Holy Mantle MTG Card


Holy Mantle - Gatecrash
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant
Released2013-02-01
Set symbol
Set nameGatecrash
Set codeGTC
Number17
Frame2003
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byMaciej Kuciara

Key Takeaways

  1. Holy Mantle’s protection from creatures helps maintain board stability and advantage without additional mana costs.
  2. Despite not being an instant, the enchantment mimics instant speed benefits, altering combat dynamics in your favor.
  3. Deck builders should weigh Holy Mantle’s specific mana requirements against its strategic value in gameplay.

Text of card

Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from creatures.

"The guilds promise to provide safety. I prefer to make my own." —Briska, Ninth District freemage


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Though not directly providing card draw, Holy Mantle offers a clear path to card benefit by protecting your key creatures from being targeted. This lets you maintain board presence and effectively nullifies opponent’s targeted removal.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t ramp in the traditional sense, Holy Mantle can be seen as a form of resource acceleration. It helps preserve your creature resources, ensuring you don’t have to spend more mana to recast valuable creatures, and it allows unimpeded attacks that can lead to further game advantages.

Instant Speed: Holy Mantle is an enchantment with a powerful aura, played at sorcery speed. However, the protection it grants makes any creature it enchants a reliable blocker that can safely engage in combat without fear of being targeted or destroyed, mimicking the strategic advantages provided by playing spells at instant speed, as you can alter the state of the game immediately before your turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Holy Mantle provides powerful protection, it comes with no discard clause. Some players might find themselves needing that extra card in hand to combat other strategies or unexpected plays.

Specific Mana Cost: Holy Mantle comes with a specific mana cost combination of two white mana, which can sometimes be restrictive. Deck builders primarily focusing on multicolor strategies might face challenges fitting it into their mana curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two that are color-specific, Holy Mantle is considered to have a high cost for enchantment auras. There are alternative protection spells in the game that could be more mana-efficient for some deck types, giving them a faster or more versatile play.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Holy Mantle is a flexible enchantment that can elevate a variety of decks by providing protection and unblockability to key creatures. Its ability to suit both offensive and defensive strategies makes it broadly useful.

Combo Potential: The protection from creatures ensures that any creature equipped with Holy Mantle smoothly synergizes with strategies looking to exploit unblocked attackers, from combo enablers to voltron tactics.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature combat is prevalent, Holy Mantle’s ability to render a creature nearly immune to being blocked can be a game-changer, making it a timely addition to your arsenal.


How to beat

Holy Mantle is a white enchantment aura known for its ability to make creatures not only untouchable through its protection from creatures but also unblockable by those very creatures they would want to avoid. This makes it a formidable card in Magic: The Gathering, offering a significant advantage to those creatures it adorns. It squarely fits within strategies that prioritize fortifying single, powerful creatures.

To effectively counter this enchantment, consider using spells that can bypass the protection granted by Holy Mantle. Targeted removal spells won’t work due to the protection aspect, but board wipes or global effects that don’t specify ‘target’ can effectively clear the protected creature from the board. Another strategy involves countering Holy Mantle directly as it’s being cast or using enchantment removal to send it to the graveyard before it becomes an active threat. Cards with the ability to handle enchantments or auras such as Disenchant or Back to Nature can prove extremely useful against a Holy Mantle shielded board presence.

Understanding your opponent’s strategy and maintaining a deck with varied removal options are key to preparing for the eventuality of facing down a creature empowered by Holy Mantle. Adaptability and anticipation are, therefore, your greatest assets.


BurnMana Recommendations

Holy Mantle can be a pivotal card in your MTG collection, offering a unique blend of creature protection and unblockability. Whether you aim to safeguard your critical creatures or streamline an offensive strategy, this enchantment could be instrumental in your deck’s success. Delving into its synergies and potential for combo plays can yield exciting and powerful results, altering the dynamics of the battlefield. Keep your eye on the metagame where creature-focused strategies dominate, as Holy Mantle can significantly shift the balance in your favor. Curious to see how Holy Mantle can transform your deck? Dive deeper with us and discover ways to harness its full potential.


Cards like Holy Mantle

Holy Mantle stands out among protective auras in Magic: The Gathering with its ability to not only grant a creature protection from creatures, but also to confer the much-coveted unblockable trait. In line with this, Holy Mantle could draw parallels with the card Unquestioned Authority, which also provides protection from creatures and a card draw upon entry. However, Unquestioned Authority’s missing component is the unblockability granted by Holy Mantle.

Another card with similarities is Spirit Mantle, which shares the same creature protection characteristic but lacks the additional player defense that comes from unblockability. Holy Mantle’s ability to ensure that the enchanted creature can’t be blocked is a strategic advantage that Spirit Mantle cannot provide. Then, we have the card Hyena Umbra, which offers the first strike and the powerful Totem Armor ability, although it doesn’t protect a creature from being blocked or being targeted by creatures.

In summary, while there are other enchantments in Magic: The Gathering that offer creature protection, Holy Mantle’s unique combination of providing an unblockable status sets it apart, making it a valuable asset for players looking to secure an undefended avenue of attack.

Unquestioned Authority - MTG Card versions
Spirit Mantle - MTG Card versions
Hyena Umbra - MTG Card versions
Unquestioned Authority - MTG Card versions
Spirit Mantle - MTG Card versions
Hyena Umbra - MTG Card versions

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Angelic Voices - MTG Card versions
Seeker - MTG Card versions
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Justice - MTG Card versions
Divine Transformation - MTG Card versions
Null Chamber - MTG Card versions
Field of Souls - MTG Card versions
Light of Day - MTG Card versions
Opal Titan - MTG Card versions
Ivory Mask - MTG Card versions
Parallax Wave - MTG Card versions
Worship - MTG Card versions
Diversionary Tactics - MTG Card versions
Moat - MTG Card versions
Teleportation Circle - MTG Card versions
Hallowed Haunting - MTG Card versions
Drawn Together - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Holy Mantle MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash, 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 Holy Mantle and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Holy Mantle has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2013-01-24 The enchanted creature can’t be blocked, it can’t be targeted by abilities of creatures or creature cards (like, notably, the scavenge ability), and all damage dealt to it by creatures or creature cards is prevented.

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