Acolyte's Reward MTG Card

Utilize Acolyte’s Reward to flexibly prevent damage and unexpectedly swing power balances during combat phases. Instant speed allows for dynamic responses to threats, ensuring timely and strategic play decisions in MTG. Its devotion mechanic scales with white mana symbols, providing stronger effects in mono-white or white-heavy decks.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Released	2014-02-07
Set symbol
Set name	Born of the Gods
Set code	BNG
Number	1
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Slawomir Maniak

Text of card

Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn, where X is your devotion to white. If damage is prevented this way, Acolyte's Reward deals that much damage to target creature or player. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to white.)

Cards like Acolyte's Reward

Acolyte’s Reward stands out in Magic: The Gathering for its defensive prowess, similar to other white instant spells like Gods Willing. It allows for damage to be prevented and redirected, providing a strategic edge. Unlike Gods Willing, which offers protection from a color and a scry bonus, Acolyte’s Reward demands more commitment with its devotion to white mechanic, resulting in potentially greater damage redirection based on the number of white mana symbols among permanents controlled.

Compared to Brave the Elements, which grants protection to multiple creatures from a chosen color, Acolyte’s Reward is focused on a single target but with the upside of turning defense into offense. While Center Soul provides rebound and protection from a color for a creature, Acolyte’s Reward’s damage redirection can potentially change the tide of combat immediately. Integrity // Intervention is another notable mention, offering damage prevention and healing in one card, yet Acolyte’s Reward’s unique attribute is the ability to harness the devotion aspect to white for a potentially larger impact.

Despite the nuances between these spells, Acolyte’s Reward can be a game-changer in MTG, leveraging defensive positions into powerful offensive counters specifically tailored to white devotion strategies.

Integrity // Intervention - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Acolyte's Reward by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Acolyte’s Reward, strategically prevent damage while turning the tide in your favor. The card can essentially act as both a protector and a combat trick, allowing for surprise swings in power during combat phases.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly ramping your mana, Acolyte’s Reward can indirectly accelerate your resources by saving crucial creatures from removal or unfavorable trades, thus preserving your board state and the mana invested otherwise.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of using Acolyte’s Reward at instant speed grants players the ability to react immediately to threats, optimize their combat strategies, and make pivotal decisions based on the evolving state of the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Acolyte’s Reward doesn’t require you to discard a card, but it does demand that you have a white creature to target for its effect. This can be constraining if your board presence is lacking in white creatures or if your creatures have been wiped out, making the card dead weight in your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost is heavily white-dependent, necessitating two white mana sources to cast. For players running multicolored decks, especially those not heavily focused on white, this can make casting Acolyte’s Reward problematic and inconsistent.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the card’s total cost of two mana might not seem steep, it’s important to consider the opportunity cost. In decks that are not devoted to a white-heavy strategy, there might be other spells with more versatile mana requirements that offer similar or better protective benefits without the strict white mana dependency.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Acolyte’s Reward can adapt to various playstyles, fitting perfectly in decks that hinge on white creatures and heroic abilities. Its capacity to redirect damage not only can protect your key creatures but also serves as a surprise element in battles.

Combo Potential: With the potential for a high payoff from its ability when paired with multi-colored creatures, Acolyte’s Reward can be a linchpin in strategies that reward you for targeting your own creatures with spells, multiplying the effects of damage prevention and redirection.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive red decks and burn spells are prevalent, Acolyte’s Reward earns its place by providing a defensive capability that can turn the tides of combat and secure your advantage against direct damage strategies.

How to beat

Acolyte’s Reward has made its mark as an intriguing option for players keen on leveraging life gain and damage redirection in their games. Its capacity to target any creature or player turns it into a versatile tool, provided that you have enough white permanents to get the most out of its ability. However, as with any card, there are strategies and cards available to counteract its advantages.

