Magic: The Gathering - 11 Best Fight Spells

Summary

• Fighting lets green cards deal with creatures more directly.
• Instant-speed fight spells like Inscription of Abundance offer flexibility and surprise tactics for green mages.
• Dromoka's Command ranks as the best fight spell, offering versatility with multiple modes and instant speed.

Throughout Magic: The Gathering’s history, green was not known as a color that could interact and kill opposing creatures with regularity outside of combat. Sure, it had ways to destroy permanents likes creatures with flying as well artifacts and enchantments, but straight-up creature removal was something it sorely lacked for many years.

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Enter the fight mechanic. Debuting in Innistrad in 2011, this ability became green’s go-to move for dealing with creatures outside of combat. Though “bite” spells (when a creature you control deals damage equal to its power to another target creature) might have evolved into the more popular green removal method over time, fight spells are still strong and eminently enjoyable to play with.

This list includes both instant and sorceries, as well as permanents that give you ways to fight.

11 Inscription of Abundance

Modal Fight Spell With Strong Kicker Ability

Part of the “inscription” Sultai (black, green, and blue) cycle of cards from Zendikar Rising, this modal spell includes two creatures fighting one another as one of its modes. The other two modes work well together, which is fitting, as this spell’s kicker allows all three modes to be chosen at the same time.

Instant-speed fight spells are often stronger options than sorcery-speed ones, as you can ambush an opponent during combat with spells such as these. If you can reach the five-mana cost of this card after the kicker is paid, you will have likely won the fight – and potentially the game.

10 Ezuri’s Predation

Extremely Strong (And Expensive) Mass Fight Spell

Eight mana is a lot for a sorcery spell. With a mana value that prohibitive, the card’s effect better be game-breaking. In the case of Ezuri’s Predation, that’s exactly the case.

This is a token-generating spell first and foremost, with the added bonus of each 4/4 creature token you create being able to fight an opposing creature. Opponent filled their board up with 1/1 goblins but failed to give them haste? As long as you can reach the massive mana cost, slapping this card down on the table will likely give you the warm and fuzzies… while your opponent fumes.

9 Domri, Anarch of Bolas

Highly Impactful Planeswalking Fight Enabler

Another repeatable fight activation, this one comes attached to the planeswalker Domri, Anarch of Bolas from the War of the Spark expansion. The design of this card is terrific as its static ability and loyalty abilities synergize perfectly.

As soon as you drop this card, Domri’s static ability gives your creatures +1/+0. This aids Domri’s -2 ability, which is the fight mechanic. On top of that, Domri can help you cast your creatures more quickly and get around counterspells with its +1 ability. Shame he himself wasn't good enough at fighting to survive the War of the Spark.

8 Tail Swipe

Cast As An Instant Or At Sorcery Speed For A Bonus

Instant-speed fight spells are often the cream of the crop, and this card from Dominaria United serves as a useful one-mana fight spell at instant speed. Also, it has some sweet artwork.

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As a strictly better version of the original fight spell, Prey Upon, Tail Swipe can actually be cast at sorcery speed during your main phase in order to get a marginal +1/+1 boost for your creature ahead of its tussle with a foe’s creature – which just might be the difference between your beater living or dying.

7 Decisive Denial

A Counterspell/Fight Modal Spell

Tacking a situational counterspell onto a fight spell sounds like it would make for a strong modal card, and Decisive Denial proves that. Originally printed in Strixhaven and reprinted in the Breaking News bonus sheet of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Decisive Denial is a highly versatile Simic (green/blue) fight spell.

Instant-speed fight spells are almost always going to be better options than their slower, sorcery-speed brethren, and Decisive Denial’s ability to either ambush a foe’s attacking creature or potentially counter a noncreature spell from your foe’s side is a combination that goes together like peanut butter and chocolate.

6 Ulvenwald Tracker

Repeatable Fights For The Win

Repeatable ways to fight opposing creatures, such as activated abilities, are another strong way to employ the fight mechanic. Originally printed in 2012 in Avacyn Restored, this one-mana 1/1 Human Shaman creature provides a fight on demand, as all it requires is one colorless mana, one green mana and a tap in order for one of your creatures to brawl with one of your foe’s.

This card is quite rare, as it’s only been reprinted twice since its debut over 10 years ago, so if you have a few of these lying around, toss it in a Commander deck and run wild as you fight your way to the top.

5 Arni Slays the Troll

The Best Enchantment Fight Spell

The only enchantment fight spell on this list, Arni Slays the Troll is a powerful Gruul (red/green) Saga from Kaldheim with the first chapter triggering a fight between one of your creatures and one of your foe’s.

However, like many Sagas, the value quotient only improves from there. The second chapter ramps your mana by adding a red mana to your mana pool and distributing two +1/+1 counters on one of your creatures. Lastly, chapter three lets you gain life equal to the highest power among creatures you control – likely the one you put the counters on the turn prior.

4 Bushwhack

Thin Your Deck Or Fight A Creature

Another modal fight spell, this card allows you to either thin your deck of basic lands, which is always useful, especially in the early game, or trigger a fight between a creature of yours and your opponent’s.

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Buswhack has also been used in Standard to great effect in Golgari shells that include Phyrexian Obliterator by forcing your opponent to fight the Obliterator, then watching them sacrifice all of their permanents, all for one mana.

3 Blizzard Brawl

The Best Snowball Fight In MTG History

While you have to be leaning heavily into the snow supertype to get the most out of this Kaldheim uncommon, the payoff is definitely worth it. For only one mana, as long as you have three snow permanents on the battlefield, you can slightly boost your creature’s power and also give it indestructible before it dukes it out with an opposing creature.

This card would likely have been number one on this list if it was an instant, but sadly it’s not. Still though, the overall power level on this one-mana fight spell is sky-high – showing how far the mechanic has come since its debut.

2 Primal Might

Simple, Highly Powerful Fight Spell

Simple yet brutally effective, Primal Might was a major player in Monogreen Stompy decks when it was legal in Standard. The utility of being able to use this as a (sorcery-speed) pump spell in addition to the fight mechanic was extremely valuable to those decks at the time, which were full of cards like Questing Beast, Lovestruck Beast, Gemrazer, Kazandu Mammoth and other beefy creatures that benefited heavily from fighting.

Again, lacking instant speed is an issue for this card, but the overall power level is impressive – and the Core Set 2021 artwork, once again, is pretty terrific. What is that, the spirit of a dinosaur giving the subject strength? Nice.