Protecting Your Planeswalkers: A Comprehensive Guide

Yes, you absolutely can protect a Planeswalker in Magic: The Gathering! While Planeswalkers may seem vulnerable, strategically defending them is a crucial aspect of gameplay. You can defend against attacks by blocking with your creatures, using instant-speed spells to remove threats, or employing other strategic defenses. A well-protected Planeswalker can generate significant value, turning the tide of battle in your favor. Mastering Planeswalker defense is key to becoming a formidable MTG player.

Understanding Planeswalker Vulnerabilities

Planeswalkers are powerful card types that add a unique dimension to Magic: The Gathering. They enter the battlefield with a certain number of loyalty counters, which can be added or subtracted by using their abilities. However, these counters also represent their “health.” Damage dealt to a planeswalker removes loyalty counters, and when a planeswalker reaches zero loyalty, it’s sent to the graveyard. This vulnerability makes protecting them a critical aspect of deck building and gameplay.

Methods of Planeswalker Protection

There are several ways to shield your Planeswalkers from harm:

• Creature Blocking: The most straightforward method. When an opponent attacks a planeswalker, you can declare creatures you control as blockers. These creatures will engage in combat with the attacking creatures, potentially absorbing the damage that would otherwise be inflicted on your Planeswalker.

• Instant-Speed Removal: Using instants like removal spells (e.g., Murder, Lightning Bolt when redirected) to eliminate attacking creatures before they can deal damage to your Planeswalker. This is reactive, but highly effective.

• Preventative Measures: Cards that hinder your opponent’s ability to attack, like Propaganda effects (which, despite initial confusion, do not directly protect planeswalkers, but rather make it more costly for opponents to attack you, indirectly protecting your Planeswalkers), Ghostly Prison, or “pillow fort” strategies that make attacks less appealing.

• Planeswalker Abilities: Some Planeswalkers have abilities that create tokens or otherwise generate defensive creatures that can block for them.

• Indestructibility: While a Planeswalker can become indestructible, this only prevents destruction – it doesn’t stop them from losing loyalty counters from damage. An indestructible Planeswalker with 0 loyalty still goes to the graveyard.

• Redirect Damage: Spells that deal damage to a player can be redirected to a Planeswalker the player controls. Knowing when and how to use these redirections is key.

Deck Building for Planeswalker Protection

Beyond in-game tactics, constructing your deck with Planeswalker defense in mind is crucial:

• Creature Balance: Include a sufficient number of creatures that can serve as blockers. Decks overly reliant on non-creature spells can struggle to protect their Planeswalkers.

• Removal Suite: A well-rounded collection of removal spells is essential for dealing with threats before they reach your Planeswalkers.

• Mana Curve: Ensure a smooth mana curve so you can deploy creatures and removal spells efficiently.

• Color Considerations: Certain colors offer better protection than others. White, for example, excels at preventing damage and creating defensive creatures, while blue can use counterspells and bounce effects to disrupt attacks.

Planeswalkers and Strategy

Effectively protecting Planeswalkers hinges on understanding their role in your overall strategy. Are they a primary win condition, or do they provide incremental advantage? The answer influences how aggressively you need to defend them. Knowing your opponent’s deck is also key. If they are playing a creature-heavy deck, you’ll need more blockers and removal than if they are playing a control deck. The Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org highlights the strategic depth of games like Magic, and understanding these nuances is crucial for success.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can Propaganda protect Planeswalkers?

No, Propaganda and similar effects (like Ghostly Prison) do not directly protect Planeswalkers. They make it more expensive for your opponent to attack you, which can indirectly deter them from attacking your Planeswalkers, but the effect targets the player, not the Planeswalker itself.

2. How do you keep Planeswalkers alive?

By using a combination of creature blocking, removal spells, and preventative measures. Understanding your opponent’s strategy and adapting your defenses accordingly is key.

3. Can a Planeswalker be attacked?

Yes, a Planeswalker can be attacked directly by your opponent’s creatures. When declaring attackers, your opponent chooses whether to attack you or one of your Planeswalkers.

4. Can a Planeswalker become indestructible?

Yes, a Planeswalker can gain indestructible, but this doesn’t prevent them from losing loyalty counters. If a Planeswalker with indestructible reaches 0 loyalty, it is still put into the graveyard.

5. What kills a Planeswalker?

• Attacking creatures reducing its loyalty to 0.
• Spells or abilities that deal damage, reducing its loyalty to 0.
• “Destroy target permanent” spells.
• Reaching 0 loyalty through the use of its own abilities or opponent actions.

6. Are Planeswalkers immune to deathtouch?

No, Planeswalkers are not immune to deathtouch. Deathtouch works by causing any damage dealt by the source with deathtouch to be lethal to a creature. However, if damage from a source with deathtouch is redirected to a planeswalker, the planeswalker simply loses that many loyalty counters. An ability like that of Vraska, Swarm’s Eminence is required to have deathtouch directly affect planeswalkers.

7. Can you blink a Planeswalker and activate it again?

Yes, you can blink a Planeswalker (exile it and return it to the battlefield immediately) and then activate another of its abilities in the same turn. This works because the blinked Planeswalker is treated as a new object.

8. Do board wipes affect Planeswalkers?

Some board wipes can affect Planeswalkers, especially those that deal damage to all creatures and Planeswalkers. Others, which only affect creatures, will leave Planeswalkers unharmed.

9. Can Planeswalkers be targeted?

Generally, no. Spells typically target players or creatures. However, damage intended for a player can often be redirected to a Planeswalker they control.

10. How do you protect Planeswalkers in Commander?

In Commander, protecting Planeswalkers involves:

• Playing a creature-heavy deck or a deck that generates tokens for blocking.
• Using “pillow fort” cards to discourage attacks.
• Using board wipes to clear the field for your planeswalkers.

11. Can you Fireball a Planeswalker?

You cannot directly target a Planeswalker with Fireball. However, you can target the Planeswalker’s controller and then redirect the damage to the Planeswalker.

12. Does Hexproof stop Deathtouch?

Hexproof prevents a permanent from being the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. Deathtouch, on the other hand, is a static ability that affects the damage a creature deals. If a creature with deathtouch deals damage to a Planeswalker, hexproof on the Planeswalker will not prevent the damage.

13. What is the Legend Rule for Planeswalkers?

The Legend Rule states that if you control two or more Planeswalkers with the exact same name (e.g., two Jace, the Mind Sculptor), you must choose one to keep and the others are put into the graveyard. However, you can control different versions of Jace (e.g., Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Jace Beleren) simultaneously.

14. Can a Planeswalker have 0 loyalty?

Yes, a Planeswalker can have 0 loyalty. When a Planeswalker’s loyalty reaches 0, it is immediately put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action.

15. What is an indestructible Planeswalker with 0 loyalty?

An indestructible Planeswalker with 0 loyalty is still put into its owner’s graveyard. Indestructibility prevents destruction, but doesn’t prevent the state-based action of a Planeswalker being removed when it has no loyalty counters.

Protecting your Planeswalkers requires a combination of strategic deck building, tactical gameplay, and a thorough understanding of the rules. Master these elements, and you’ll be well on your way to dominating the battlefield.