Saving Grace MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment — Aura |
| Abilities | Enchant, Flash |
| Released | 2017-07-14 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Hour of Devastation |
| Set code | HOU |
| Number | 21 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | McLean Kendree |
Key Takeaways
- Saving Grace provides card advantage by protecting key creatures and preventing damage effectively.
- As an instant, it allows for flexible, strategic responses to imminent threats during play.
- It has the potential to reshape the battlefield dynamics, making it a valuable card for defense.
Guide to Flash card ability
Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.
Text of card
Flash Enchant creature you control When Saving Grace enters the battlefield, all damage that would be dealt this turn to you and permanents you control is dealt to enchanted creature instead. Enchanted creature gets +0/+3.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: When Saving Grace is used effectively, it can protect a key creature or prevent a substantial amount of damage, effectively negating an opponent’s turn and saving your resources, leading to a potential card advantage.
Resource Acceleration: While Saving Grace itself does not directly act as resource acceleration, the ability to redirect damage can be indirectly beneficial by preserving life points and creatures that are integral for your mana curve and overall board strategy.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of Saving Grace being an instant cannot be overstated. It allows players to respond to threats immediately, making game-changing decisions in the heat of battle, and can disrupt the pace and outcome of your opponent’s actions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Saving Grace obliges players to discard another card, which may not be favorable when options in hand are already limited. This can pose a dilemma, especially during critical junctures when retaining hand advantage is crucial.
Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise mana arrangement—one white and two of any color—to cast. This necessity can be restrictive and not always easy to achieve, particularly in multicolored decks that run on a tight mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Saving Grace comes with a relatively steep cost for its protective ability. When evaluated against other cards with similar effects, the investment necessary to play it may be considered high, which could turn players towards more cost-effective alternatives.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Saving Grace is an adaptable card that can seamlessly fit into various white decks, offering protection for both creatures and players. By redirecting damage, it can turn the tide in battles where life points are at a premium.
Combo Potential: Its ability to change the target of all damage from one source can combo well with permanents that benefit from being damaged or are indestructible, opening up creative defensive strategies.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive strategies dominate, Saving Grace shines as a defensive enchantment, thwarting heavy hitters and protecting your key pieces on the board.
How to Beat
Saving Grace is an intriguing card that can redirect damage from you or your permanent to the enchanted creature. When facing this card, one effective tactic is utilizing removal spells that can bypass the damage redirection. Cards like Cast Out or Oblivion Ring can exile Saving Grace’s enchanted creature before it becomes a deflective barrier. Another strategy involves timing your spells; by waiting for the opponent to tap out, you can ensure that your removal or damage spells aren’t rendered ineffective by a surprise Saving Grace.
In addition, it’s smart to keep in check any card that allows your opponent to sacrifice creatures for a benefit, as Saving Grace can be turned against them. Cards like Diabolic Edict force your opponent to choose a creature to sacrifice, which could be the one enchanted with Saving Grace. Finally, direct player damage spells, such as Lightning Bolt or Shock, can still target the player directly, circumventing Saving Grace’s protection mechanism altogether.
When considering these aspects, it becomes clear that while Saving Grace can be a protective piece in your opponents’ arsenal, there are definite strategies and card options to effectively combat it, ensuring your path to victory remains unimpeded.
Cards like Saving Grace
Saving Grace stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a defensive enchantment option with a niche effect. Its closest counterparts include cards like Selfless Spirit, which also provides a way to protect creatures on the battlefield. However, unlike Saving Grace, Selfless Spirit sacrifices itself to grant indestructible to your creatures until end of turn. This single-turn defense is more straightforward compared to the permanent redirection of damage provided by Saving Grace.
Another similar card is the well-regarded Ghostly Prison, which, while not directly comparable, contributes to a defensive strategy by imposing a tax on opponents who wish to attack you. Where Saving Grace redirects damage to a single creature, Ghostly Prison deters attacks altogether by making opponents pay for each attacking creature. This affects the overall pacing of the game by creating a deterrent instead of a redirection.
Ultimately, Saving Grace offers a unique safeguard by turning any creature into a shield against a wide swath of damage sources, which, coupled with its ability to prevent lethal damage to your other creatures, can alter the outcome of combat significantly, making it an intriguing choice for players looking to bolster their defensive strategies in MTG.
Cards similar to Saving Grace by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Saving Grace MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation, 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 Saving Grace 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 Saving Grace has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Saving Grace card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-07-14 | If Saving Grace leaves the battlefield during the turn its triggered ability resolved, damage will continue to be redirected to the creature it enchanted before it left the battlefield. If the creature Saving Grace was last attached to isn’t on the battlefield or isn’t a creature at the time damage would be dealt, it won’t be redirected. |
| 2017-07-14 | If you have more than one Saving Grace enter the battlefield in one turn, all damage that would be dealt at once to you and/or permanents you control is dealt to one of the enchanted creatures of your choice. It’s not dealt to all of them, and you can’t split the damage between them. |
| 2017-07-14 | More damage can be redirected to the enchanted creature than it has toughness, as long as that damage is all dealt at once (like combat damage is). |
| 2017-07-14 | Saving Grace’s ability has no effect on damage already dealt earlier in the turn. |
| 2017-07-14 | Saving Grace’s redirection effect doesn’t change the source of the damage or whether the damage is combat damage. |
