My Top 10 Protection Spells for Commander
Commander is a format where many games are decided by huge board states and turning creatures sideways during the combat step. Due to the nature of multiplayer Magic, it can often be tricky to navigate through targeted removal and board wipes from multiple opponents. After all, the card pool in this format includes almost every card in either of these categories. In this article, I'm going to highlight some of my favorite protection spells for the Commander format.
Since most Commander decks contain many cards that are synergistic with their respective commanders, it stands to reason that the average player would prefer to have their commander on the battlefield as often as possible. This can be tricky with cards like Swords to Plowshares and Kenrith's Transformation seeing plenty of play.
While equipment such as Lightning Greaves or Commander's Plate can be an effective way to protect your commander or another important creature from targeted removal, they do come with their own limitations. These types of cards can't do much against board wipes, meaning that a single sweeper can send you back to the drawing board.
Nearly every casual Commander deck has a few board wipes. A card like Blasphemous Act can singlehandedly turn the game on its head by dealing with massive board states for as little as a single red mana, while Cyclonic Rift can send every enemy nonland permanent packing while keeping the board state of its caster intact at instant speed!
While classic rattlesnake cards like Mother of Runes and Selfless Spirit can be a perfectly serviceable way to protect yourself from targeted removal and board wipes, these cards are typically cast at sorcery speed. This can make it difficult to use them reactively in order to make opponents waste cards and mana while you protect your gameplan. As such, this list will be focused on cards that can be cast at instant speed.
You might be wondering if this article will include cards such as Force of Will or Fierce Guardianship. Counterspells are great, but we’ll leave them for a future article focused specifically on them. There are times when you want a board wipe to happen, but you don't want it to happen to you. Okay, that’s out of the way. Let’s get to the list!
Brave the Elements
You can use this spell to protect your creatures from targeted removal, combat damage, or even damage-based sweepers like Blasphemous Act. It can also be used to make sure that your creatures connect by nullifying potential chump blockers so you can get through a board full of tokens to deal that finishing blow. While it won’t beat everything, it’s hard to find a card that does more for just a single white mana.
I’ve seen this card completely blow tables out because people weren’t expecting to see such an efficient protection spell. Brave the Elements can even help your creatures shed auras like Darksteel Mutation or Shiny Impetus or to turn your own board into a wall of defenders that can survive combat when an opponent swings into you to force you to trade creatures or take big damage. I’m always surprised by how little play it sees in Commander.
Boros Charm
This is a classic that exemplifies what’s great about the cycle of Guild Charms. The different modes represent red, white, and Boros respectively, and all of them can be worth choosing depending on the circumstances. For the purposes of my list, I’m mostly looking at giving all of your permanents indestructible. This is a powerful effect that can allow you to beat board wipes, targeted removal, or combat damage.
It’s worth noting that Boros Charm protects more than just creatures. This means that you can use it to beat everything from Armageddon to Hour of Revelation. In fact, you might even be casting it to protect your stuff from your own land destruction or board wipes. It’s important to know when you need to be protected from yourself. Of course, you can also just use it as a way to maintain your board state against opponents as well.
Inspiring Call
You may notice that this one is a bit more unique than many of the others on this list, because it can be used to protect your creatures while also drawing you cards. If you’re playing a deck that relies on +1/+1 counter synergies, Inspiring Call is a great way to restock and avoid being punished by a board wipe after emptying your hand. Your opponents might not be happy about it, but you’ll definitely be having a good time.
Green has a ton of synergy with +1/+1 counters, with cards ranging from The Great Henge to Benevolent Hydra bolstering this strategy in recent years. Whenever I’ve seen Inspiring Call cast against a board wipe by someone who was playing a deck focused on counters, they’ve always become nearly impossible to deal with. It turns out that stapling card draw onto a protection spell is just incredibly hard to beat if it resolves.
Heroic Intervention
For many Commander players, Heroic Intervention has become the standard by which other protection spells are measured. Giving all of your permanents hexproof and indestructible is absolutely incredible at this cost. I’m never disappointed by how effective this spell can be, even when I’m on the receiving end of it. I’ve cast many a board wipe or targeted removal spell that failed to have the desired impact because of it.
There are a few things that this card can’t do. It can’t beat mass removal that doesn’t destroy or target, so a card like Toxic Deluge will still work. On a few occasions, I’ve also been fortunate enough to have a Shadowspear on the board when it was cast. These are minor concerns that don’t really change how wildly effective Heroic Intervention can usually be. Here’s hoping that it can get a few more good reprints in the near future.
