Teferi's Protection MTG Card


Teferi’s Protection phases out all your permanents, providing a robust defense against various destructive strategies. Its instant speed allows for surprise plays and can shift the momentum of the game in your favor. Despite being mana-specific, its strategic advantages make it a valuable addition to white-centric decks.
Card setsReleased in 12 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Text of card

Until your next turn, your life total can't change and you gain protection from everything. All permanents you control phase out. (While they're phased out, they're treated as though they don't exist. They phase in before you untap during your untap step.) Exile Teferi's Protection.


Cards like Teferi's Protection

In the realm of protective spells in Magic: The Gathering, Teferi’s Protection stands out for its comprehensive defensive capabilities. It’s often compared to cards like Ghostway, which exiles creatures you control only to return them to the battlefield during the next end step. However, Teferi’s Protection offers a broader shield, phasing out not just creatures, but all the player’s permanents, and makes them invulnerable to all effects until their next turn.

Analogous in concept is Eerie Interlude, which selectively blinks any number of target creatures you control. This can temporarily save them from board wipes or removal, but it doesn’t provide the complete immunity from all effects that Teferi’s Protection does. Furthermore, Teferi’s Protection grants the player protection from all damage, maintaining life points against any form of harm that turn.

When evaluating their utility, Teferi’s Protection excels in versatility, safeguarding more than just creatures. Its ability to shield players themselves and their entire board from any effect—including damage, board wipes, and targeted removal—sets a high bar for inclusive protective effects in Magic: The Gathering.

Ghostway - MTG Card versions
Eerie Interlude - MTG Card versions
Ghostway - MTG Card versions
Eerie Interlude - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Teferi’s Protection provides a unique strategic advantage by phasing out all your permanents, ensuring their safety from board wipes, damage, and exiling effects. This effectively turns potential losses into gains, as you preserve your board state while opponents spend resources attempting to disturb it.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources, Teferi’s Protection allows you to save the resources you already have. By protecting your lands and creatures, it ensures your ability to execute plans without setback, maintaining your momentum in the game.

Instant Speed: The power of Teferi’s Protection is significantly magnified by its instant speed. This timing allows players to respond to threats at the last possible moment, creating a surprise factor and often saving a game that would otherwise be lost. The ability to activate it in response to opponents’ actions not only protects but can also effectively negate their strategic plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike many protective spells, Teferi’s Protection does not necessitate a direct card disadvantage such as discarding. This attribute, however, should not be overlooked when considering deck synergy and potential trade-offs for including it in your build.

Specific Mana Cost: Teferi’s Protection requires a precise mana arrangement of two White and one of any color to cast. This requirement can be restrictive for multicolored decks that may struggle with consistent mana bases, limiting its inclusion to predominantly white or two-color decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Teferi’s Protection might appear steep for a single-use effect. In a game where efficiency is key, some players may opt for lower-cost alternatives, reserving their mana for other actions or spells throughout the game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Teferi’s Protection is a card that can easily find a place in a variety of MTG decks, particularly for those looking for a reliable defense mechanism. Its ability to phase out your permanents not only protects your board from all-out attacks but also from targeted removals and board wipes, ensuring your game state remains untouched.

Combo Potential: This card has strong synergies when combined with several strategies, such as avoiding sacrifice triggers or “at the beginning of your next upkeep” effects. It allows you to dodge detrimental effects while setting up for a game-winning move during your next turn, giving you an unexpected edge.

Meta-Relevance: With a constantly evolving meta that often sees aggressive and control decks in the spotlight, Teferi’s Protection offers a universal solution to sudden shifts on the battlefield. Its potential to disrupt opponent strategies and provide a turn’s respite can be crucial for maintaining advantage or turning the tides in a close match.


How to beat

Teferi’s Protection is a powerful card in Magic the Gathering, often seen in white control or “pillow fort” decks. It provides an effective emergency shield, granting your permanents indestructible, making your life total unchangeable, and even phasing out all your stuff to dodge board wipes or removal. To counter this, timing is crucial. Planeswalker abilities, spells, or abilities that don’t target, such as Massacre Wurm or Tectonic Hellion, can still affect the game despite Teferi’s Protection. Cards like Sadistic Sacrament can preemptively exile Teferi’s Protection before it’s cast.

A focused strategy should include cards that limit the opponents’ ways to search for Teferi’s Protection or to recycle it from the graveyard. Additionally, pressure them into using it prematurely, retaining bait cards that seem threatening enough to warrant its use but aren’t crucial to your winning strategy. Playing around Teferi’s Protection effectively requires both foresight to anticipate its arrival and the ability to present multiple challenging threats to exhaust your opponent’s defenses.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the nuances of MTG requires insight into not only individual cards but also their strategic applications. Teferi’s Protection exemplifies versatility and tactical depth, a cornerstone for decks that prioritize survival and resilience. Expand your collection with this powerful spell to combat aggressive meta shifts and preserve your board in dire situations. Our platform provides in-depth analysis, strategies, and community insights to enhance your gameplay. Embrace the full potential of your deck with smart additions like Teferi’s Protection. Visit us for more wisdom on leveraging your MTG arsenal to its maximum capacity.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Teferi's Protection MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Treasure Chest, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Teferi's Protection and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Teferi's Protection Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2022-07-08. Illustrated by 5 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1022252015NormalBlackGreg Staples
22016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 657012015NormalBlackChase Stone
32017-08-25Commander 2017C17 82015NormalBlackChase Stone
42018-01-01Judge Gift Cards 2018J18 52015NormalBlackChase Stone
52019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 2562015NormalBlackChase Stone
62019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 1642015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
72020-09-26The ListPLST C17-82015NormalBlackChase Stone
82021-04-23Strixhaven Mystical ArchiveSTA 112015NormalBorderlessMinttu Hynninen
92021-04-23Strixhaven Mystical ArchiveSTA 742015NormalBorderlessSo-Taro
102022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 322015NormalBlackChase Stone
112022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 3432015NormalBorderlessGreg Staples
122022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 4242015NormalBlackChase Stone

