Rune of Protection: Blue MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Abilities | Cycling |
| Released | 1998-10-12 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Urza's Saga |
| Set code | USG |
| Number | 37 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Scott M. Fischer |
Key Takeaways
- The card grants card advantage and gameplay flexibility with its cycling ability at instant speed.
- Its specific protection and mana requirements can narrow deck-building choices and strategies.
- Despite its narrow effect, it provides essential meta relevance and versatile combo potential.
Text of card
oo W Prevent all damage to you from a blue source. (Treat further damage from that source normally.) Cycling (You may pay and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Rune of Protection: Blue enables card advantage through its cycling ability. By paying a small mana cost, you can draw a card, effectively replacing itself in your hand, thus keeping your card resources replenished and potentially drawing into more useful cards as the game progresses.
Resource Acceleration: In terms of resource acceleration, the enchantment serves by saving your resources. It acts as an insurance against blue spells, which means you can use your mana and other resources more aggressively elsewhere, confident in the protection this card provides.
Instant Speed: The versatility of Rune of Protection: Blue is further increased with its instant-speed cycling ability. This allows you to react swiftly to the shifting tides of a match, cycling the card away for a new draw if the protection it offers is no longer necessary or if the board state changes such that a different response is required.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Playing Rune of Protection: Blue requires a card to be discarded from your hand to activate its cycling ability. This can be a disadvantage when your hand is already running low or each card is vital for your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: This card necessitates white mana, which restricts its addition to decks that run white or have a reliable mana base to accommodate white spells, potentially limiting its versatility in non-white decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of two mana, one of which must be white, it asks for a fair amount of resources for an effect—protection from blue—that is remarkably narrow. This can be quite steep, especially when considering other cards that might shield multiple colors or offer additional benefits.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Rune of Protection: Blue offers a dynamic shield against one of the most pervasive colors in the game. It can be included in various decks requiring defense against blue spells and abilities, ensuring your pivotal creatures and strategies remain unaffected by opponents’ actions.
Combo Potential: This card serves as an ideal piece in combos aimed at granting protection to your valuable permanents. It can be paired with cards that allow for the recycling of enchantments or with aura synergies, further extending its utility and defensive capabilities across multiple turns and scenarios.
Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where blue-based control decks, combo decks, and powerful instants and sorceries are at the forefront, Rune of Protection: Blue becomes especially valuable. It allows players to safeguard their game plan and maintain a stable board presence amidst the ever-shifting tactics prevalent in the competitive scene.
How to beat
Rune of Protection: Blue is a specialized shield in the realm of MTG, allowing players to dodge blue spells that might otherwise doom them. Unlike broader defenses that might cover multiple colors or spell types, this enchantment focuses specifically on blue, making it perfect for meta environments where blue decks dominate. To navigate around it, consider diversifying your threats beyond those in the blue spectrum.
Enchantment removal is your straightforward solution to dismantling the Rune’s safety net. Cards like Disenchant or Naturalize allow you to swiftly eliminate it, ensuring your blue spells reach their targets unimpeded. Adaptability is key, and utilizing versatile spells or creatures that can target enchantments ensures you won’t be thwarted by protection runes of any color.
Moreover, exploiting weaknesses in the opponent’s mana can be effective. Since activating the Rune’s ability requires mana, pressuring your opponent’s resources can disrupt their ability to shield themselves consistently. A well-timed land destruction spell or a strategy that taxes their mana can render the Rune of Protection less efficient and your path to victory more clear.
Cards like Rune of Protection: Blue
Rune of Protection: Blue slots neatly into the enchantment suite of Magic: The Gathering, offering targeted protection. It’s akin to other “circle of protection” cards, such as Circle of Protection: Red, which allows players to prevent damage from red sources. However, Rune of Protection: Blue uniquely grants protection from blue sources, which can be activated by spending mana.
Delving into other similar cards, we find Story Circle which gives players the flexibility to choose the color of protection at the time of its casting. Despite the higher casting cost compared to Rune of Protection: Blue, its versatile nature can be crucial in a game’s changing dynamics. Then there’s Spectra Ward, offering a broader scope of protection against all colors, yet it is limited to a single creature and comes with a heftier mana investment.
When comparing these cards, Rune of Protection: Blue stands out as a cost-effective option for those specific moments when blue spells or creatures dominate the board. It embodies Magic: The Gathering’s strategic depth, where even a simple twist in card abilities can pivot the course of the match.
Cards similar to Rune of Protection: Blue by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rune of Protection: Blue MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga, 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 Rune of Protection: Blue 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Rune of Protection: Blue has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rune of Protection: Blue card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | A source of damage is a permanent, a spell on the stack (including one that creates a permanent), or any object referred to by an object on the stack. A source doesn’t need to be capable of dealing damage to be a legal choice. |
| 2004-10-04 | Can be used even when there is no damage to prevent. It prevents the next damage (if any) from the source this turn. |
| 2008-10-01 | Cycling is an activated ability. Effects that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle or Rings of Brighthearth) will interact with cycling. Effects that interact with spells (such as Remove Soul or Faerie Tauntings) will not. |