Teferi’s Protection
There’s no other card quite like this one. It’s effectively a fog and a very strong protection spell on the same card, with both effects lasting until your next turn. As far as board protection in casual Commander goes, I don’t think that there’s anything more absolute than this card. It’s easy to see why none of the similar cards that have been printed since Teferi’s Protection was released have been even close to as all-encompassing.
By phasing out your permanents, you can keep them safe from almost anything until your next turn. You won’t even have to worry about blockers, because protection from everything will keep you safe from attackers under most circumstances. The downside? All of your lands and mana rocks have also phased out, so you might not be able to cast many spells. Alternate win conditions such as Thassa’s Oracle and Halo Fountain can also still take you out of the game.
Author’s note: Teferi’s Protection is a pretty weird card. If you’re interested, you can find more information about some of the weirder interactions it can cause in this article.
Chance for Glory
Have you ever been in a situation where beating a board wipe and then having just one more turn would allow you to win a close game of Commander? Chance for Glory can do just that. The only catch is that you’ll need to win the game before that turn is over. That sounds easy enough, right? This is one of the few protection spells that can also wind up being a win condition, but you’ll want to make sure that you cast it at the right time.
One of my favorite things to do with Chance for Glory is casting it with Sunforger in response to a board wipe when I have enough damage on board to end the game if I can just manage to untap. If something happens that prevents you from being able to seal the deal, you can always use Sunforger to find Angel’s Grace to keep yourself in the game. Even if you do wind up losing, this spell is sure to create a lot of memorable moments.
Flawless Maneuver
While it has perhaps been overshadowed by some of the other cards in the same cycle, this spell has plenty to offer for most casual Commander players. If you control your commander, you can cast it for free to protect your creatures from a variety of sweepers, targeted removal, and other forms of aggression. Even without your commander, the mana cost is fairly easy to manage and it still sounds like a reasonable spell.
This spell can go a long way towards alleviating concerns that you’d normally have with tapping out to cast your commander. It won’t stop cards such as Deadly Rollick from the same cycle of cards and it can’t beat the rare Exterminatus, but it definitely removes much of the risk involved with having a large board state if you haven’t been able to dedicate mana to holding up interaction.
Akroma’s Will
This is more than just a protection spell. It’s also a white combat win condition. It’s incredibly difficult to cast this spell and not win the game or at least eliminate a player, but you can also use it against board wipes, targeted removal, or a potential alpha strike from an opponent. While each mode is good on its own, Akroma’s Will definitely shines brightest when you have your commander and can gain access to both.
One thing that sets this spell apart from something like Overrun is the lack of trample. This usually won’t come up, but it’s entirely possible that your opponent might have an Ornithopter of Paradise in play. Simply put, you’ll want to plan your combat math accordingly because it doesn’t provide protection from colorless. Outside of rare cases like this, Akroma’s Will will usually make sure that you can get your damage through to opponents and finish them off.
March of Swirling Mist
Phasing is so versatile. You can use it to protect your creatures or handle attackers that are coming your way. You can even use it to nullify problematic hatebears that are hindering your gameplan during a pivotal turn. You can easily discount it to just a single blue mana if you’re willing to exile blue cards from your hand. This makes it ideal for big mana Simic decks, because you’ll always have plenty of big cards in hand that you can pitch if necessary.
The coolest thing that I’ve seen someone do with March of Swirling Mist is exiling their Misthollow Griffin and phasing out some of my hatebears so that they could go off with Food Chain by casting the Misthollow Griffin from exile. While this was a very memorable and unique gameplay moment, even a more pedestrian version of this spell has the potential to be a great protection spell or and a way to handle problematic creatures all in one.
Clever Concealment
At first glance, this card probably looks a lot like Teferi’s Protection. While that isn’t exactly wrong, it does have some notable upsides that can make it a better choice in some circumstances. While it can’t be used to protect your lands, Clever Concealment gives you a choice about what you want to phase out. This means that you can hold mana up and keep key effects in play while phasing out the things that you want to protect.
Giving this spell convoke makes it ideal for decks that want to flood the board with tokens or other creatures without having to worry about holding up mana. It’s easy to tap out and cast a token generator such as Secure the Wastes and then convoke Clever Concealment to protect them. You can also use it to rapidly poison opponents with Venerated Rotpriest if you’re into that sort of thing, since it can target any number of permanents.
Thank you for sticking with me until the end. This top 10 list contains some of my favorite ways to protect your creatures and other permanents from board wipes and other removal. There are still plenty of other great cards out there, so I hope that you’ll find the ones that work best for you. Defense wins games!
Author’s note: This article got a follow-up article in March of 2024 with 10 more protection cards you should be playing!
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