Shell Shield MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Kicker
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Number	79
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Wisnu Tan

Key Takeaways

Shell Shield’s kicker ability may draw a card and protect key creatures at critical moments.
Instant speed allows for flexible defense, fitting well into blue mana-based decks.
Kicker cost of Shell Shield is an affordable addition to decks focusing on creature longevity.

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Target creature you control gets +0/+3 until end of turn. If this spell was kicked, that creature also gains hexproof until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shell Shield’s Kicker ability can be an unexpected boon, offering the potential to draw a card while also preserving a crucial creature on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly contributing to resource acceleration, Shell Shield’s low mana cost facilitates more efficient use of mana, allowing you to play other spells or hold up mana for additional responses.

Instant Speed: This protective spell can be deployed at instant speed, providing the flexibility to shield your creatures from harm during the opponent’s turn or in response to targeted removal, all while keeping your strategic options wide open.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Shell Shield demands that you give up another spell or creature to use its kicker ability. This can be a setback, especially when your hand is teetering on empty.

Specific Mana Cost: Shell Shield’s cost is exclusively blue, which means you’ll need at least one Island or another source of blue mana. This could potentially restrict the card’s integration into multicolored decks that have a tight mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: To make full use of Shell Shield, including its kicker, you’re investing two mana. When considering other spells available, there might be more cost-effective ways to protect your creatures or advance your board state.

Reasons to Include Shell Shield in Your Collection

Versatility: Shell Shield has the convenient ability to be cast as a kicked spell, providing not just protection for a creature but also a permanent +1/+1 counter. This makes it vastly adaptable for decks that aim to safeguard important creatures or benefit from counter strategies.

Combo Potential: As a cheap instant, Shell Shield can be a key component in combos that require casting multiple spells in a turn. It works well with cards that reward you for protecting creatures or for having spells with a kicker cost.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where removal spells are prevalent, being able to protect a pivotal creature from a targeted spell can be the difference between victory and defeat. With Shell Shield in your arsenal, you can maintain board presence against such threats, making it a relevant choice in many competitive environments.

How to beat

Shell Shield is a handy instant card providing defense for your creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its primary strength lies in its ability to counter removal spells, denying your opponent the satisfaction of destroying your prized creatures. As with any card, though, there are strategies to work around it.

A key to overcoming Shell Shield’s protective aura is patience. The card can only be cast when a creature is targeted, which means holding off on removal spells until your opponent is tapped out or lacks the necessary blue mana to cast the spell. Additionally, you can outmaneuver Shell Shield by using board wipes that affect all creatures instead of targeting individual ones, circumventing the protective bubble Shell Shield provides.

Ultimately, by understanding the right timing and employing mass removal tactics, you can effectively confront the challenges posed by Shell Shield. This approach ensures that while your opponent may have defenses up, your strategic plays keep you one step ahead in the game.

Cards like Shell Shield

Shell Shield is an intriguing instant within Magic: The Gathering’s array of protection spells. It is often likened to cards such as Dive Down, which shares the same mana cost and also focuses on safeguarding creatures. What makes Shell Shield stand out is its kicker feature, allowing you to not only grant a creature +0/+3 but also add the bonus of hexproof if additional mana is spent. Dive Down, lacks the kicker option but does provide hexproof and a +0/+3 boost as well.

A closer look reveals Mizzium Skin, another spell offering similar services. Mizzium Skin also furnishes hexproof but forgoes the stat boost, unless its overload cost is paid, which then extends protection to all your creatures. Although both cards protect your valuable assets, Shell Shield’s flexibility of the kicker can be pivotal in specific situations.

So, while each card serves a protective purpose in your deck, Shell Shield’s adaptability gives it an edge, allowing for strategic defense enhancements tailored to the evolving circumstances of the game. The balance between cost and effect is always key in deckbuilding, and Shell Shield maintains a solid position with its versatile kicker option.

Cards similar to Shell Shield by color, type and mana cost

Blue Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions

Enchantment Alteration - MTG Card versions

Whispers of the Muse - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shell Shield MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Shell Shield and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Shell Shield has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25	If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn’t kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25	If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can’t kick it.
2020-09-25	Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25	Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they’re kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren’t kicked, and you can’t kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won’t be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25	To determine a spell’s total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card’s effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25	You can’t pay a kicker cost more than once.