Guardian of Faith MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Spirit Knight
Abilities Vigilance, Flash
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Flash ability of Guardian of Faith allows for defensive surprises, safeguarding your creatures efficiently.
  2. A staple in white decks, it excels in protecting against board wipes and targeted removal.
  3. Phasing out creatures with Guardian of Faith can turn the tide during pivotal game moments.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Flash Vigilance When Guardian of Faith enters the battlefield, any number of other target creatures you control phase out. (Treat them and anything attached to them as though they don't exist until their controller's next turn.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When playing Guardian of Faith, you’re granted a strategic defensive option that can shield multiple creatures from board wipes or targeted removal. While this card doesn’t draw you additional cards directly, it can effectively maintain your board presence and turn potentially unfavorable situations into opportunities to hold off an opponent’s strategy.

Resource Acceleration: Although Guardian of Faith doesn’t produce mana or tokens that can be used for mana, it does allow for a kind of ‘tempo acceleration.’ By preserving your creatures with its flash ability, you can continue to apply pressure without having to reinvest mana into rebuilding your board, effectively speeding up your clock and outpacing your opponent’s resources.

Instant Speed: One of the most significant advantages of Guardian of Faith is its instant speed, which enables a surprise defense mechanism during the opponent’s turn. This capacity to react in real time makes it a versatile tool, as it provides both protection and a potential deterrent, keeping opposing players on their toes and often forcing them to reconsider immediate actions that could result in unfavorable trades.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Guardian of Faith’s casting cost necessitates a commitment to white mana, which may not seamlessly integrate into multicolored decks. This can limit deck-building flexibility and may necessitate mana-fixing solutions.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing three white mana translates to a notable investment in the early to mid-game phases. Players could find this mana cost high when considering other creatures or defensive options available at lower casting costs.

Discard Requirement: While Guardian of Faith does not have a discard requirement itself, it’s worth noting in card assessments that any card with such a requirement could potentially put you at a disadvantage by reducing your hand size, particularly if Guardian of Faith is a card you’re relying on to save your other creatures.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Guardian of Faith serves multiple purposes across various deck types. As a creature that can protect your other permanents, it’s a robust defensive card for white-based decks that need to safeguard their board presence.

Combo Potential: Its flash ability allows you to play it unexpectedly, possibly saving crucial creatures during your opponent’s turn. Also, with any strategy that benefits from phasing out creatures, Guardian of Faith can be a key component to trigger enter or leave the battlefield effects.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where board wipes and removals are frequent, Guardian of Faith can offer the resilience your deck needs to withstand such strategies. Especially in a meta where control decks are prominent, having an instant-speed safeguard like this can be invaluable.


How to beat

The Guardian of Faith is an exceptional card in MTG, most notable for its vigilant presence and its ability to phase out other creatures. This ability isn’t just about evasion; it provides an excellent defense mechanism, especially against sweepers or during critical turns. To successfully counter this celestial guardian, one must consider timing and strategy.

Removal spells that don’t target, such as board wipes or global effects, tend to bypass Guardian of Faith’s protection. Also, you could employ instant-speed removal in response to its casting, ensuring it’s dealt with before it can safeguard others or cause a significant impact on the board state. Prioritizing threats and understanding when to hold back removal for this key creature is pivotal in diminishing its impact during gameplay.

In essence, while Guardian of Faith can provide a formidable shield, it is not invulnerable. Smart play, coupled with judicious resource management, can help players navigate around this spirited protector, maintaining control of the game’s tempo and ultimately securing victory at the table.


BurnMana Recommendations

The Guardian of Faith is a card that shines within the Magic: The Gathering arena, offering dynamic defense and utility for deck builders and game strategists alike. Its abilities to phase out creatures and activate at instant speed set it apart, providing savvy players with a means to avoid detrimental effects and maintain a formidable board state. If you’re keen to strengthen your white-centric deck or simply seeking a reliable safety net against board wipes, this celestial protector merits serious consideration. Elevate your gameplay—visit our in-depth guides and resources as you journey toward MTG mastery, crafting a deck that’s not just built to last but to triumph.


Cards like Guardian of Faith

Guardian of Faith stands out as a protective entity in the realm of Magic: The Gathering. It draws comparisons to cards like Selfless Spirit, which also provides a form of board protection by offering indestructibility to your other creatures, but lacks the capability to phase them out. Guardian of Faith uniquely offers the flashing ability, paired with phasing your creatures out of harm’s way, which can be game saving against board wipes or targeted removals.

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner provides a different approach to creature defense. While Kira shields creatures from the opponent’s first spell or ability that targets them each turn, it doesn’t protect against all-encompassing board clearers like Guardian of Faith does. Albeit powerful, Kira’s blanket of protection is static, whereas Guardian of Faith’s intervention can be a strategic surprise to opponents. Notably, the Guardian’s vigilance also allows it to stay on offense while remaining ready to defend.

Examining the assets that Guardian of Faith brings to your MTG decks, it’s evident that this card offers a unique blend of proactive and reactive defense strategies. The ability to dodge removal and safeguard your squad while contributing to board presence places Guardian of Faith in a distinct niche of creature protection.

Selfless Spirit - MTG Card versions
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner - MTG Card versions
Selfless Spirit - MTG Card versions
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner - MTG Card versions

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Wild Griffin - MTG Card versions
Pianna, Nomad Captain - MTG Card versions
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Faithful Squire // Kaiso, Memory of Loyalty - MTG Card versions
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Freewind Equenaut - MTG Card versions
Sanctum Guardian - MTG Card versions
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Kor Hookmaster - MTG Card versions
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Guardian of Faith MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos, 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 Guardian of Faith and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Guardian of Faith Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-07-23 and 2021-07-23. Illustrated by Brian Valeza.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 926362015NormalBlackBrian Valeza
22021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 18s2015NormalBlackBrian Valeza
32021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 3622015NormalBlackBrian Valeza
42021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 182015NormalBlackBrian Valeza
52021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 18p2015NormalBlackBrian Valeza
62021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 18a2015NormalBlackBrian Valeza

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Guardian of Faith has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2021-07-23 An attacking or blocking creature that phases out is removed from combat.
2021-07-23 Any continuous effects with a “for as long as” duration, such as that of Mind Flayer, ignore phased-out objects. If ignoring those objects causes the effect's conditions to no longer be met, the duration will expire.
2021-07-23 As a creature is phased out, Auras and Equipment attached to it also phase out at the same time. Those Auras and Equipment will phase in at the same time that creature does, and they'll phase in still attached to that creature.
2021-07-23 Choices made for permanents as they entered the battlefield are remembered when they phase in.
2021-07-23 If an opponent gains control of one of your creatures, that creature phases out, and the duration of the control-change effect expires before it phases back in, that creature phases in under your control as that opponent's next untap step begins. If they leave the game before their next untap step, it phases in as the next untap step begins after their turn would have begun.
2021-07-23 Permanents phase back in during their controller's untap step, immediately before that player untaps their permanents. Creatures that phase in this way are able to attack and pay a cost of during that turn. If a permanent had counters on it when it phased out, it will have those counters when it phases back in.
2021-07-23 Phased out permanents are treated as though they don't exist. They can't be the target of spells or abilities, their static abilities have no effect on the game, their triggered abilities can't trigger, they can't attack or block, and so on.
2021-07-23 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.

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