Blessed Breath MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant — Arcane
Abilities	Splice
Released	2004-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Champions of Kamigawa
Set code	CHK
Number	1
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Tsutomu Kawade

Key Takeaways

Grants evasion or defense, enabling tactical plays that could alter the game’s direction in your favor.
Instant speed allows surprise moves and flexible responses to threats, safeguarding key creatures during combat.
Splice onto Arcane enhances magic sequences, making it a diverse tool for deck builders seeking clever interactions.

Text of card

Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Splice onto Arcane (As you play an Arcane spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Blessed Breath can deliver a strategic edge by making a key creature unblockable for a turn, allowing you to safely attack or defend. Although it doesn’t draw cards directly, the evasion it provides can be pivotal in outmaneuvering your opponent and maintaining pressure.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly impacting resource acceleration, Blessed Breath can indirectly contribute to it. By protecting a creature with mana-producing abilities or one that’s crucial for your board state, it can ensure you remain ahead or recover quickly from setbacks.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Blessed Breath offers incredible flexibility. It can be used to surprise an opponent during combat or to shield your creatures from targeted removal, all while you keep mana available for other possibilities. This responsiveness is invaluable in the fast-paced environment of a match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Blessed Breath doesn’t require a card to be discarded, keep in mind that other protective spells might offer additional effects without sacrificing your hand advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Blessed Breath requires one white mana, which means it’s exclusive to decks that run plains or have mana fixing capabilities, potentially limiting its versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its instant speed and the option for Splice onto Arcane, Blessed Breath’s mana cost is a significant investment for the effect of protecting a single creature, especially when other spells might provide a broader scope of protection or apply to multiple targets for a similar cost.

Reasons to Include Blessed Breath in Your Collection

Versatility: Blessed Breath offers flexibility to protect creatures from spot removal or enable them to slip past blockers. It’s easily slotted into a variety of decks that prioritize creature safety and combat tricks.

Combo Potential: With its splice onto Arcane ability, it can add additional value to other spells you cast, providing opportunities for creative play sequences and unexpected turns.

Meta-Relevance: As games get more competitive and removal spells more prevalent, the capacity of Blessed Breath to shield your prime creatures or pave their way through tense board states can be a game-changer.

How to beat

Blessed Breath is a versatile instant in Magic: The Gathering, often turning the tides of battle by granting protection from the color of your choice. This can save a critical creature from removal, or allow your forces to bypass blockers for a decisive strike. To overcome Blessed Breath, one must be cunning and plan ahead. It pays to bait out this spell before committing to your own removal or block, essentially wasting your opponent’s protective efforts.

Additionally, consider using spells that don’t target, such as board wipes like “Wrath of God” or “Damnation.” Since Blessed Breath only offers protection from a specific color, colorless destroyers like “Ugin, the Spirit Dragon” slide past its safeguard. Also, holding up counter magic can be key to stopping Blessed Breath from ever resolving. In limited formats, simply being aware that Blessed Breath could be in your opponent’s hand can influence more strategic play, such as attacking with fewer creatures to minimize the impact of the combat trick.

Strategy and foresight are essential when facing cards like Blessed Breath in MTG. Knowledge of your opponent’s deck and potential plays will empower you to anticipate and thwart their moves. Remember, the best way to beat a trick is to see it coming.

Cards like Blessed Breath

Blessed Breath garners attention in the roster of protective spells in Magic: The Gathering with its ability to grant a creature protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Comparable spells include Gods Willing and Ephemeral Shields which serve a similar purpose. Gods Willing, much like Blessed Breath, is a single white mana spell that also provides scry 1, giving it a slight edge with the additional ability to manipulate the top card of the library.

On the other hand, Ephemeral Shields uses the convoke mechanic, allowing players to tap creatures to help pay the mana cost. This could potentially make the spell free to cast, a beneficial aspect during a tight mana situation. However, Blessed Breath’s “Splice onto Arcane” feature offers a unique edge, allowing a strategic player to stash additional effects onto an Arcane spell without using extra cards from their hand.

Each of these spells has its place depending on the deck’s strategy and the player’s preference. Blessed Breath stands out with its versatility and potential for skillful Arcane interactions, making it a valuable asset in the right Magic: The Gathering deck.

Cards similar to Blessed Breath by color, type and mana cost

Swords to Plowshares - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Blessed Breath MTG card by a specific set like Champions of Kamigawa, 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 Blessed Breath and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Blessed Breath has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-06-07	A card with a splice ability can’t be spliced onto itself because the spell is on the stack (and not in your hand) when you reveal the cards you want to splice onto it.
2013-06-07	If all of the spell’s targets are illegal when the spell tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen.
2013-06-07	You choose all targets for the spell after revealing cards you want to splice, including any targets required by the text of any of those cards. You may choose a different target for each instance of the word “target” on the resulting spell.
2013-06-07	You reveal all cards you intend to splice at the same time. Each individual card can be spliced only once onto any one spell.