Two real cards, one slot in your deck. This comparison works from their actual text — mana value, type, and role — and ends with a verdict b...
Two real cards, one slot in your deck. This comparison works from their actual text — mana value, type, and role — and ends with a verdict by deck type, because 'which is better' always secretly means 'better for which deck'.
Murder
Murder (mana cost {1}{B}{B}; Instant; rarity: common; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Duskmourn: House of Horror):
Destroy target creature.
Hero's Downfall
Hero's Downfall (mana cost {1}{B}{B}; Instant; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Foundations):
Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
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The verdict, by deck type
Both are three-mana instant-speed removal for a creature, and one of them also hits planeswalkers. That single extra target class is the whole comparison — until colour requirements enter: the double-black cost is a real constraint in three-colour decks on a budget mana base. Verdict: if your mana can pay the stricter cost reliably, take the version that also answers planeswalkers; if your base is stretched across three or more colours, the easier cost that you can always cast beats the broader card you sometimes cannot.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins and Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins.
A last word on testing
The wins rarely come from a single spectacular play. They come from the deck doing its ordinary thing one turn earlier than the table expects, then doing it again while opponents are still setting up. Build for that ordinary game first: enough lands to make your drops, enough ramp to reach your key spells on schedule, and enough card flow that one removal spell slows you down instead of ending you.
There is also a lesson here about removal in general: the best removal spell in your deck is the one you can cast on the turn the threat appears. A broader card stranded in hand by its mana cost removes nothing, while a narrower card you can always cast removes exactly what it promises. When you tune this slot, track two numbers over your next ten games — how often you cast it, and how often you wished it were the other version. Ten games of that honest accounting will settle this comparison for your deck more reliably than any ranking list, including the verdict above.
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