Boarded Window MTG Card
2021-11-19 - Number 253
2022-01-28 - Number 520
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Artifact |
Key Takeaways
- Boarded Window provides instant defense and potential for resource protection, advantageous against aggressive decks.
- Demanding discards and specific mana limit its inclusion across diverse deck types and strategies.
- Its niche effect against tokens makes it a potent sideboard card in token-heavy metas.
Text of card
Creatures attacking you get -1/-0. At the beginning of each end step, if you were dealt 4 or more damage this turn, exile Boarded Window.
"Sturdy nails make for sound sleep." —Cosper Lowe of the Silbern Guard
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Boarded Window deters your opponents from attacking, essentially allowing you to preserve the cards on your battlefield. This defensive edge can be crucial in maintaining board presence against aggressive strategies.
Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly add mana or produce tokens, Boarded Window can indirectly accelerate your resources by protecting your mana-generating creatures, ensuring you have the resources to execute your game plan.
Instant Speed: Boarded Window can be cast at instant speed, providing a surprise element for your defense. This allows you to adapt to the battlefield dynamically and efficiently, catching adversaries off guard and potentially wasting their resources.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Boarded Window demands that you discard another card to activate its defensive abilities. This condition can be particularly detrimental when your hand is near empty, potentially causing you to lose valuable resources in critical moments of gameplay.
Specific Mana Cost: Despite its seemingly flexible mana cost, Boarded Window is aligned with a specific set of decks due to its requirement for black mana. This limitation confines its playability to decks that can produce black mana, potentially excluding a larger diversity of deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Boarded Window’s mana cost stands on the higher side for its category of effects. Players must weigh whether expending four mana, including one black, is justified for the protection it offers, particularly when there may be alternative cards at lower mana points that provide similar or better defensive support.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Boarded Window is a unique card that can integrate seamlessly into a variety of deck styles, particularly those seeking to fortify against incoming attacks while setting up their own board state.
Combo Potential: With its ability to nullify damage from tokens, it pairs well with strategies that force opponents to rely on token creatures, turning their strategies against them.
Meta-Relevance: In a format where token-generating decks are prevalent, Boarded Window gains relevance, providing a significant defensive edge that can frustrate opposing token-based strategies.
How to beat
Boarded Window is a card that creates a persistent obstacle for players looking to deal damage with creatures. In essence, it dramatically slows down aggressive strategies, making it a formidable defensive piece in mid-range and control decks. The card has the distinctive ability to prevent all noncombat damage that would be dealt to you and planeswalkers you control. This can effectively neutralize burn decks and other strategies relying on direct damage to win.
To outmaneuver Boarded Window, shifting focus to indirect damage strategies like mill or poison can be effective, as these bypass the protection Boarded Window provides. Additionally, employing enchantment removal spells or utilizing creatures with abilities that don’t rely on dealing damage can provide a way to circumvent its shield. Creature-based strategies can also benefit from effects that allow them to attack as though they weren’t creatures, as this would sidestep the prevention of noncombat damage. Board sweepers that clear the battlefield without dealing damage to the individual player or planeswalker can also be an effective countermeasure.
Ultimately, understanding and anticipating the ways Boarded Window can be incorporated into an opponent’s deck is key to devising strategies that face it head-on without compromising the pace and effectiveness of your own game plan.
Cards like Boarded Window
Boarded Window emerges as a unique fixture in the collection of defensive enchantments in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest counterpart is perhaps the card Ghostly Prison, which also places a tax on attacking, albeit in a slightly different manner; it demands two mana for each creature attacking you. Where Boarded Window stands out is its token-centric approach, actively discouraging the attack of only creature tokens, making it a niche yet valuable card in specific metas where token strategies are prevalent.
Shield of Duty and Reason is another card that reflects a similar protective philosophy. Although focused on a single creature, it gives a nod to Boarded Window’s token resistance by nullifying the damage from blue or black creatures. While the scope differs, this card resonates with the targeted defense mechanism that Boarded Window exhibits. On the flip side, Norn’s Annex offers a Phyrexian mana alternative to force opponents to pay life if they wish to attack you, broadening the defense beyond tokens and reaching any type of attacking creature.
Assessing Boarded Window reveals it’s a valuable asset in matches where token creatures dominate the field. Against specific decks, its efficacy is unmatched, providing a strategic advantage with its unique guard against swathes of tokens.
Cards similar to Boarded Window by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Boarded Window MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad: Crimson Vow and Innistrad: Double Feature, 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 Boarded Window and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Boarded Window Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by Zoltan Boros.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021-11-19 | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOW | 253 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Zoltan Boros | |
| 2 | 2022-01-28 | Innistrad: Double Feature | DBL | 520 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Zoltan Boros |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Boarded Window has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Boarded Window card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-11-19 | Boarded Window's triggered ability checks the total amount of damage dealt to you during the turn. That damage needn't have been dealt all at once, and Boarded Window needn't have been on the battlefield at the time the damage was dealt. Boarded Window doesn't take into account any life that you gained this turn. |
