Shroud vs. Board Wipes: A Comprehensive MTG Guide

Shroud and board wipes are two fundamental concepts in Magic: The Gathering (MTG). Understanding their interaction is crucial for effective gameplay and strategic deck building.

The short answer is: shroud does not protect a creature from board wipes. Board wipes are spells that affect all creatures (or other permanents) on the battlefield without targeting any specific one. Shroud prevents a permanent from being targeted by spells or abilities. Since board wipes do not target, shroud offers no protection against them.

Understanding Shroud

Shroud is a keyword ability in MTG that states: “This permanent can’t be the target of spells or abilities.” This means that neither you, nor your opponents, can cast spells or activate abilities that would specifically target a permanent with shroud. This can be both a blessing and a curse. While it protects your creature from targeted removal like “Murder” or “Lightning Bolt,” it also prevents you from buffing it with Auras like “Ethereal Armor” or Equipment like “Swiftfoot Boots.”

Implications of Shroud

• Protection from Targeted Removal: Prevents opponents from using spells or abilities that say “target” to remove or negatively affect your creature.
• Inability to Buff: You also cannot target your own creature with beneficial spells or abilities, such as auras, equipment, or pump spells.
• Strategic Consideration: Shroud requires careful consideration when building your deck and planning your plays. It’s a powerful defensive ability but can limit your own strategies.
• Example: If you control a creature with shroud, your opponent can’t cast “Doom Blade” targeting it. You also can’t cast “Giant Growth” targeting it.

Understanding Board Wipes

A board wipe, also known as a board sweeper, is a spell that affects all permanents (usually creatures) on the battlefield simultaneously. These spells typically destroy, exile, or otherwise remove all creatures from the battlefield, regardless of their individual abilities. Common examples include “Wrath of God,” “Damnation,” and “Cyclonic Rift.”

Characteristics of Board Wipes

• Non-Targeting Effects: Board wipes do not target individual creatures. They affect all creatures as a group.
• Global Impact: They clear the entire board, impacting both your creatures and your opponents’.
• Strategic Reset: Board wipes are often used to reset the game state, giving a player a chance to recover from a disadvantageous position.
• Color Association: White is the color most associated with board wipes (like “Wrath of God”), but they can also be found in black (like “Damnation”), blue (like “Cyclonic Rift”), and red (like “Blasphemous Act”).
• Example: If you cast “Wrath of God,” all creatures on the battlefield are destroyed, regardless of whether they have shroud or not.

Shroud vs. Board Wipes: Why Shroud Fails

The key reason why shroud fails against board wipes is that board wipes do not target. Shroud specifically protects against spells and abilities that use the word “target” in their rules text. Board wipes, by design, bypass this targeting restriction.

Examples

• “Wrath of God”: “Destroy all creatures. They can’t be regenerated.” This doesn’t target, so shroud is ineffective.
• “Damnation”: “Destroy all creatures. They can’t be regenerated.” Again, no targeting, no protection from shroud.
• “Cyclonic Rift”: “Return all nonland permanents you don’t control to their owners’ hands.” (Overload cost makes it affect opponents only.) This does not target, so it gets around shroud.

FAQs: Shroud and Board Wipes

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the nuances of shroud and board wipes:

1. Does Hexproof protect against board wipes? No. Hexproof, like shroud, only prevents targeting. Since board wipes don’t target, hexproof offers no protection.
2. If a creature has both Hexproof and Shroud, will it be protected from a board wipe? No. Both abilities prevent targeting, and board wipes bypass targeting altogether. Having both abilities provides no additional protection against non-targeting effects.
3. Does Protection from [Color] stop board wipes? It depends on what the board wipe does. Protection from [Color] prevents damage, enchanting/equipping, blocking, and targeting by sources of that color. A typical white board wipe that destroys creatures, like “Wrath of God,” does not target or deal damage, so protection from white does nothing. However, if a black board wipe gives creatures -X/-X, protection from black will prevent creatures from being affected.
4. Can I protect my creatures from board wipes? Yes. Methods include:
   • Giving them Indestructible (e.g., with “Boros Charm” or “Darksteel Plate”). Note that an exile-based board wipe will still work.
   • Regenerating them (though this only works against destroy effects).
   • Using spells that prevent all damage (like “Fog”).
   • Having them return to your hand (like with “Eerie Interlude”).
5. Does Indestructible stop all board wipes? Indestructible prevents creatures from being destroyed. However, it does not protect against effects that exile creatures or give them -X/-X until their toughness is 0.
6. How does Shroud interact with equipment like “Lightning Greaves”? “Lightning Greaves” grants shroud. This means that once equipped, you can no longer target the equipped creature with any further spells or abilities, even beneficial ones. If you later unequip “Lightning Greaves”, the shroud effect disappears.
7. Is “Cyclonic Rift” a board wipe? Yes, “Cyclonic Rift” is generally considered a board wipe, especially when overloaded. Overloading the spell returns all nonland permanents you don’t control to their owners’ hands.
8. How many board wipes should I run in my deck? The number of board wipes depends on your deck strategy and the meta. Generally, 3-4 board wipes are sufficient, but some decks may require more or fewer.
9. Can I counter a board wipe spell? Yes. Counterspells like “Counterspell” or “Negate” can be used to counter a board wipe while it is on the stack.
10. What is the difference between Shroud and Hexproof? Shroud prevents the permanent from being targeted by any spells or abilities, including its controller’s. Hexproof only prevents opponents from targeting the permanent. You can still target your own creature with hexproof.
11. Why would I choose Shroud over Hexproof? Shroud is generally seen as less desirable than hexproof since it prevents you from targeting your own creatures. However, in specific scenarios where you want to prevent even yourself from accidentally targeting a creature (e.g., to avoid misclicks in digital versions of MTG), shroud might be beneficial.
12. Does a Shield counter prevent board wipes? Shield counters prevent a permanent from being destroyed or taking damage. It does not stop a creature from being exiled, returned to your hand, or sacrificed. A board wipe that exiles creatures will bypass a shield counter.
13. Does shroud prevent Deathtouch? Deathtouch means that any amount of damage a creature deals to another creature is enough to destroy it. Shroud protects against targeting, not against being dealt damage. Shroud therefore does not prevent Deathtouch.
14. Does giving my creatures Protection from White protect them from “Wrath of God”? Protection prevents damage, enchanting/equipping, blocking, and targeting. Wrath of God doesn’t target, and doesn’t deal damage, so the creatures are not protected.
15. How does Ashiok’s Erasure affect the Commander? Ashiok’s Erasure exiles a spell and allows you to cast it. It won’t stop players from casting spells if there is no exiled card, or if the card leaves exile. If a Commander spell moves to the command zone in the Commander variant, then Ashiok’s Erasure won’t stop the card from being cast.

Conclusion

Shroud is a powerful ability that protects against targeted spells and abilities. However, it provides no protection against board wipes, which affect all creatures without targeting specific ones. Understanding this distinction is crucial for strategic deck building and effective gameplay in MTG. By mastering the nuances of shroud and board wipes, you can make more informed decisions and improve your overall game.

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