Understanding Protection from Multicolored in Magic: The Gathering
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The concept of protection in Magic: The Gathering (MTG) can be a tricky one, especially when dealing with nuanced cases like protection from multicolored. Simply put, protection from multicolored means that a permanent (usually a creature) with this ability cannot be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, enchanted, or equipped by any source that has more than one color. This means it enjoys an exceptional level of safety against a wide range of threats, adding a crucial layer to gameplay.
How Does Protection from Multicolored Work?
A creature with protection from multicolored is effectively immune to the actions of any card or ability that is not a single color. Let’s break down the specific implications:
- Cannot be Blocked: Multicolored creatures can’t be used to block a creature with protection from multicolored. This significantly enhances the protected creature’s offensive potential, allowing it to attack unimpeded.
- Cannot be Targeted: Spells and abilities with multicolored costs or effects cannot target the protected creature. This includes targeted removal, counterspells, and anything else that explicitly targets.
- Cannot be Dealt Damage: Multicolored sources can’t deal damage to the protected creature. This covers both combat damage from multicolored creatures and direct damage from multicolored spells or abilities.
- Cannot be Enchanted or Equipped: Auras and Equipment with a multicolored cost can’t be attached to the protected creature. This prevents opponents from buffing their creatures or debuffing the protected one.
It’s crucial to note that protection is not an all-encompassing shield. It only applies to the specific criteria defined by its text. In this case, that criteria is sources that are multicolored. Single-colored sources, as well as non-targeting effects, are unaffected.
Protection in Action: Examples
To truly grasp the mechanics of protection from multicolored, let’s look at some hypothetical scenarios:
- Scenario 1: A creature with protection from multicolored attacks. Your opponent has a blue-black creature ready to block. Because of protection from multicolored, the blue-black creature cannot block it.
- Scenario 2: An opponent plays a red-white removal spell targeting a creature you control that has protection from multicolored. The spell will not affect your creature due to protection.
- Scenario 3: You have a green creature with protection from multicolored, and your opponent casts a black-green enchantment with a “target creature” ability. The enchantment cannot be attached to your green creature because of the protection from multicolored.
Strategic Implications of Protection
Protection from multicolored is a valuable ability on any card. It allows you to push damage through in the attack phase, make threats very difficult to interact with, and maintain a strong board presence against opponents who rely on multicolored spells and creatures. Decks that rely heavily on multicolored strategies will find it exceptionally challenging to deal with creatures with this protection.
Key Considerations
When evaluating protection, it’s vital to distinguish between different protection abilities. While protection from multicolored provides immunity against a specific type of threat, it does not stop everything. For example, a creature with protection from multicolored is still vulnerable to effects from single-colored sources, as well as non-targeting abilities or board wipes, so you should still be mindful of this.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Protection from a Color Prevent Multicolored?
Yes, protection from a color will prevent anything of that color from affecting the protected creature, including multicolored sources. For instance, a creature with protection from blue is immune to a blue-red spell, as the spell is considered blue. The spell may also be prevented from targeting it because the effect has a cost with blue in it.
What Does Multicolored Mean in MTG?
Multicolored cards in MTG are cards that require mana from two or more different colors to be played. These cards typically combine the characteristics and mechanics of all the colors used in their mana costs.
Does Protection from a Color Prevent Destroy Effects?
No, protection from a color does not prevent destroy effects if they are not targeting. Protection stops targeting, damage, blocking, enchanting, and equipping. Board wipes such as Wrath of God do not target, and are unaffected by protection from color.
How Does Protection from Color Work?
A creature with protection from a color can’t be blocked by creatures of that color, can’t be targeted by spells of that color or abilities from sources of that color, can’t be enchanted or equipped by Auras or Equipment of that color, and all damage that sources of that color would deal to it is prevented.
How Does Protection Work with Multicolored Cards?
When a multicolored creature attacks a creature with protection from multicolored, the latter can’t be blocked, and the multicolored creature can’t deal damage. If a multicolored spell is cast targeting a creature with protection from multicolored, it won’t work.
Does Protection from a Color Prevent Trample Damage?
Yes. When a creature with protection from a color blocks a creature of that color with trample, the trample damage is prevented from reaching the player. In this case, the attacker must assign lethal damage to the blocker first, and because that damage is prevented due to protection, the remainder of the damage will not trample through to the player.
Does Protection from a Color Include Spells?
Yes. Protection from a color means that the target creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities of that color.
Does Protection Stop Deathtouch?
Yes. Protection from a color will prevent all damage dealt by creatures and spells of that color. If no damage is done, deathtouch has no effect.
Does Protection from Color Stop Board Wipes?
No. Board wipes like Damnation or Wrath of God do not target, and are not affected by protection from a color.
What is the Difference Between Protection from Multicolored and Deathtouch?
Deathtouch requires damage dealt to a creature, where as protection from a color or multicolored prevents any damage from a source of that color or with multiple colors.
Does Protection from All Colors Stop Deathtouch?
Yes. Protection from all colors prevents any damage dealt to the protected creature. No damage means no deathtouch trigger.
Does Shroud Protect from Board Wipes?
No. Shroud only prevents cards from targeting the creature with shroud. Board wipes don’t target so they are not affected by this.
Can I Block a Creature with Protection?
You can’t block with a creature that has the same color as the protection on the attacking creature. For example, if an attacking creature has protection from blue, your blue creatures cannot block it.
Does Protection from Everything Protect from Colorless?
Yes, if a card grants protection from everything, then it includes colorless sources.
Can You Have Protection from Colorless?
Although there are no current cards granting this protection, if a card did, then protection from colorless would work like any other protection clause.