Giver of Runes MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Kor Cleric
Power 1
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Giver of Runes doesn’t draw cards but offers recurring utility that indirectly leads to card advantage.
  2. Its instant speed activation allows for versatile responses, potentially surprising the opponent.
  3. Though Giver of Runes requires a white mana and can’t protect itself, its benefits often outweigh these downsides.

Text of card

: Another target creature you control gains protection from colorless or from the color of your choice until end of turn.

She provides marks of protection to those she chooses as family.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Though Giver of Runes does not directly draw you more cards, it presents a recurring utility by enabling key creatures to avoid removal or block more efficiently, maintaining board presence and indirectly contributing to card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While not a source of resource acceleration in the typical sense of providing more mana, Giver of Runes accelerates your tactical resources. Protecting your creatures allows for more aggressive and advantageous plays, effectively speeding up your game plan.

Instant Speed: Giver of Runes’ ability can be activated at instant speed, providing a strategic edge by allowing you to respond to threats during your opponent’s turn. This flexibility can catch opponents off guard and shift the flow of the game in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Giver of Runes offers great utility by protecting creatures, it doesn’t directly impact this issue. It’s important to remember that using Giver of Runes effectively often means keeping cards in hand to bluff potential protection, which can be difficult when other cards require discarding.

Specific Mana Cost: Giver of Runes requires white mana to cast, which can limit versatility in multi-colored decks. If your deck isn’t heavily white or you’re up against mana issues, finding that single white mana can be more challenging than it seems.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite costing only one white mana, in the current meta where low-cost, high-impact plays are crucial, this card occupies a precious early-game slot. In some scenarios, investing that first turn to play Giver of Runes could be less impactful than developing your mana base or applying early pressure with other one-drops.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Giver of Runes provides significant flexibility across a wide array of deck builds. Its ability to grant protection from a color of your choice not only shields key creatures but also potentially enables unblockable attacks, fitting seamlessly into multiple strategies.

Combo Potential: This card excels in setups that capitalize on creature-based synergies. It can be a linchpin in combos that require safeguarding combo pieces, ensuring that critical creatures survive to execute game-winning interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where interaction with your opponent’s creatures is commonplace, Giver of Runes stands out. Its relevance in the current meta cannot be overstated, with its capability to thwart removal and enable advantageous combat scenarios that could be instrumental in achieving victory.


How to beat

Giver of Runes has established itself as a strong support card in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to grant protection to other creatures from your choice of color or from colorless. It can make key creatures on your battlefield impervious to targeted removal or combat damage, but it’s not unbeatable.

To effectively deal with Giver of Runes, consider using board wipes that do not target individual creatures such as Wrath of God or Damnation. This will circumvent its protection ability. Additionally, cards that force a player to sacrifice a creature, like Diabolic Edict or Liliana of the Veil’s sacrifice effect, also provide a solution as they do not target and therefore are not hindered by Giver of Runes’ ability. It’s also beneficial to keep in mind that Giver of Runes cannot give protection to itself, making it vulnerable to direct removal if it’s the only creature on the battlefield.

Understanding the limitations of Giver of Runes’ abilities enables players to strategize accordingly. As versatile as Giver of Runes is, with a solid plan and the right cards, overcoming this formidable ally becomes a much more achievable task during gameplay.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG involves more than knowing your cards; it’s about strategy and adjusting to the evolving battlefield. Giver of Runes is a card that can vastly change the dynamics of play, offering protection and enabling your creatures to dodge threats or slip through defenses. Studying how to utilize such cards effectively can greatly enhance your gameplay. Whether you’re contemplating adding Giver of Runes to your collection or seeking ways to counteract its abilities, there is always something new to explore and integrate into your tactical arsenal. Embark with us on a journey to deepen your understanding and skillfully navigate the thrilling challenges of MTG.


