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by Jonathan Evans
Urza's Universe Well, I'm back. What? What do you mean, WHO? It's me, Urza! You know, the rules guru here at Beyond Dominia! How could you not... who's Urza??? Now that's it! Maybe I won't even give you this months article... oh well, here it is. I give up. Anyway, this month's article comes from an e-mail I received during the month. It reads:
I hope you can help me with a little problem I have discussed with my friends. What happens to creatures which have protection from black (i.e.) as their ability, in combination with enchantments like "The Abyss" or "Pestilence". Can these enchantments effect these creatures ?
Thanks Protection from... abilities, while being extremely powerful when used in sideboards, are also some of the most confusing abilities in the game. The letter above will show that, because the question asked is exactly what Protection is all about. Protection abilities run on this basic fact: Nothing of the color specified can do anything at all to the protected creature. What this exactly means is the confusing part. Here I will discuss each of the ability's powers by themselves. The first thing Protection does is stop damage. What that does is not prevent all damage from a source, such as with a Circle of Protection, but it reduces all the damage to 0. The source of the damage still deals damage and the damaged creature still receives it. It just cannot hurt the creature at all. Let's take an example that uses all of the rules I just talked about. The green creature "Fungusaur" starts as a 2/2, but at the end of any turn in which it is damaged, it gains +1/+1. That ability is mostly used by players who intentionally use Rod of Ruin or Prodigal Sorcerer, which both deal 1 damage to a specified target. That deals the Fungusaur the damage it needs to grow, but it also deals damage in the first place, leaving the creature temporarily weak. A much better way to nurture your growing Fungusaur is with the Protection ability. A good dual color deck, if used correctly, is white/green. Put some of the Ward enchantments in your sideboard, and rotate whichever ones you need in for the game. A Ward, such as Black Ward, Blue Ward, and so on, is an enchantment which gives the enchanted creature Protection from that color. So, getting back to our example, if you put a Ward on the Fungusaur and block a creature of that color, the Fungusaur isn't hurt, but because the Protection ability reduces damage to 0, and not stops it, the now powerfully growing creature still gets the +1/+1 bonus! Along with that, you've stopped what could be a deadly threat at no cost to yourself or your creatures! How useful... The second ability of Protection also deals with creature combat. It's something that could destroy an opponent easily, and makes him or her watch you win being able to do nothing. It's the fact that, simply, a Protected creature cannot be blocked by creatures of that color. This means that if I play against a black deck, and I stick a Black Ward on, say, a Shivan Dragon, my flying menace can go straight through my opponent's Lord of the Pit, Sengir Vampire, and others that normally would block and perhaps kill my fire-breathing killer. The best part is, my opponent can't even Drain Life this Dragon, because of the next thing I will discuss. That thing that stops the Drain Life is the a Protected creature can't be the target of spells, effects, or abilities from the color it's Protected from. I can put a Protection from Red on my 3/3 creature (So I'm lazy now, take your pick of which one), and my opponent can't even Lightning Bolt (The all-famous instant that deals 3 damage to any target) it!. That also works with a Protection from Blue and a Prodigal Sorcerer, because the ability of dealing 1 damage is stopped by the Protection. I should include a short note here, though. Read that rule carefully, and you'll realize that it applies to your spells, affects, and abilities too. If you put a Protection from White on your creature, you can never use Healing Salve (An instant that can prevent 3 damage or give 3 life to any creature or player) on it, or save it with a Samite Healer (A creature who can prevent 1 damage to any creature or player). Keep that in mind, and make your decisions carefully. I'm now out of ideas to explain this ability, but hey, I'm done! So to answer Tom's questions using what I just taught here... What happens to creatures which have protection from black in combination with enchantments like "The Abyss" or "Pestilence"? I think the answer is clear now. For The Abyss, which is a black enchantment which makes all players bury one non-artifact creature each turn, it cannot bury a creature which has Protection from Black, since it is a targeted ability. Pestilence, however is NOT targeted... which means it will deal damage to creatures with the Protection. Of course, if you look at the other parts of the rule, you will remember that all the damage is reduced to 0. Thanks for the question, Tom! This is Urza, the Beyond Dominia rules guru, signing out. You'll see I have a letters section already, but it is not nearly big enough to mean anything. Please, send me letters with ANYTHING: Comments about any article in the magazine, or rules questions. Like last month, I will pick one question out to write an article about. The other questions will be replied to with a short answer. Oh, and happy anniversary Beyond Dominia!
Urza
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