how much removal should you run in Commander?
Start around ten real answers. Make several of them cheap. Cover more than creatures. Add a few ways to reset the board.
Then play the deck.
If you keep staring at game-ending permanents while holding five synergy cards and no answer, you have your diagnosis.
The final three cute cards in your deck probably were not as important as you thought.