Curtain of Light MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2005-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Saviors of Kamigawa
Set code	SOK
Number	6
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Chippy

Key Takeaways

Negates an attack and disrupts opponent’s combat damage-triggered benefits.
Indirectly maintains resource parity by protecting board state and life total.
Instant-speed casting allows dynamic battlefield adaptation and surprise plays.

Text of card

Target attacking unblocked creature becomes blocked. Draw a card.

"Paint gold upon the wind, Shape the wind into a shield, And vanish behind the brightness." —Snow-Fur, kitsune poet

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When facing an onslaught of threats, Curtain of Light allows you to blank an opponent’s attacking creature. This subtle interaction doesn’t just negate an attack but can deny your opponent the extra benefits triggered by dealing combat damage, effectively disrupting their plans while keeping your defenses strong.

Resource Acceleration: Although Curtain of Light itself doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, the strategic use of this card can indirectly maintain your resource parity. By preventing a key creature from dealing damage, you safeguard your life total and, crucially, your board state—keeping you firmly in the race for victory.

Instant Speed: The true power of this spell lies in its instant speed. Casting Curtain of Light when an opponent least expects it can result in a significant shift in the momentum of the game. It allows you to adapt to the battlefield dynamically and can catch an adversary off guard during the critical combat phase, disrupting their carefully laid plans.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Curtain of Light commands a significant price in the form of card advantage. Playing this card means you must discard another, which might be too steep in situations where your hand size is already depleted and card resources are key to maintaining your board control.

Specific Mana Cost: This enchantment requires a particular blend of mana—one white and two unspecified—to cast. This specificity can be restricting for multi-color decks that might struggle to produce the necessary white mana consistently, thereby limiting the card’s universality and flexibility in deck construction.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Curtain of Light stands on the expensive side for its effect category. Considering that many lower-cost spells may provide similar or greater defensive benefits, the card may find itself often overlooked in favor of alternatives that provide a more cost-effective solution for protection or combat manipulation.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Curtain of Light adds a unique layer of protection to your array of spells. It can seamlessly integrate into decks emphasizing on defense, allowing you to prevent potentially game-changing attacks.

Combo Potential: This card can be part of intricate combos by denying your opponent’s creatures the chance to deal combat damage, setting up for your counter-moves without interruption.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where aggressive creature strategies are prevalent, Curtain of Light gives players an edge by disrupting opponents’ tempo and maintaining board stability.

How to beat

Curtain of Light is an intriguing defensive card in Magic: The Gathering that can turn the tide of battle by making a creature unblockable for a turn. It’s a surprising twist that can protect your life total or stave off lethal attacks. Facing this card requires a strategy that can handle sudden changes in combat dynamics.

To effectively counter this strategy, it’s essential to have a removal spell at the ready. Instant-speed options like Disenchant or Naturalize can dismantle the enchanted creature’s advantage during combat. Additionally, having a robust counter strategy with cards like Negate or Mana Leak can preemptively deal with Curtain of Light before it ever becomes a threat on the battlefield. Efficiently managing your resources to keep these answers available can be the key to maintaining control against this and similar protective spells.

Overall, while Curtain of Light can provide a pivotal advantage for your opponent, it’s not unbeatable. With a well-planned strategy that includes disruption and counters, you can navigate around this spell and keep your opponent’s creatures in check, assuring your path towards victory remains clear.

Cards like Curtain of Light

In the realm of Magic: The Gathering’s defensive strategies, Curtain of Light provides an interesting take on combat manipulation. It is a fine example of a card that allows players to prevent an unblocked attacker from dealing damage, similar to the effect of cards like Holy Day. While Holy Day prevents all combat damage on a given turn, Curtain of Light targets a single unblocked creature, effectively whisking it away from combat with its “remove from combat” mechanism.

Another card that comes to mind is Ethereal Haze, which shares similarities, albeit with a broader stroke by negating all combat damage for a turn—however, this does not remove creatures from combat. Curtain of Light adds a layer of tactical depth by introducing the decision-making process to select the most threatening attacker to neutralize. Emphasizing the focused nature of its effect, Curtain of Light stands out by allowing players to preserve it for the moment when it is most crucial.

Altogether, Curtain of Light occupies a strategic niche within Magic: The Gathering’s pantheon of defensive spells. Its specificity gives players a potentially game-changing tool under the right circumstances, carving its own identity among cards that offer combat deterrence and protection.

Cards similar to Curtain of Light by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Curtain of Light MTG card by a specific set like Saviors 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 Curtain of Light and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Curtain of Light 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 Curtain of Light card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2005-06-01	An attacking unblocked creature exists from the time the defending player chooses not to block that creature until the combat phase ends. Curtain of Light doesn’t have any legal targets outside of the combat phase.
2005-06-01	Curtain of Light does trigger bushido abilities.
2005-06-01	Curtain of Light isn’t particularly effective against creatures with trample. Since the creature with trample has no blocker to assign damage to, all the damage will be assigned to the defending player.
2013-09-20	If a turn has multiple combat phases, this spell can be cast during any of them as long as it’s after the beginning of that phase’s Declare Blockers Step.