I frequently see the argument made that Combrei has no removal outside of Silence effects (Dispel and Desert Marshall, primarily). I’m here to tell you that those cards are functionally removal.

Let’s take a look at the common units and see which ones are hit the hardest by Silence. Units with minor battle abilities such as Endurance or Overwhelm aren’t great targets for Silence. Nor are units with Summon abilities or units without abilities (obviously). Units with Flying, Deadly, Warcry, Entomb, Lifesteal, Quickdraw, Infiltrate, Ultimate, and Empower are all great targets for Silence effects.

At common there are 24 units that are mostly unaffected by Silence. By comparison, there are about 38 units that get weakened by a Silence effect.

At uncommon, there are 27 units unaffected by Silence and a whooping 48 units that get hurt by Silence.

At rare, there are only 13 rares unaffected by Silence and 47 units weakened by it. Some of those are debatable, as Impending Doom and Champion of Progress are still significant problems even if they are silenced. Also at rare there is a significant difference between Dispel and Desert Marshall for a few cards such as Recurring Nightmare and Predatory Carnosaur.

As you can see, Silence effects get better the higher the rarity of the target. This means that silence effects are even better against your opponent’s best cards.

One caveat to Silence effects compare to hard removal is that for many units, there will still be a body to deal with. A 3/3 ground unit is a lot easier to manage than a 3/3 flyer, but you still need a board presence. Make sure you still have a sufficient number of units in your deck.