Does Protection from Everything Prevent Sacrifice?
No, protection from everything does NOT prevent a creature from being sacrificed. Sacrifice effects do not target, deal damage, enchant, equip, or block, all of which are actions prevented by protection. The sacrifice mechanic involves a player choosing to move a permanent they control to the graveyard as part of the cost or effect of a spell or ability. Because protection from everything doesn’t interact with sacrifice, a creature with this ability can still be sacrificed.
Understanding Protection in Detail
The ability “protection from everything” might sound like an absolute defense, but it has specific limitations within the rules of Magic: The Gathering. To truly understand why it doesn’t stop sacrifice, let’s break down what protection does and doesn’t do.
What Protection Does Prevent
The core of protection can be summarized with the acronym D.E.B.T.:
- Damage: Prevents all damage that sources of the specified quality (in this case, everything) would deal to the protected permanent.
- Enchanting/Equipping: Prevents Auras (enchantments attached to a permanent or player) and Equipment of the specified quality from being attached to the protected permanent.
- Blocking: Prevents creatures of the specified quality from blocking the protected creature.
- Targeting: Prevents spells of the specified quality and abilities from sources of the specified quality from targeting the protected permanent or player.
So, a creature with protection from everything cannot be targeted by any spell or ability, cannot be damaged by any source, cannot be blocked by any creature, and cannot be enchanted or equipped by any Aura or Equipment. This sounds powerful, and it is, but it’s not all-encompassing.
What Protection Doesn’t Prevent
Protection has some significant gaps in its defensive capabilities. Notably, it doesn’t stop:
- Effects that don’t target: Spells or abilities that affect multiple permanents or players without targeting specific ones can still affect a permanent with protection.
- Sacrifice effects: As mentioned earlier, sacrifice isn’t targeting, damage, enchanting/equipping, or blocking, so protection does nothing to prevent it.
- Effects that remove abilities: Some spells or abilities can remove protection itself, such as cards that can remove abilities or turn creatures into something else.
- Effects that reduce the number of permanents a player controls: While a specific permanent with protection can’t be targeted, effects that require a player to sacrifice or discard things in general, based on some other trigger, get around protection. For example, if a player has to sacrifice a creature at random, the creature with protection is not immune to that effect.
- Paying costs: Sacrifice effects are often part of the cost to play a spell or activate an ability. Costs are paid before a spell or ability resolves, and protection doesn’t prevent a player from choosing to sacrifice a protected creature as part of paying a cost.
- Losing the game: Protection is great, but it doesn’t guarantee victory!
Sacrifice: An Act of Choice
Sacrifice in Magic is typically either part of the cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, or it’s an effect of a spell or ability. In either case, protection from everything doesn’t prevent it because sacrifice isn’t doing any of the things protection prevents (DEBT).
Sacrificing as a cost: If a card says “As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature,” you choose which creature to sacrifice (if you control any), even one with protection from everything. This is because you are choosing to pay the cost, not because the spell is targeting or damaging the creature.
Sacrificing as an effect: Some spells or abilities have an effect that forces a player to sacrifice a permanent. Even if you control a creature with protection from everything, you can still be required to sacrifice it if you have no other creatures to sacrifice and you are forced to sacrifice something. The effect isn’t targeting the creature, it’s forcing you to choose something to sacrifice.
Examples in Action
Let’s consider some real-world examples to cement this understanding:
- A player controls Progenitus, a creature with protection from everything. Another player casts “Diabolic Edict,” which says, “Target player sacrifices a creature.” The player controlling Progenitus must sacrifice Progenitus. Even though Diabolic Edict targets a player, it doesn’t target the creature, and no effects prevented by protection are happening, so Progenitus must be sacrificed.
- A player controls Progenitus. They cast “Phyrexian Altar,” which says, “Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” The player can sacrifice Progenitus to activate Phyrexian Altar. This is because the player is choosing to sacrifice Progenitus as a cost, and protection doesn’t prevent paying costs.
