Take Up the Shield MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Take Up the Shield can be a noteworthy contributor to card advantage in the right deck. Utilizing its shield counter, it effectively protects a key creature on your board, potentially saving you from having to use another card to replace a valuable asset and maintaining your hand size.

Resource Acceleration: Though not directly contributing to resource acceleration, Take Up the Shield’s low casting cost and versatility work to maintain your momentum, allowing you to dedicate resources to developing your board or advancing your game strategy without a significant investment.

Instant Speed: The power of Take Up the Shield is amplified by its instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to threats during your opponent’s turn. This reactivity not only disrupts their plans but also allows you to make informed decisions after seeing your opponent’s moves, keeping your shield counter deployment timely and impactful.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Take Up the Shield demands that you discard a card in order to play it. When your hand is already dwindling, the cost of discarding can hold you back from maintaining card advantage over your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: With its white mana requirement, the card is best suited for decks that are heavy on white mana sources. This can be restrictive and limits the flexibility in multicolored deck strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a higher mana value compared to other protective spells, Take Up the Shield may not always be the most mana-efficient option for safeguarding your creatures or securing your board position.

Reasons to Include Take Up the Shield in Your Collection

Versatility: Take Up the Shield offers a range of defensive boosts, working well in decks that aim to protect key creatures or safeguard your life total during pivotal turns in the game.

Combo Potential: As it can also target opponent’s creatures, it offers intriguing interactions and synergies with cards that capitalize on altering the power and toughness of creatures on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: With an environment that frequently features aggressive strategies, Take Up the Shield can be a crucial addition to decks looking to stabilize during the early to mid-game and turn the tide in your favor.

How to beat

Take Up the Shield is a defensive spell that can turn the tide of battle by protecting your creatures in Magic: The Gathering. To overcome this card’s effects, smart removal timing is critical. Instead of attempting to remove a creature during your turn when your opponent may have mana available to cast Take Up the Shield, try to force the action when their mana is tapped out. Cards with the ability to bypass traditional defense, such as those with trample or effects that cause loss of life rather than dealing damage, can also be effective.

Alternatively, consider using counterspells to prevent Take Up the Shield from resolving. This preemptive strategy requires careful observation of your opponent’s mana pool and a good read on their potential plays. Also, because Take Up the Shield is a one-time use spell, baiting your opponent into using it early can leave their creatures vulnerable later on. Lastly, spells that grant hexproof or shroud to your permanents can negate the effects of Take Up the Shield, ensuring your attacks or removals go uninterrupted.

Ultimately, by anticipating the use of Take Up the Shield and employing these strategies, you can effectively neutralize its protective capabilities and maintain control over the flow of the game.

BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG’s intricate layers is an exhilarating quest filled with strategic twists and turns. Take Up the Shield stands out as a card that bolsters your defenses with instant speed responsiveness—key for thwarting your adversary’s plans at a moment’s notice. Whether you’re reinforcing your board, countering aggressive plays, or looking for cards that offer strategic flexibility, this card can be a vital cog in your deck’s machinery. Curious about integrating Take Up the Shield into your lineup or seeking ways to outmaneuver its protection? Step into our realm to explore its full potential and arm yourself with knowledge for your next clash on the planes of MTG.