In competitive Magic: The Gathering gameplay, having reliable spot removal in your maindeck isn’t just important—it’s essential. You can’t afford to sit back and hope your opponent doesn’t stick a threat you can’t answer.

Whether it’s a turn-one Ragavan, a Greasefang combo piece, or a Vivi to go off with the cauldron, you need clean, efficient answers on Game One. If your only plan is to race or outvalue them, you’re playing with fire. Spot removal keeps the game in check, gives you breathing room, and buys you time to execute your plan.

Mainboarding spot removal is also about flexibility. You don’t always know what you’ll face in game one—this is especially true in large tournaments where you’re up against everything from aggro to midrange to combo. If your maindeck lacks interaction, you’re rolling the dice on matchups. Spot removal helps even out the odds. A card like Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, or Prismatic Ending doesn’t care what the matchup is—it just usually deals with what’s in front of you. That’s the kind of card you want when the meta’s wide open or unpredictable. Do take note that burn spells can also be used to fill the damage reach that you need in some situations.

There’s also a psychological edge. When your opponent knows you can kill their threat, they have to play differently. They can’t just slam a creature and expect it to stick. That slows them down, forces them to think, and gives you the upper hand in tempo. Even a single open mana can represent a lot if you’ve got instant-speed removal. You don’t have to overcommit—you just wait, pick your spot, and punish them when they overextend.

Spot removal also helps smooth out your game plan. Even in control or combo shells, sometimes you just need to survive long enough to stabilize. A turn-two removal spell into a board wipe can mean the difference between winning and losing. If you ignore spot removal, you’re putting all your faith in a perfect draw or an opponent who stumbles. That’s not a plan; that’s a hope. Tournament Magic is about minimizing variance, and spot removal is one of the best ways to do that.

Finally, it comes down to respect—respecting the format and the threats in it. You build a deck to win, not to goldfish. If your maindeck has no answers to creatures or critical pieces, you’re conceding game one far too often. The sideboard is for tuning and not fixing a bad game-one plan. A solid removal package shows you’re prepared, that you know the field, and that you’re not giving anyone a free win. That’s how you survive deep into a tournament. That’s how you win.

Thanks for reading, and until next time.