DEBT: the four things protection stops
Protection from a quality means the permanent cannot be:
- Damaged by anything with that quality
- Enchanted or Equipped by anything with that quality
- Blocked by anything with that quality
- Targeted by anything with that quality
That is a closed list. If an effect does not do one of those four things, protection is irrelevant to it.
The mnemonic is worth committing to memory, because protection is the broadest defensive keyword in the game and players routinely assume it is broader still.
Working through each letter
Damage
Damage from a source with the stated quality is prevented. All of it, automatically, with no choice involved.
A creature with protection from red takes zero damage from a red burn spell and zero damage in combat from a red creature. This is the letter that makes protection better than hexproof in combat: hexproof does nothing about damage.
Enchant and Equip
An Aura with the quality cannot be attached to it, and an Equipment with the quality cannot be equipped to it. If an Aura somehow becomes attached anyway, or the creature gains protection afterwards, the Aura is put into the graveyard as a state-based action.
That last part matters: giving your creature protection from white in response to a white Aura is a way to kill the Aura outright, not just prevent it.
Block
Creatures with the quality cannot block it. Note the direction carefully: protection stops them blocking you. It does not stop you being blocked by creatures without the quality, and it does not stop you from blocking them.
A creature with protection from green is unblockable by green creatures. It is entirely blockable by blue ones.
Target
Spells and abilities with the quality cannot target it. This is the letter that overlaps with hexproof, and the one people think of first.
The four things protection does not stop
This is where games are decided, so be specific.
Sacrifice effects
An edict says “each player sacrifices a creature”. No damage, no attachment, no blocking, no targeting. Protection does nothing. Even protection from everything does nothing.
This is the standard, reliable answer to an otherwise untouchable creature, and it is why sacrifice effects hold their value in formats full of protection.
Destruction
“Destroy all creatures” does not deal damage and does not target. Protection from black does not save you from a black board wipe that destroys.
The distinction between a damage sweeper and a destruction sweeper is exactly the line protection draws. Check which one you are facing.
Minus one/minus one counters and toughness reduction
Putting counters on a creature is not damage. Reducing toughness is not damage. A creature with protection from everything, sitting at 3/3, dies to an effect giving it minus three/minus three because its toughness hits zero and state-based actions apply.
This works even through indestructible, which makes it the most universal creature answer in the game.
Anything already resolved
Protection stops targeting at the moment of targeting. If an Aura was already attached before the creature gained protection, the Aura falls off, but any effect that already resolved has already happened.
Protection versus indestructible versus hexproof
Three keywords, three different jobs, constantly confused.
| Effect | Protection from X | Indestructible | Hexproof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damage from X | Prevented | Taken, but does not destroy | Taken normally |
| Destroy effects | Not stopped | Stopped | Not stopped |
| Targeting by X | Stopped | Not stopped | Stopped, opponents only |
| Blocked by X | Cannot be blocked by X | No effect | No effect |
| Auras and Equipment from X | Cannot attach | No effect | Cannot attach, opponents only |
| Sacrifice | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped |
| Minus one counters | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped |
| Toughness to zero | Dies | Dies | Dies |
Note the bottom two rows. All three keywords fail against toughness reduction, and all three fail against sacrifice. Those two effects are the universal answers.
Protection from everything
Some cards grant protection from everything, which means protection from each object regardless of quality.
It is the strongest defensive text in the game and it still loses to:
- Sacrifice effects
- Minus one/minus one counters and toughness reduction
- Effects that do not target and do not deal damage, such as “each player discards” or “creatures get minus X/minus X”
- Being blocked, since blocking restriction only applies to creatures with the quality, and everything has every quality here, so this one actually does work
A creature with protection from everything cannot be blocked at all, which makes it a genuine threat, and it dies to a single edict, which makes it a fragile one.
Practical checklist
When you are deciding whether protection saves your creature, ask three questions in order:
- Does the effect deal damage? If yes, and the source has the quality, you are safe.
- Does the effect use the word target? If yes, and it has the quality, you are safe.
- If neither, you are probably not safe. Destroy, sacrifice, exile, and counters all get through.
Most losses to this keyword come from stopping after question two.