Hold at Bay MTG Card

Hold at Bay prevents significant damage during combat, acting as a multi-use defensive tool. Instant speed allows for surprise maneuvers, enhancing reactivity against aggressive opponents. While costly, its damage prevention offers a clear edge, making it worth the mana investment.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2014-02-07
Set symbol
Set name	Born of the Gods
Set code	BNG
Number	18
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Nils Hamm

Text of card

Prevent the next 7 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.

It was Daeron's bravery that brought him to Odunos. But it was the magic of Meletis that brought him home.

Cards like Hold at Bay

Hold at Bay is an intriguing instant spell for players who wish to protect their life total in crucial moments of a game. It shares a functional kinship with cards like Healing Salve, offering a direct comparison in its ability to prevent damage. While Healing Salve can either prevent 3 damage or heal 3 life, Hold at Bay steps up the game, preventing twice as much, albeit specifically to your face rather than any target.

Comparatively, we have the card Revitalize, which not only restores three life but also allows a card to be drawn. Though it heals less than Hold at Bay, the card draw can be significant, providing both a life buffer and continued deck fluency. Then there is Feed the Clan, a card that can gain a substantial 5 life, or if you have a creature with power 4 or greater, you gain a life total that doubles to 10. Feed the Clan trades the instant speed of Hold at Bay for potential higher life gain.

Ultimately, Hold at Bay offers considerable damage mitigation fitting for those critical turns. Its unique ability to thwart high-impact blows can be the difference between victory and defeat, situating it as a potent choice within Magic: The Gathering’s life-preserving spells.

Cards similar to Hold at Bay by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hold at Bay provides a unique, targeted approach to managing board threats, maintaining the balance between your resources and those of your opponent. It potentially offsets more than one attacking creature’s damage, effectively acting like multiple spells in one.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly add to your mana pool, the efficiency of Hold at Bay can enable you to preserve crucial mana for deploying resources more strategically throughout the match, especially when playing against aggressive strategies.

Instant Speed: The instant nature of Hold at Bay gives you the flexibility to react in the heat of combat, keeping your opponent guessing and allowing you to make informed decisions based on their actions. This flexibility can be key in outmaneuvering opponents with timely plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Hold at Bay does not require you to discard any cards, offering a balanced exchange of resources for its life-gaining effect.

Specific Mana Cost: This card necessitates both white mana and generic mana for its casting cost, which could potentially restrict its application to decks that are heavily or solely committed to white or that can consistently produce the required mana types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For the lifegain it provides, Hold at Bay carries a mana cost of two and one white, making it a somewhat costly option particularly when assessed against other white spells within the same mana range that could either stabilize the board or advance your game plan beyond mere life gain.

Reasons to Include Hold at Bay in Your Collection

Versatility: Hold at Bay is a card that can be seamlessly integrated into a variety of deck archetypes. Its ability to prevent damage allows both aggressive decks to maintain their board presence and control decks to stave off unexpected threats.

Combo Potential: This card pairs well with strategies that benefit from damage prevention or life-gain triggers. Its use can be a pivotal play in decks that capitalize on maintaining a high life total or utilizing life-gain as a resource.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where burn decks or strategies that focus on dealing direct damage are prevalent, Hold at Bay can provide essential protection. Its presence can counter key cards within these popular deck types, maintaining your competitive edge in the current meta.

How to beat

Hold at Bay is an intriguing defensive spell from the realm of Magic: The Gathering, offering a unique lifeline during critical moments. This white instant allows you to regain 7 life, potentially distorting the plan of an aggressive opponent intent on reducing your life total swiftly. To navigate past Hold at Bay, an optimal strategy would be to apply consistent pressure without committing to a singular, destructive blow.

Timing is key when disrupting Hold at Bay’s impact. Employ spells that limit healing or use damage spells that can’t be prevented to undermine its utility. This could involve casting spells like Skullcrack, preventing life gain for a turn, or harnessing unpreventable damage from sources like Stigma Lasher. By carefully considering your mana curve and the strategic use of control spells, you can minimize the effectiveness of life gain strategies and guard against surprising comebacks enabled by cards like Hold at Bay.

Consequently, maintaining control and pursuing incremental damage output paves the path forward. Mixing in instant-speed removal or utilizing counter-magic to hinder your opponent’s defense can effectively keep Hold at Bay from turning the tides against you in Magic: The Gathering.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hold at Bay 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 Hold at Bay and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hold at Bay has restrictions

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