Rune of Protection: Artifacts MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Abilities | Cycling |
| Released | 1998-10-12 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Urza's Saga |
| Set code | USG |
| Number | 35 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Scott M. Fischer |
Key Takeaways
- Cycling allows for consistent hand quality, making it a useful tool for resource management in gameplay.
- Instant speed provides dynamic defense, crucial for artifact preservation against unexpected threats.
- Though card discards are necessary, its white mana specificity can limit usage in multicolored decks.
Text of card
oo W Prevent all damage to you from an artifact 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: Artifacts has a cycling feature that affords players the ability to replace it from their hand, ensuring card flow and maintaining hand resourcefulness in the match.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly contributing to resource production, this card conserves crucial mana and board resources by protecting your valuable artifacts from being targeted or destroyed, which can be pivotal in keeping your engine running smoothly.
Instant Speed: The ability to play this card at instant speed offers flexibility in gameplay. It lets you respond to threats with pinpoint timing, only committing this protection on the fly in response to threatening spells or abilities that would otherwise compromise your artifact assets.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Rune of Protection: Artifacts provides a valuable defensive option, it requires you to have another card to discard to activate its protection ability. In the late game, when your hand may be empty, this could render its defensive capabilities unusable, leaving you vulnerable to artifact threats.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s activation cost is specific to white mana. This can be restrictive for multicolor decks that might struggle to consistently provide the white mana needed to activate its ability, reducing its effectiveness in diverse mana base environments.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that might be considered steep for its singular protective effect against artifacts, players may find the card less appealing. In fast-paced games, investing that much mana to protect against only one type of threat might not be the most mana-efficient strategy, as there are alternative cards that offer broader protection or more versatile defensive mechanisms for a similar or lower mana investment.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Rune of Protection: Artifacts possesses the ability to shield you from a myriad of threats that are common in artifact-centric decks. It’s an essential tool that can adapt to any situation where artifacts pose a danger, fitting snugly into sideboards for that moment of need.
Combo Potential: Beyond its obvious defensive capabilities, Rune of Protection: Artifacts can be a key piece in combos that require protection elements. It can be used creatively with cards that allow you to untap lands or to cycle through your deck more efficiently.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where artifact decks are prevalent, having Rune of Protection: Artifacts in your arsenal gives you an edge. It’s a card that can single-handedly deter opponents’ strategies, making it a strategic pick for tournament play and casual games alike.
How to beat
Rune of Protection: Artifacts is a unique aura in the world of Magic: The Gathering. This card gives you the ability to prevent all damage that would be dealt to you by artifacts for the cost of a single white mana, setting it apart from other protective spells. A crucial strategy in rendering this card less effective, however, is to diversify the sources of damage in your deck. Unlike Circle of Protection, which can target multiple damage sources, this rune’s focus is exclusively on artifacts.
To edge out opponents using Rune of Protection: Artifacts, try including enchantment removal cards in your deck such as Naturalize or Disenchant. These cards allow you to destroy the rune before it becomes a persistent nuisance. Alternatively, you can sidestep the rune’s protection by relying on non-artifact sources such as creature or sorcery-based damage, thus invalidating the rune’s effect and keeping your offensive momentum unhampered. Remember, versatility in your approach is key to overcoming specialized defenses this card provides.
Understanding the limitations and specificity of Rune of Protection: Artifacts can give you a significant edge in the game. By preventing its activation or widening your attack strategy, you neutralize the rune’s advantage, keeping the path clear for your victory.
Cards like Rune of Protection: Artifacts
Rune of Protection: Artifacts stands out in the realm of protective enchantments in Magic: The Gathering. Its kin, such as Rune of Protection: Red, functions similarly by providing a specific shield, in this case, against red spells. The distinction lies in the specific immunity granted; Rune of Protection: Artifacts focuses on negating artifact-driven damage, whereas its color-focused counterparts safeguard against color-specific threats.
Circle of Protection: Artifacts is another comparable option. It shares the same base function of shielding against artifacts. However, unlike Rune of Protection: Artifacts, which allows for card cycling at a small cost, Circle of Protection: Artifacts lacks this added versatility. Hydroblast is also worth mentioning in this comparison. While it primarily serves as a counter against red spells or to destroy red permanents, its protective capacity is limited when juxtaposed with the broad defense offered by Rune of Protection: Artifacts against all artifact sources.
In evaluating these cards, Rune of Protection: Artifacts offers a unique value by balancing defense with the utility of cycling, making it a smart choice for players seeking artifact resilience with flexible card flow options.
Cards similar to Rune of Protection: Artifacts by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rune of Protection: Artifacts 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: Artifacts 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: Artifacts has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rune of Protection: Artifacts 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. |