Common Misconceptions
A common misconception is that “protection from everything” makes a creature invincible. However, protection has limitations, and understanding these limitations is crucial to mastering Magic: The Gathering. It is a strong ability, but it’s not a foolproof defense against everything your opponent can throw at you.
FAQs: Protection and Sacrifice
Here are 15 Frequently Asked Questions about protection from everything and sacrifice effects to further clarify the interactions:
1. If a creature has protection from everything, can it be targeted by a sacrifice effect?
No, a creature with protection from everything can’t be targeted by a spell or ability. But sacrifice effects often don’t target a specific permanent, but instead a player who then chooses which permanent to sacrifice.
2. Can I choose to sacrifice a creature with protection from everything as a cost?
Yes, absolutely. Paying costs is a player choice, and protection doesn’t prevent you from choosing to sacrifice a protected creature.
3. Does “All is Dust” force a creature with protection from everything to be sacrificed?
Yes, “All is Dust” forces each player to sacrifice all colorless permanents they control. Because this is a sacrifice effect and it is not targeting, the player controlling a creature with protection from everything must still sacrifice it if it is colorless.
4. If I control a creature with protection from everything and my opponent plays a board wipe like Wrath of God, does my creature survive?
No. Wrath of God doesn’t target. Protection only prevents against DEBT (Damage, Enchanting/Equipping, Blocking, and Targeting). Because of that, it will be destroyed by the Wrath of God effect.
5. Can a creature with protection from everything be exiled instead of sacrificed?
Protection only cares about the DEBT acronym. Exiling a creature with protection from everything is possible as long as it’s not from a source that would target it.
6. What happens if a card says “Destroy all creatures” and one of my creatures has protection from everything?
The creature with protection from everything would be destroyed along with all other creatures because the “destroy” effect does not target.
7. If a spell says, “Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn” and I target a creature with protection from everything, will the spell resolve?
No, the spell cannot target a permanent with protection from everything, and thus would not resolve.
8. Does protection from everything prevent -1/-1 counters from being placed on a creature?
No, protection from everything does not prevent -1/-1 counters from being placed on a creature, as this is neither damage nor targeting (if applied as a non-targeted effect, such as via a global enchantment).
9. Can a creature with protection from everything block a creature with deathtouch?
Since nothing can block a creature with protection from everything, this is not possible. The creature with protection from everything can not be blocked by anything, and because of that it would not be able to block a creature with deathtouch.
10. If a creature has both indestructible and protection from everything, can it be sacrificed?
Yes, a creature with both indestructible and protection from everything can still be sacrificed. Indestructible only prevents destruction, but sacrifice is not destruction, and protection doesn’t prevent sacrifice.
11. If a creature has hexproof and protection from everything, can it be sacrificed?
Hexproof prevents the creature from being targeted by your opponents’ spells or abilities. But it does not protect against effects that do not target and it will be sacrificed as a sacrifice effect that does not target.
12. Can a creature with protection from everything be bounced back to its owner’s hand?
Yes, if the effect that returns the creature to its owner’s hand doesn’t target. Targeted bounce effects won’t work, but effects that say “Return all creatures to their owner’s hands” will still affect a creature with protection from everything.
13. What happens if a spell says, “Each player sacrifices a creature”?
Each player must sacrifice a creature, including players who control creatures with protection from everything, if they have no other creatures to sacrifice.
14. Does shroud prevent sacrifice?
No, shroud only prevents the permanent from being the target of spells or abilities. Like protection, it doesn’t stop sacrifice effects.
15. Where can I learn more about Magic: The Gathering rules and strategies?
You can learn a great deal about the game by reading the official rulebook from Wizards of the Coast, by watching videos, and by participating in the Magic: The Gathering community. Game-based learning is also an educational avenue to explore! You can also investigate communities like the Games Learning Society to further explore these connections. GamesLearningSociety.org provides resources and research on the educational impact of gaming.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while “protection from everything” is a powerful defensive ability in Magic: The Gathering, it does not prevent a creature from being sacrificed. Sacrifice sidesteps the defenses offered by protection, making it a valuable tool for overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Understanding the nuances of game mechanics like this one is crucial for becoming a skilled Magic player.