Rune of Protection: White 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 | 41 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Scott M. Fischer |
Key Takeaways
- Cycling feature of Rune of Protection: White allows flexibility and maintains card flow during gameplay.
- Offers instant speed activation for surprise defenses against white spells and strategies.
- While protective, its specific mana needs could limit deck inclusion, necessitating careful consideration.
Text of card
oo W Prevent all damage to you from a white 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: The enchantment Rune of Protection: White offers a cycling ability, providing players the option to exchange this card for another, thus preventing hand stagnation and maintaining card flow. This can potentially open up more strategic plays and help secure the right responses when needed.
Resource Acceleration: Although not directly contributing to resource acceleration, the protective nature of Rune of Protection: White can indirectly maintain your resources by shielding creatures or you from targeted white spells. This safeguard can lead to a resource advantage by negating the need to invest in other defenses.
Instant Speed: The Rune’s ability to be activated at instant speed gives you the flexibility to respond to threats during any phase of your opponent’s turn. This not only surprises your opponent but also allows you to make decisions with the most current information, potentially nullifying powerful white spells that could damage your board presence.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: In deck-building and gameplay, the inclusion of Rune of Protection: White could present a challenge, as cycling the card means you’ll have to discard it which could deplete a valuable card from your hand.
Specific Mana Cost: The activation cost of this card requires white mana, which may not be readily available in multicolored or colorless decks, thereby limiting the environments where this card is optimally used.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While providing a specialized form of protection, its mana cost for both playing and cycling might be steep when compared to less restrictive alternatives or lower-cost cards that offer similar defensive capabilities.
Reasons to Include Rune of Protection: White in Your Collection
Versatility: Rune of Protection: White is adaptable to various deck builds, particularly those aiming to shore up defenses against specific color strategies. Its ability to protect creatures or players from white spells makes it a useful card in multi-color decks where white is a prevalent threat.
Combo Potential: This card offers synergy with decks that capitalize on cycling abilities, allowing you to draw cards while also protecting your board state. Furthermore, it can be brought back from the graveyard with effects that target enchantments, granting you repeated uses.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where white-based aggro or control decks are common, Rune of Protection: White can serve as an effective sideboard card, possibly tipping the balance in matches where protection from white can neutralize key threats or strategies.
How to beat
Rune of Protection: White is a unique enchantment in the Magic: The Gathering arsenal that provides a player with a reliable safeguard against white spells. Its capacity to ward off damage with a simple mana expenditure can often be a hurdle for opponents relying on white strategies. Yet, no card in MTG is without its vulnerabilities.
To outmaneuver Rune of Protection: White, one effective method is to diversify your deck’s color palette. Incorporating spells that deal damage or have effects that aren’t white in color can dynamically bypass the rune’s protection. Additionally, enchantment removal cards are a direct counter to the rune’s stability on the battlefield. Cards such as Disenchant or Naturalize can target and eliminate Rune of Protection: White, clearing the way for your strategy to proceed unhindered.
Moreover, applying pressure through creatures and spells that don’t deal damage but rather reduce an opponent’s life total or cause them to lose the game through alternative methods can also sidestep the rune’s defensive capabilities. By considering creative approach angles and incorporating enchantment removal into your repertoire, you can effectively negate the advantage provided by Rune of Protection: White.
Cards like Rune of Protection: White
Rune of Protection: White stands out as a unique shield within the suite of color-specific protection enchantments in Magic: The Gathering. It mirrors other cards in the Rune of Protection cycle, such as Rune of Protection: Blue, which provides analogous safeguarding against blue spells. Each rune allows players to pay a small mana fee to avoid damage from sources of a particular color for the turn.
Circle of Protection: White competes closely, offering similar protective measures. It also grants the ability to pay mana to prevent damage from white sources, however, it doesn’t possess the ability to cycle itself from the game for a new card. This cycling feature gives Rune of Protection: White a level of versatility and cycle synergy other cards lack. Shield of Duty and Reason is another comparable spell. While it costs less and blocks white sources as well, it’s not as flexible since it’s tethered to a creature rather than being a standalone enchantment that can protect players directly.
When considering defensive strategies against specific colors in Magic: The Gathering, Rune of Protection: White is a reliable option due to its protective capabilities alongside the added flexibility of card cycling, allowing players to adapt smoothly to the changing tides of the game.
Cards similar to Rune of Protection: White by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rune of Protection: White 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: White 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: White 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: White 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. |
