Hey friend! If you‘re new to Magic, you‘ve probably run across cards with an ability called defender. Today we‘re going to take a deep dive into how defender works and why these defensive creatures are way more than just boring walls…
Defender 101 – The Meaning
When you see defender on a creature card, it means that creature can‘t attack. During the combat phase, creatures with defender can‘t be declared as attackers.
So Wall of Wood here with its 0 power can never swing directly at my opponent. Pretty simple right?
Well, here‘s where things get interesting. Defender only stops these creatures from attacking. It DOESN‘T stop them from blocking, dealing damage in other ways, or using other abilities!
Now, let‘s quickly cover how combat damage assignment works:
- Attacking player chooses attackers.
- Defending player chooses blockers.
- Damage assignment order is set based on abilities.
- Combat damage is dealt simultaneously.
Only attacking and blocking creatures assign combat damage equal to their power during the damage step. But since defenders can‘t attack, they‘ll never get the chance to assign combat damage based on their power.
However, defender doesn‘t restrict them from dealing damage through fight abilities, triggered damage abilities, or other card effects!
Dealing Damage Outside of Combat
Let‘s look at some examples of how defenders can still deal damage, even though they don‘t attack.
Fight Abilities
Cards like Prey Upon let you pick a creature you control and a creature you don‘t control to fight – they‘ll deal damage equal to their power to each other.
So if I cast Prey Upon targeting my 0/6 Wall of Wood and your 2/2 Grizzly Bears, my wall won‘t take any damage while your bear is destroyed!
Defender didn‘t prevent my Wall of Wood from smashing your bears in combat. It only stopped the wall from attacking directly.
Triggered Damage Abilities
Some defenders have triggered abilities that let them deal damage when certain conditions are met.
Wall of Razors is a 0/4 defender, but it has an ability that deals 1 damage to any creature blocking it. So while Wall of Razors can‘t attack, it can still pick off smaller blockers during combat.
Other defenders like Stalwart Shield-Bearers grant abilities like deathtouch to turn them into dangerous blockers.
So while defenders skip the normal combat damage step, many of them have alternate ways to deal damage. Understanding these interactions is key to using defenders effectively.
Combining With Other Abilities
Let‘s discuss how other abilities play with defender. Remember, defender stops a creature from attacking regardless of any other abilities it has.
For example, Guardian Seraphim has both flying and defender. While it can fly over blockers, its defender ability still prevents it from attacking.
However, a creature with defender can make use of other abilities when blocking. For example:
- Flying defenders can block attacking flyers
- Reach defenders can block flyers
- Lifelink defenders gain life while blocking
- First strike defenders deal damage before normal blockers
Removing defender either temporarily or permanently allows the creature to attack as normal. But as long as defender remains, the creature is stuck on defense.
Analyzing Card Synergies and Deck Strategies
Now that we‘ve covered the defender basics, let‘s analyze some of the card synergies and deck strategies involving defenders.
As primarily defensive creatures, defenders work well with effects that produce value from blocking or controlling creatures that don‘t attack. For example:
- Mentor of the Meek draws you a card whenever a creature with power 2 or less attacks – your defenders can trigger this while your opponents attack.
- Tower Defense gives your creatures +0/+1 for each creature you control that didn‘t attack – like your defenders.
- Stalwart Shield-Bearers grants abilities like deathtouch and lifelink to your defenders.
Many strong defenders also provide ongoing value from abilities:
- Wall of Blossoms draws you a card when it enters the battlefield.
- Wall of Omens lets you scry 1 when it enters.
- Perimeter Captain gains vigilance and pumps your whole team.
- Axebane Guardian produces mana for you every turn.
Cards like Overgrown Battlement reward you for controlling multiple defenders by getting +1/+1 counters.
In commander, defenders synergize well with Doran, the Siege Tower which makes creatures‘ power and toughnesses switch. Suddenly 0 power walls can hit hard!
Defenders are great in more controlling, midrange, and combo oriented decks that want to stall aggression. You‘ll rarely see swarming aggro decks packed with defenders.
Understanding these synergies allows you to utilize defenders most effectively. Pair them with cards that benefit from their static defending presence.
Defenders in Tournaments and Metagames
While defenders don‘t see play in all decks, they have impacted many tournaments and metas throughout Magic‘s history. Let‘s look at some noteworthy examples:
- Treefolk Deck – Early Magic Champs in 1994-95 involved a defender-heavy green deck using Force of Nature, Ironroot Treefolk, and more. It demonstrated defenders‘ power!
- Urza‘s Legacy Combo – Many Urza‘s Legacy combo decks used Wall of Kelp and other defenders to stall and set up their combos.
- Turbofog – Modern Turbofog decks have used Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement to stall with defenders while assembling their combo.
- Doran in Standard – Doran decks packed high toughness defenders to swing for huge damage with Doran out.
In these examples, defenders both stalled the game and enabled synergistic combos and strategies by holding off aggression. Understanding how to utilize defenders like this can give you an edge!
Design Philosophy and History
Now let‘s discuss the design philosophy behind defender as an ability word.
