Rune of Protection: Lands MTG Card
1998-10-12 - Number 39
2020-09-26 - Number USG-39
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Abilities | Cycling |
Key Takeaways
- Cycling ability maintains card advantage, crucial against non-land-based strategies.
- Instant-speed activation offers adaptability to evolving gameplay scenarios.
- Discarding a card for cycling can be a strategic drawback in tight games.
Text of card
oo W Prevent all damage to you from a land 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: One of the perks of this enchantment is its cycling ability, which lets you replace it with another card ensuring that your hand remains full. It’s particularly valuable when facing matchups where land-based strategies aren’t prevalent.
Resource Acceleration: By preventing damage from lands, it enables more strategic plays without the fear of crippling land-based attacks. This can indirectly speed up your game plan by keeping your resources intact for pivotal turns.
Instant Speed: The card’s ability to be activated at instant speed allows for flexible responses to incoming threats. You can adapt to the board state as it develops, making it versatile during nearly any phase of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Like certain other utility cards, Rune of Protection: Lands necessitates the potential setback of discarding another card. This can be quite taxing when your hand is already depleting, ultimately hindering your gameplay strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: The specific mana cost for casting this card includes white, which means that decks without white mana sources will find it challenging to fulfill the casting requirements, thus reducing its versatility across various deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While offering a specialized form of protection, the card comes with a fairly steep mana cost. When compared to other options available in the format, players might find that managing their mana to include this card in their deck may not always justify the protection it affords, especially in faster-paced games where mana efficiency is key.
Reasons to Include Rune of Protection: Lands in Your Collection
Versatility: Rune of Protection: Lands offers a unique defense mechanism that can be slotted into various deck builds. Its ability to protect against land-specific threats gives it a spot in sideboards for those seeking an edge in matches where lands can become a serious menace.
Combo Potential: This enchantment works well with decks that capitalize on cycling. Players can use its cycling ability to draw into more impactful cards while possibly reaping benefits from other cycling-related card interactions within their deck.
Meta-Relevance: With land destruction or land-based strategies occasionally cropping up in competitive play, having Rune of Protection: Lands ready can deter opponents from pursuing those tactics, making it a prudent choice for adapting to evolving meta-game challenges.
How to beat
Rune of Protection: Lands is a unique enchantment in the MTG world. It caters specially to players who want to shield themselves from land-based attacks. While the card allows a player to pay a mere one white mana to prevent all damage to them from a land source, it might seem daunting at first glance. However, there are strategies to navigate around it.
Consider using spells that target the opponent’s hand and graveyard. Spells like Duress or Bojuka Bog can disrupt the access to Rune of Protection: Lands before it becomes active or remove it from the game entirely. Artifacts or abilities that can destroy enchantments, such as Disenchant or Naturalize, are also effective methods to eliminate the protective shield this card provides. Another approach can be adopting a more control-oriented playstyle, focusing on counter spells and using control cards like Counterspell or Negate to prevent the rune from ever hitting the field. Furthermore, applying pressure with a variety of threats can also overload the Rune’s capabilities since its mana-intensive activation can be resource-draining for the controller.
Ultimately, dealing with Rune of Protection: Lands requires a tactical approach, focusing on enchantment removal, hand disruption, and versatile threats to outmaneuver its defenses.
Cards like Rune of Protection: Lands
Rune of Protection: Lands is a unique piece within the array of protective enchantments in Magic: The Gathering. It echoes the structure of other cards in the ‘Rune of Protection’ cycle, which shield players from specific colors. Its ability to selectively prevent all damage from a land, however, is a specialized tool tailored against land-based strategies. Comparatively, Circle of Protection: Red and Circle of Protection: Green provide similar safety nets but are attuned to color-based damage rather than land-specific threats.
Another parallel can be drawn with Story Circle. This enchantment allows selection of a color upon entering the battlefield, offering a customizable defense akin to the ‘Rune of Protection’ series. It’s both flexible and resource-intensive, as it requires mana investment for each threat neutralized. In contrast, Rune of Protection: Lands requires only one activation to safeguard against all land-inflicted damage for the turn, showcasing its focused defensive capability amidst the Magic: The Gathering card pool.
When scrutinizing these defensive options, one realizes that Rune of Protection: Lands stands out due to its unique protection from terraformed troubles – a niche yet powerful advantage for any Magic: The Gathering player facing land heavy arsenals.
Cards similar to Rune of Protection: Lands by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rune of Protection: Lands MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga and The List, 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: Lands 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 Rune of Protection: Lands Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1998-10-12 and 1998-10-12. Illustrated by Scott M. Fischer.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998-10-12 | Urza's Saga | USG | 39 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Scott M. Fischer | |
| 2 | The List | PLST | USG-39 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Scott M. Fischer |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Rune of Protection: Lands has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rune of Protection: Lands 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. |