Cards like Giver of Runes

Giver of Runes has earned its place as a staple in many Magic: The Gathering decks that seek the protection and versatility it offers. In the same orbit, Mother of Runes, a classic from the Urza’s Legacy set, stands out as the original architect of creature protection. While both cards serve a similar purpose, allowing you to shield creatures from harm, Giver of Runes expands the scope to include colorless creatures, embracing a wider range of beneficiaries.

Comparing these two, Giver of Runes does not protect itself as Mother of Runes does, a slight yet noteworthy difference that can affect gameplay strategies. Beyond these, Selfless Savior is another card offering creature defense, though it sacrifices itself to confer indestructibility, a different layer of protection than that of targeting and evasion provided by the Giver.

All in all, while each of these support cards brings its own flavor of guardianship to the table, Giver of Runes stands out with its broader protection capabilities, making it a formidable option for players aiming to shield their valuable creatures from an array of threats across today’s diverse MTG metagame.

Mother of Runes - MTG Card versions
Selfless Savior - MTG Card versions
Mother of Runes - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Selfless Savior - Core Set 2021 (M21)

Cards similar to Giver of Runes by color, type and mana cost

Savannah Lions - MTG Card versions
Benalish Hero - MTG Card versions
Icatian Infantry - MTG Card versions
Icatian Scout - MTG Card versions
Icatian Javelineers - MTG Card versions
Kjeldoran Warrior - MTG Card versions
Trade Caravan - MTG Card versions
Vigilant Martyr - MTG Card versions
Honor Guard - MTG Card versions
Nomads en-Kor - MTG Card versions
Volunteer Militia - MTG Card versions
Soul Warden - MTG Card versions
Resistance Fighter - MTG Card versions
Cho-Arrim Alchemist - MTG Card versions
Honorable Scout - MTG Card versions
Eager Cadet - MTG Card versions
Devoted Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Faerie Guidemother // Gift of the Fae - MTG Card versions
Kor Duelist - MTG Card versions
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful - MTG Card versions
Savannah Lions - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Benalish Hero - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Icatian Infantry - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Icatian Scout - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Icatian Javelineers - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Kjeldoran Warrior - Ice Age (ICE)
Trade Caravan - Homelands (HML)
Vigilant Martyr - Mirage (MIR)
Honor Guard - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Nomads en-Kor - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Volunteer Militia - Portal Second Age (P02)
Soul Warden - Historic Anthology 1 (HA1)
Resistance Fighter - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Cho-Arrim Alchemist - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Honorable Scout - Planeshift (PLS)
Eager Cadet - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Devoted Caretaker - Odyssey (ODY)
Faerie Guidemother // Gift of the Fae - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Kor Duelist - Wizards Play Network 2009 (PWP09)
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Giver of Runes MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Modern Horizons, 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 Giver of Runes and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Giver of Runes Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2023-07-18. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 912091997normalblackSeb McKinnon
22019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 132015normalblackSeb McKinnon
32019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 14632015normalborderlessJesse LeDoux
42020-09-26The ListPLST MH1-132015normalblackSeb McKinnon
52021-06-18Modern Horizons 1 TimeshiftsH1R 31997normalblackSeb McKinnon
62023-07-18Historic Anthology 7HA7 22015normalblackSeb McKinnon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Giver of Runes has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-06-14 A permanent gaining protection may cause a spell or ability on the stack to have an illegal target. As a spell or ability tries to resolve, if all its targets are illegal, that spell or ability doesn’t resolve. None of its effects happen, including effects unrelated to the target. If at least one target is still legal, the spell or ability does as much as it can to the remaining legal targets, and its other effects still happen.
2019-06-14 Protection from a color means that the target creature can’t be blocked by creatures of that color, can’t be the target of spells of that color or abilities from sources of that color, can’t be enchanted or equipped by Auras or Equipment of that color, and all damage that sources of that color would deal to it is prevented. Nothing other than these events is prevented or illegal.
2019-06-14 Similarly, protection from colorless means that the target creature can’t be blocked by colorless creatures, can’t be the target of colorless spells or abilities of colorless sources, can’t be enchanted or equipped by colorless Auras or Equipment, and all damage that colorless sources would deal to it is prevented.

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