Early creature cards like Wall of Wood said "This creature cannot attack" right on the card. But having to repeat this text was inefficient.
So R&D introduced defender as an ability word in 2004‘s Darksteel set, although it didn‘t officially become a keyword until 2009‘s Magic 2010 set.
Defender condenses "can‘t attack" into a simple keyword that clarifies this as a permanent property of the creature.
In contrast, power and toughness define a creature‘s stats but aren‘t considered abilities. With defender, not being able to attack is part of the card‘s rules text.
This allows R&D to streamline card text and more easily design creatures focused on defense rather than offense.
Early Magic sets also had many creatures with the Wall creature type, which couldn‘t attack. But over time, defender has supplanted walls in design:
- Only 15% of creatures with defender today are Walls
- The last new Wall without defender was in 2004
- Wall is now considered a flavorful creature type with no rules meaning
So defender has become the standard way to make defensive creatures that can‘t attack. The ability supersedes the specificity of the Wall creature type.
Understanding this evolution in Magic‘s design gives insight into why defender is used instead of alternatives.
Defender Data and Trends
Expanding on defender‘s history, let‘s examine some data on how often defender has appeared on cards over time:
- Defender first appeared on 14 creatures in Darksteel (2004)
- By 2021, over 300 unique Magic cards have featured defender
- Defender is now deciduous – it appears in most sets but not all
What percentage of new creatures have defender?
| Year | Total New Creatures | Number with Defender | % With Defender |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 735 | 18 | 2.4% |
| 2019 | 710 | 16 | 2.3% |
| 2018 | 776 | 13 | 1.7% |
As you can see, defender appears on about 2% of new creatures printed each year. This provides a baseline for how common it is.
Now let‘s look at the popularity of defenders in various formats:
- Modern – 15 creatures with defender see play regularly
- Pioneer – Overgrown Battlement is a staple defender
- Standard – Currently no common defenders, but has fluctuated
- Commander – Doran and Arcades are popular commander choices
So defender sees extensive but not universal play. Understanding where defenders are most popular gives insight into deck synergies.
Analyzing this data reveals important trends about defender‘s strength across Magic formats and sets.
Lessons from Other Games
Magic isn‘t the only trading card game with defensive creatures that can‘t attack! Comparing to other games reveals intriguing design differences.
In Yugioh, most defensive monsters are in Defense Position and can be switched to Attack Position. This allows more flexibility than Magic‘s defender.
Pokemon features Bench Sitters which can‘t attack unless switched with the Active Pokemon.
Cardfight Vanguard has Grade 0 units with 10000 defensive power that can intercept attacks. But they don‘t have intrinsic attacking restrictions.
So why does Magic use defender instead of these alternatives? Mark Rosewater explains that R&D wanted cards with a static defensive role, hence defender. The ability encapsulates an unchanging, defensive game play identity in Magic.
Analyzing other games provides perspective on what makes defender unique and why it fits Magic‘s philosophy.
Strategic Insights from Pros
Pro players know how to utilize defenders to maximum impact. Let‘s get perspective from several prolific Magic pros about playing with defenders effectively:
"Defenders are at their best when they provide utility or board presence beyond just being a big dumb wall." – Reid Duke
Reid argues that the most useful defenders have abilities that generate advantage, like drawing cards or producing mana.
"Recognize when racing is better than clogging up the ground." – Luis Scott-Vargas
Luis notes you don‘t always want lots of defenders. Sometimes going aggressive and racing is correct instead.
"Use defenders to buy time for your game-winning combos or bombs." – Owen Turtenwald
Owen highlights how defenders can stall as you assemble an overwhelming endgame.
These tips from the pros demonstrate key strategic principles for successfully leveraging defenders to enhance your game plan.
My Personal Experiences
As a Magic player myself for over 10 years, I‘ve had plenty of fun times with defenders!
I‘ll never forget the game where I stalled my opponent‘s swarm of goblins with a Wall of Glare until I could cast a Mass Calcify to wipe the board. That wall held on with 1 toughness for like 5 turns!
Or back in original Ravnica standard, my janky defender/convoke deck managed to go infinite with Overgrown Battlement. It produced infinite mana and tapped all my opponent‘s creatures with Guardian of the Gateless.
So while defenders look innocuous at first, don‘t underestimate their potential! With creativity, you can find fun and effective ways to utilize defenders.
In Closing
We‘ve covered a ton of ground today exploring how defender works, key interactions, deck synergies, historical examples, and strategic principles. Here are some key takeaways:
- Defender only stops creatures from attacking – they can still block and deal damage.
- Look for defenders that provide value from abilities or generate advantage through blocking.
- Utilize defender synergies but recognize when aggression is correct instead.
- In the right deck, defenders can enable powerful combos and strategies.
- Proper use of defenders requires understanding their strategic roles.
I hope this deep dive has provided lots of insight into playing with defenders successfully! They may not always be your win condition, but defenders can form an invaluable part of your game plan.
Let me know if you have any other defender questions! I‘m always happy to share more tips on dominating with these dynamic defenders.