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Teferi's Protection has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Teferi's Protection card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2017-08-25 ---------- The following rulings focus on the phasing keyword ----------
2017-08-25 ---------- The following rulings focus on the “protection from” keyword ----------
2017-08-25 ---------- The following rulings focus on what it means if your life total can't change ----------
2017-08-25 A permanent phasing out causes a spell or ability on the stack to have an illegal target if it targets that permanent. As a spell or ability tries to resolve, if all its targets are illegal, that spell or ability doesn't resolve and none of its effects happen, including effects unrelated to the target. If at least one target is still legal, the spell or ability does as much as it can to the remaining legal targets, and its other effects still happen.
2017-08-25 Any continuous effects with a “for as long as” duration such as that of Mathas, Fiend Seeker ignore phased-out objects. Any such effects will expire if their conditions are no longer met after ignoring the phased-out objects.
2017-08-25 Any creatures that phase in under your control as your next untap step begins will be able to attack and pay a cost of during that turn.
2017-08-25 Any one-shot effects that are waiting “until
-his] leaves the battlefield,” such as that of Banishing Light, won't happen when a permanent phases out.
2017-08-25 Choices made for permanents as they entered the battlefield are remembered when they phase in.
2017-08-25 Each Aura and Equipment that phases out attached to a permanent that's phasing out phases in with that permanent and still attached to it.
2017-08-25 Each Aura and Equipment you control attached to a permanent that isn't phasing out phases in attached to that permanent if it can still be attached to that permanent. If not, it phases in unattached. An Aura that phases in unattached will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action. The same is true with Auras attached to players.
2017-08-25 Effects that replace an event with having you gain life (like Words of Worship's effect does) or having you lose life will apply and end up replacing the event with nothing.
2017-08-25 Effects that would replace having you gain life with some other event won't be able to be applied because it's impossible for you to gain life. The same is true for effects that would replace having you lose life with some other event.
2017-08-25 Gaining protection from everything causes a spell or ability on the stack to have an illegal target if it targets you. As a spell or ability tries to resolve, if all its targets are illegal, that spell or ability doesn't resolve and none of its effects happen, including effects unrelated to the target. If at least one target is still legal, the spell or ability does as much as it can to the remaining legal targets, and its other effects still happen.
2017-08-25 If a cost includes causing you to gain life (like the alternative cost of an opponent's Invigorate does), that cost can't be paid.
2017-08-25 If a player has protection from everything, it means three things: 1) All damage that would be dealt to that player is prevented. 2) Auras can't be attached to that player. 3) That player can't be the target of spells or abilities.
2017-08-25 If a token is phased out, it will phase in as your next untap step begins. This is a change from previous rules.
2017-08-25 If an effect would cause you to exchange life totals with another player, the exchange won't happen. Neither player's life total changes.
2017-08-25 If an effect would set your life total to a certain number that's different than your current life total, that part of the effect won't do anything.
2017-08-25 If you gain control of another player's permanent and it phases out, if the duration of the control-change effect expires before it phases in, that permanent phases in under that other player's control as your next untap step begins. If you leave the game before your next untap step, it phases in as the next untap step begins after your turn would have begun.
2017-08-25 If your untap step is somehow skipped as your next turn begins, your phased-out permanents won't phase in until the next untap step you actually have, but you'll no longer have protection from everything and your life total can change again.
2017-08-25 Nothing other than the specified events are prevented or illegal. An effect that doesn't target you could still cause you to discard cards, for example. Creatures can still attack you while you have protection from everything, although combat damage that they would deal to you will be prevented.
2017-08-25 Permanents that phase out with counters phase in with those counters.
2017-08-25 Phasing out doesn't cause any “leaves the battlefield” abilities to trigger. Similarly, phasing in won't cause any “enters the battlefield” abilities to trigger.
2017-08-25 Protection from everything will usually prevent damage if it would be dealt to you, but some damage can't be prevented. In this case, because your life total also can't change, that damage has any other effects that it may have aside from causing you to lose that much life (such as effects from lifelink or infect) and triggers and effects can see that damage was dealt even though your life total didn't change.
2017-08-25 Spells and abilities that would normally cause you to gain or lose life still resolve while your life total can't change, but the life-gain or life-loss part simply has no effect.
2017-08-25 While a permanent is phased out, it's treated as though it doesn't exist. It can't be the target of spells or abilities, its static abilities have no effect on the game, its triggered abilities can't trigger, it can't attack or block, and so on.
2017-08-25 You can't pay a cost that includes the payment of any amount of life other than 0 life.