To effectively counter Acolyte’s Reward, consider using spells that restrict target selection such as Shroud or Hexproof, which protect your creatures from being chosen as the redirection point. Additionally, cards that limit the effectiveness of life gain, like Tibalt, Rakish Instigator, stifle the secondary benefits Acolyte’s Reward offers. Another tactic is to decrease the opponent’s white permanent count, undermining the spell’s intensity. Board wipes, selective removal, and counter spells are effective ways to hamper or prevent Acolyte’s Reward from reaching its potential during gameplay.

Understanding the dynamics of Acolyte’s Reward is key to outmaneuvering opponents that utilize this card. By being proactive and assembling the right countermeasures, you can diminish the impact of Acolyte’s Reward on the battlefield, keeping the upper hand in your Magic: The Gathering matches.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Acolyte's Reward MTG card by a specific set like Born of the Gods, 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 Acolyte's Reward and other MTG cards:

BUY NOW
BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Acolyte's Reward has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
2013-09-15	If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it's still on the battlefield at that time.
2013-09-15	Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.
2013-09-15	Numeric mana symbols (, , and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.
2014-02-01	Acolyte's Reward has two targets: the creature that would be dealt damage and the permanent or player that Acolyte's Reward will deal damage to. These targets are chosen as you cast Acolyte's Reward.
2014-02-01	After Acolyte's Reward resolves, it no longer matters whether either target is still legal. For example, if the second target is a creature controlled by an opponent, and it gains hexproof after Acolyte's Reward resolves but before it prevents damage, Acolyte's Reward will still deal damage to that creature. If Acolyte's Reward can't deal damage to the second target (perhaps because it's a creature that has left the battlefield), Acolyte's Reward will still prevent damage; it just won't deal any damage itself.
2014-02-01	As Acolyte's Reward tries to resolve, if only the first target is illegal, Acolyte's Reward won't prevent any damage that would be dealt to that creature and, because of this, Acolyte's Reward won't deal damage to the second target. If only the second target is illegal, damage that would be dealt to the first target will be prevented, but Acolyte's Reward won't deal damage. If both targets are illegal, Acolyte's Reward won't resolve.
2014-02-01	If Acolyte's Reward prevents damage, it deals its damage immediately afterward as part of that same prevention effect. This happens before state-based actions are performed, and before any player can cast spells or activate abilities. If the source of the original damage was a spell or ability, this happens before that spell or ability resumes its resolution.
2014-02-01	If the amount of damage that would be dealt to the first target is in excess of the amount of damage that Acolyte's Reward would prevent, the source deals its excess damage to the first target at the same time that the rest of it is prevented. Then Acolyte's Reward deals its damage.
2014-02-01	If the first target would be dealt combat damage by multiple creatures, you choose which of that damage to prevent. (For example, if one of those creatures has deathtouch, you could choose to prevent the damage from that creature specifically.) You don't decide until the point at which the creatures would deal their damage.
2014-02-01	The amount of damage the prevention shield will prevent is based on your devotion to white as Acolyte's Reward resolves. That amount won't change later in the turn, even if your devotion to white does.
2014-02-01	The damage will be dealt by Acolyte's Reward as it existed on the stack, not as it exists when the damage is dealt. That is, it's an instant spell that's dealing the damage, in case an ability cares about that (such as Satyr Firedancer's, which includes the phrase "Whenever an instant or sorcery spell you control deals damage to an opponent").
2014-02-01	The effect of Acolyte's Reward isn't a redirection effect. If it prevents damage, Acolyte's Reward (not the source of that damage) deals damage to the second target as part of that prevention effect. Acolyte's Reward is the source of the new damage, so the characteristics of the original source (such as its color or whether it had lifelink) don't apply. The new damage isn't combat damage, even if the prevented damage was.
2014-02-01	You don't choose a source of damage. The prevention shield will apply to the next X damage that would be dealt to the first target, no matter where that damage comes from. It also doesn't matter whether the damage is dealt at the same time. For example, if the shield prevents the next 5 damage to the first target, and that creature would be dealt 3 damage by Lightning Strike, that 3 damage is prevented and Acolyte's Reward deals 3 damage to the second target. The prevention effect will still apply to the next 2 damage the first target would be dealt that turn.