Decimate

Decimate was first introduced to the Magic: The Gathering ecosystem in the 2001 Odyssey expansion, serving as a powerful, albeit conditional, removal spell designed to punish decks that heavily utilized multiple card types. Its inclusion in the 2014 Conspiracy set, a multiplayer-focused draft environment, brought the card to a wider audience, as its requirement to target four distinct permanent types—creature, artifact, enchantment, and land—perfectly complemented the chaotic, high-interaction nature of the multiplayer format.

The card’s visual identity was originally illustrated by Greg Staples, whose work often captures the gritty and visceral nature of the game’s combat. In the context of Conspiracy, the design philosophy focused on high-variance interactions that force players to negotiate or carefully time their plays. The card remains a quintessential example of red-green utility, valued by players for its ability to generate massive board parity, provided the game state is sufficiently developed.