Protection

Protection from [ quality] is an evergreen keyword ability that grants several different effects to the permanent or player it is affecting.

The definition of protection, and the rules backing it, have changed over the course of the game's history.

Description
This ability represents a magical resistance to certain types of magic, often a specific color. It was introduced in Alpha and saw frequent use through Magic Origins. Protection has dropped from evergreen status to deciduous status. It's an ability primary in white that can show up in other colors, usually with protection from something the color dislikes (an enemy color, artifacts for green, etc.).

Protection is commonly misunderstood as complete exemption from permanents, and effects created by cards, with the specified quality. However, protection is defined by a relatively narrow set of rules, which are often communicated using the mnemonic acronym DEBT. The permanent or player with protection cannot be:


 * Damaged by sources with the specified quality. (All such damage is prevented.)
 * Enchanted, equipped, or fortified by permanents with the specified quality.
 * Blocked by creatures with the specified quality.
 * Targeted by spells with the specified quality, or by abilities from sources of that quality.

The current (as of Core Set 2020) reminder text for protection largely reflects this, reading “This [object] can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, enchanted, or equipped by anything [quality].”

History
Despite intuitive expectations for the keyword, protection was recognized as potentially complicated even prior to the game's release. Early attempts to define protection led the Alpha designers to invent the fundamental concept of targeting. However, even the original rulebook described it informally, offering only examples of things that protection would prevent. "A creature with protection from one or more colors of magic cannot be affected by any magic of those colors. For example, a creature with protection from blue cannot be blocked by blue creatures, dealt damage by blue creatures, or enchanted, damaged, or otherwise affected by blue cards. Damage done by such a creature cannot be prevented using blue cards. Note that the creature does not have this ability until it is successfully summoned. If, for example, you are summoning a creature with protection from blue magic, your rival can still cast a blue interrupt that affects the summoning spell."

Protection was excluded from core sets beginning with Sixth Edition and returned to them in Ninth Edition, reflecting concerns about its complexity for newer players. With the release of Magic Origins, protection was demoted from evergreen to deciduous, relegating it to only occasional use. In the three blocks following that decision, it was used only once, on Emrakul, the Promised End.

Later, it reappeared in Modern Horizons. It also returned in Core Set 2020, where it was back to evergreen on a probationary status.

Variants
Protection is written in the form “protection from...”, followed by one or more qualities or characteristics. The first examples of protection are from colors, but many other variants have been printed.

Last Updated for Core Set 2021