Wash OutHow it works & interactions with other cards

Choosing a Color

When Wash Out resolves, you choose one of the five colors in Magic: The Gathering: white, blue, black, red, or green. You cannot choose 'colorless' because colorless is not a color. The spell then affects all permanents on the battlefield that share that specific color, regardless of who controls them. This includes creatures, enchantments, planeswalkers, and even lands if they have been turned into colored permanents.

How it Resolves

First, you cast Wash Out and it goes on the stack. Upon resolution, you make your choice of color; your opponents cannot react after you have chosen the color, so they must use their responses while the spell is still on the stack. Once the color is named, every permanent of that color is simultaneously returned to its owner's hand. Any tokens affected by this will cease to exist once they leave the battlefield and state-based actions are checked.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is trying to target colorless artifacts or lands with Wash Out. Since artifacts are typically colorless unless specified otherwise, Wash Out will not affect them if you choose a color. Additionally, remember that Wash Out affects your own permanents too. If you choose blue while you have blue creatures out, they will return to your hand along with your opponents' blue permanents.

When to Play It

Wash Out is most effective against mono-colored decks or decks that rely heavily on a single color for their board presence. It is a fantastic way to deal with tokens or permanents that have hexproof or indestructible, as the spell does not target and does not destroy. It is often used to buy time to set up a win condition or to force an opponent to discard their newly returned hand.

Interaction examples

The Blue Bounce Combo

Windfall

First, cast Wash Out and choose a color that your opponent has heavily committed to the board, returning all those cards to their hand. In your next main phase (or the same one if you have the mana), cast Windfall. Since your opponent now has a massive hand full of the permanents you just bounced, Windfall will force them to discard all of those cards, effectively turning your bounce spell into a permanent board wipe.

Dealing with Artifacts

Fabricate

If your opponent is playing a deck with many artifacts, Wash Out might seem weak because it cannot choose colorless. You can use Fabricate to search your library for a specific artifact that might change the color of permanents or provide a different solution. Remember that if an opponent uses an effect to make their artifacts a certain color, Wash Out can then be used to bounce them all at once.