Protection

Protection from [quality] is a deciduous 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. 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 <c>Emrakul, the Promised End</c>.
Players can also gain protection, the first instance of which was <c>Seht's Tiger</c> in the Futureshifted category of Future Sight. Naturally, the blocking text is not relevant, nor is the equipped text. Only six cards give protection to a player, of varying usefulness. In contrast, <c>True-Name Nemesis</c> is the first to give protection from a player, which was a maligned card for its impact on Legacy. For two-player games, this gave it hexproof and general unblockability, making it an uninteractable threat. Protection from a player has only shown up once after on <c>Eon Frolicker</c>.
Later, it reappeared in Modern Horizons. It also returned in Core Set 2020, where it was back to evergreen on a probationary status. Although it didn't show up in every set, protection became officially evergreen again in 2021. It's probationary status lasted until approximately Core Set 2021 and by the release of Magic: The Gathering Foundations it had been demoted back to deciduous.
Two white cards have a condensed version of Protection: <c>Sungold Sentinel</c> and <c>Skrelv, Defector Mite</c>. Both have an activated ability that grants hexproof from a color and prevent blocking by creatures of that color, making up about half of protection's text and most of its gameplay. As with many gameplay design choices, the "prevent damage" aspect is left out as to avoid the "infinite blocking" scenario.
==Rules==
===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 Modern Horizons 3.
Protection type 	Set in which first appeared 	Cards on which first appeared
Protection from [color] 	Alpha 	<c>Black Knight</c>, <c>Black Ward</c>, <c>Blue Ward</c>, <c>Green Ward</c>, <c>Red Ward</c>, <c>White Knight</c>, <c>White Ward</c>
Protection from [chosen color] 	Mirage 	<c>Prismatic Boon</c>, <c>Ward of Lights</c>
Protection from artifacts 	Urza's Legacy 	<c>Angelic Curator</c>, <c>Yavimaya Scion</c>
Protection from [creature type] 	Invasion 	<c>Shoreline Raider</c>, <c>Tsabo Tavoc</c>
Protection from legendary creatures 	Invasion 	<c>Tsabo Tavoc</c>
Protection from all colors 	Odyssey 	<c>Iridescent Angel</c>
Protection from creatures 	Odyssey 	<c>Beloved Chaplain</c>
Protection from enchantments 	Odyssey 	<c>Tattoo Ward</c>
Protection from instants 	Odyssey 	<c>Devoted Caretaker</c>
Protection from its colors 	Odyssey 	<c>Earnest Fellowship</c>
Protection from sorceries 	Odyssey 	<c>Devoted Caretaker</c>
Protection from [chosen type] 	Mirrodin 	<c>Mirror Golem</c>
Protection from [artist] 	Unhinged 	<c>Fascist Art Director</c>
Protection from wordy 	Unhinged 	<c>Frazzled Editor</c>
Protection from [spell type] 	Champions of Kamigawa 	<c>Kitsune Riftwalker</c>
protection from monocolored 	Dissension 	<c>Guardian of the Guildpact</c>
Protection from multicolored 	Dissension 	<c>Enemy of the Guildpact</c>
Protection from snow 	Coldsnap 	<c>Ronom Hulk</c>
Protection from [specified mana value] 	Future Sight 	<c>Mistmeadow Skulk</c>
Protection from [chosen card] 	Shadowmoor 	<c>Runed Halo</c>
Protection from everything 	Conflux 	<c>Progenitus</c>
Protection from lands 	Worldwake 	<c>Horizon Drake</c>
Protection from colored spells 	Rise of the Eldrazi 	<c>Emrakul, the Aeons Torn</c>
Protection from [a chosen] player 	Commander 2013 	<c>True-Name Nemesis</c>
Protection from die rolls 	Unstable 	<c>Proper Laboratory Attire</c>
Protection from black borders 	Unstable 	
Protection from even collector numbers 	Unstable 	
Protection from loose lips 	Unstable 	
Protection from odd collector numbers 	Unstable 	
Protection from two-word names 	Unstable 	
Protection from watermarks 	Unstable 	
Protection from enemy-colored multicolored 	Mystery Booster 	<c>Frenemy of the Guildpact</c>
Protection from modified creatures 	Mystery Booster 	<c>Louvaq, the Aberrant</c>
Protection from even/odd mana value 	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths 	<c>Lavabrink Venturer</c>
Protection from planeswalkers 	Core Set 2021 	<c>Sparkhunter Masticore</c>
Protection from colors not in your Commander's color identity	Commander Legends 	<c>Commander's Plate</c>
Protection from [rarity] 	Heroes of the Realm 	<c>Collectigull</c>
Protection from ring-bearers 	The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander	<c>Lord of the Nazgûl</c>
Protection from spells and from permanents cast this turn. 	Modern Horizons 3 	<c>Emrakul, the World Anew</c>
==Examples==
==References==
==External links==
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