Sanctuary Blade MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact — Equipment
Abilities	Equip
Released	2020-04-17
Set symbol
Set name	Commander 2020
Set code	C20
Number	69
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Titus Lunter

Key Takeaways

Sanctuary Blade’s adaptability provides a tailored defense against a chosen color, enhancing play strategies.
While slightly high in casting cost, its colorless equip cost makes it broadly applicable to any deck.
A key draw for collectors, Sanctuary Blade ensures relevance in a constantly shifting MTG meta.

Text of card

As Sanctuary Blade becomes attached to a creature, choose a color. Equipped creature gets +2/+0 and has protection from the last chosen color. Equip

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sanctuary Blade’s versatility gives players the upper hand by aligning equipment buffs with the shifting dynamics of the game, which can lead to maintaining or improving card effectiveness on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Although Sanctuary Blade doesn’t directly increase mana resources, it provides value acceleration by being a cost-effective equipment that adapts to various protection needs without additional mana investment after the initial equip cost.

Instant Speed: While Sanctuary Blade is not an instant, its ability to attach to a creature at any point during your own turn can be optimized at the last possible moment, keeping opponents guessing and allowing for strategic depth like that of instant-speed plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Sanctuary Blade does not have a discard requirement, making it a straightforward equip card without additional resource loss.

Specific Mana Cost: Though versatile in its colorless equip cost, Sanctuary Blade requires two specific mana types for its initial casting. This can potentially limit its immediate inclusion in decks that do not heavily feature those colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Having to invest four mana to cast it, Sanctuary Blade might seem costly compared to other equipment offering defining combat abilities for less, potentially delaying your board development as you invest in it.

Reasons to Include Sanctuary Blade in Your Collection

Versatility: Sanctuary Blade’s adaptability is a key reason to include it in your arsenal. It can equip to any creature, instantly providing flexibility and protection against a color of your choice. This makes it a valuable addition to decks that adjust their strategy on the fly.

Combo Potential: The flexibility of Sanctuary Blade opens up numerous combo possibilities. Its ability to grant protection from a particular color can be tactically used to block specific threats or to make a creature unblockable during your combat phase, paving the way for key plays.

Meta-Relevance: The current meta often features decks that rely heavily on color-specific spells and abilities. Sanctuary Blade’s protection ability can make your key creatures impervious to those tactics, keeping them safe on the battlefield and maintaining your board presence against prevalent strategies.

How to beat

The Sanctuary Blade is an intriguing equipment card in Magic: The Gathering that can be quite a challenge to overcome. Its ability to adapt its protection based on the color of mana used to equip it makes it a versatile and defensively powerful tool. To effectively counter the Sanctuary Blade, consider employing artifact removal spells such as Disenchant or Abrade, which directly target and eliminate artifacts.

Another strategic approach is to bypass the protection feature altogether. Versatile removal spells like Oblivion Ring, which can exile any nonland permanent, or board wipes like Wrath of God, which don’t target specific creatures, can circumvent the protection granted by Sanctuary Blade. Timing is also essential; try to deal with the blade before your opponent can equip it or when they’re tapped out to avoid instant-speed responses that could foil your plan.

Ultimately, overcoming the adaptability of the Sanctuary Blade in your Magic: The Gathering games requires forethought and the inclusion of versatile removal options within your deck. By preparing for such threats, you position yourself to handle not only the Sanctuary Blade but a wide array of challenging artifacts and enchantments that you may encounter.

Cards like Sanctuary Blade

Sanctuary Blade stands out as a unique equipment in Magic: The Gathering’s arsenal of diverse tools for creatures. It shares some traits with equipment like Swiftfoot Boots, providing both protection and enhancement. Unlike Swiftfoot Boots, which grant hexproof and haste, Sanctuary Blade is versatile, allowing players to choose the protection color when it becomes attached to a creature. With this, it offers a tailored defense mechanism against decks focusing on specific colors.

Another card that enters this sphere of comparison is Whispersilk Cloak. This card offers complete unblockability and shroud, a level of evasion and protection that still remains unmatched. However, Sanctuary Blade edges out with the ability to potentially boost power with the chosen protection color. Where Whispersilk Cloak guarantees permanent protection, Sanctuary Blade’s customizability can adapt to variegated threats dynamically. An additional equipment, Sword of Vengeance, brings a comprehensive set of buffs, including first strike, vigilance, and trample, but lacks the ability to protect against certain colors which highlights Sanctuary Blade’s tactical adaptability.

In conclusion, while each piece of equipment possesses its unique features that suit different strategies, Sanctuary Blade shines for its adaptability in offering protection in Magic: The Gathering, adapting to the changing tides of the game.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sanctuary Blade MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2020, 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 Sanctuary Blade and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sanctuary Blade has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Sanctuary Blade card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2020-04-17	Activating Sanctuary Blade’s equip ability targeting the creature it’s already attached to won’t let you choose a new color.
2020-04-17	If Sanctuary Blade is somehow attached to a creature without a color having been chosen for it, it doesn’t grant a protection ability to the creature. The creature doesn’t gain protection from colorless.