Ward in MTG: Rules, History, and FAQ

Last updated on July 15, 2024

Brutal Cathar | Illustration by Karl Kopinski

Ward is one of Magic’s more recent mechanics considering how old the most recognizable mechanics are. Ward became evergreen from the moment it hit a card.

A lot of powerful cards have ward, and the ward cost doesn't have to be extravagant for a card to be improved by it. So how does it work? Why do all the boomers you play with like it more than hexproof? What is Kappa Cannoneer and why is it showing up in Legacy and Vintage decks?

Let’s find out!

How Does Ward Work?

Sedgemoor Witch | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

Ward is a keyword that counters a targeted spell or ability from an opponent unless the ward cost is paid. That could be to pay life, sacrifice a permanent, discard a card, or (most commonly) pay a mana cost that is usually but ranges from all the way to .

The History of Ward in MTG

Ward appeared in Strixhaven in 2021 on four cards: Owlin Shieldmage, Torrent Sculptor, Waterfall Aerialist, and, most significantly, Sedgemoor Witch. It is an evergreen mechanic that appears on a few cards in each set, including their associated Commander precons.

What is “Ward X”?

The X in “Ward X” is the cost that has to be paid to prevent the spell you’re casting from being countered. You can cast the spell without being able to pay this cost, but it’ll fizzle. Although paying mana is the most common and is the typical cost, there have been a number of innovations.

First, there was the ward cost of paying three life, introduced on Owlin Shieldmage and Sedgemoor Witch.

Then there was a discard tax for Westgate Regent in Forgotten Realms.

The conditional ward for The Tarrasque and Iymrith, Desert Doom.

There are also shifting ward costs for werewolf cards like Burly Breaker in Midnight Hunt.

Who Pays the Ward Cost?

The caster of the spell that targets a permanent with ward has to pay the cost if they want the spell to resolve.

Do You Have to Pay for Ward?

You don’t have to pay the ward cost. But why wouldn’t you?

Well, if you cast something targeting a warded creature and then don't pay the tax, it means a casting trigger happened and your spell ends up in the graveyard. These are two things you might want if you have an attacking Festival Crasher and want the cast trigger, and an escape or delve card, and you use your graveyard as a resource.

This is also important because your situation might change and your interest in and ability to pay the ward cost might shift after casting.

Does Ward Use the Stack?

Yes, ward uses the stack. That’s what makes it so interesting and why it seems to be largely replacing similar mechanics in this design space.

Let’s say I cast Bloodchief's Thirst on your Sedgemoor Witch while I have only four life. The ward cost trigger lands on the stack. You can then lob Play with Fire at my face, which means I either don’t to pay the ward cost or I die.

A more common interaction is something like this: Let’s say I cast the Bloodchief's Thirst at your Armguard Familiar with exactly three mana open and a Disruption Protocol in my hand. You can respond to that by casting Infernal Grasp at one of my creatures. I was all set to pay the ward cost, but now I have to choose. I can counter your kill spell, but that taps out the mana I need for the ward tax, which means your Familiar survives. Or, if I really have it out for that Familiar, I can pay the ward tax and let your Grasp resolve.

Maybe I just like blue decks too much, but that sounds like fun to me.

Ward vs. Hexproof vs. Shroud

It all started with shroud, an oppressive effect that prevents a card from being the target of spells or abilities by anyone, including the permanent’s controller. The idea showed up all the way back in Legends and gave us a shroud-creating enchantment, Spectral Cloak. Fallen Empires gave us creatures with a shroud ability that could be activated with mana, and that was followed by Autumn Willow, a Homelands chase card (I know, that sounds funny to me too) with a static shroud ability pre-keyworded as “cannot be the target of spells of effects.”

Magic replaced this with the slightly less stultifying hexproof, which is still just as obnoxious when you’re sitting across the table from it. Avabruck Caretaker, anyone? Maybe even more so since its controller can buff the hexproof creature while you impotently glare at it (and them).

Although both of these effects are commonly seen in Commander, especially with cards like Lightning Greaves and Mask of Avacyn, there’s something definitely feel-bad about facing down cards with these keywords. Players tend to roundly hate game elements or board states that give them no counterplay. Packing board wipes or sacrifice edicts or Arcane Lighthouse into Commander decks that otherwise wouldn’t want them just to be able to deal with Inkwell Leviathan is also not exactly what I would define as “fun.”

Ward opens up the possibility for more counterplay, even if the ward cost of on The Tarrasque is basically insurmountable in most cases.

Dumb and Dumber

But even while the march of shroud and hexproof laid their waste across boomer Magic landscapes, something was afoot. Although ward as a keyword wouldn’t appear until 20 years later, the first experiment with this kind of effect was all the way back in Mirage.

Taxing Effects

Taxing effects were with Magic from the beginning, usually in the color hoser cards like Gloom. But an idea in Alpha’s suite of less-good alternatives to Counterspell was taxing as an element of counterspells with Power Sink, something that lives on in Mana Leak variants to this day. But Kaervek's Torch was the first spell to pack what would become the formula for the unnamed, let’s call it “proto-ward,” mechanic for years to follow: “spells that target it cost 2 more to cast.”

This effect was introduced on a permanent in Planechase 2012 with Elderwood Scion, and the costing-two-more-to-cast formula generally appeared on one card per set (with plenty of exceptions) starting with Dragons of Tarkir’s Icefall Regent. A few hits you might recognize here are Ixalan’s Kopala, Warden of Waves, Ravnica Allegiance’s Sphinx of New Prahv, Core Set 2020’s Boreal Elemental, Ikoria‘s Jubilant Skybonder, and Throne of Eldraine’s Syr Elenora, the Discerning.

Theros: Beyond Death’s Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea shifted the cost to , and Core Set 2021’s Pursued Whale swole it up to . These taxes can also be paid in different ways, from life for a target with Ashenmoor Liege or damage with Bonecrusher Giant to gifting life to your opponent with Shield Mare.

Although this effect continues up to, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, with the hotness Hinata, Dawn-Crowned (Hinata makes a great commander by the way), a different approach to this design space was needed to get to ward’s final form.

More Interaction

A more precise callback to Power Sink, “frost armor” is a pre-keyworded ward named after its first card appearance on Frost Titan. While proto ward increases the cost of a spell, this frost armor/ward counters the spell unless the cost is paid. Cards that just hard counter a spell that targets the creature, like Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, definitely exist but they’re much less common.

Ward creates an interesting set of stack interactions that allow for some really interesting gameplay moments. Given that shroud and hexproof put a damper on player interactions, frost armor/ward works better than proto ward as an alternative because it increases options and possible gameplay states.

Did Ward Replace Hexproof?

Not exactly, but it partially has. After everything I’ve gone over so far you’d think that ward replaced hexproof, right? But then we had Avabruck Caretaker making opponents scoop left and right in Crimson Vow drafts.

Aside from that egregious example it looks like hexproof is moving almost entirely to conditional or temporary effects. Think Snakeskin Veil. A good example is Walking Skyscraper in Neon Dynasty. Like Paradise Druid, its hexproof evaporates when it’s tapped. Or there’s Sungold Sentinel from Midnight Hunt. It’s got a hard-to-achieve activated ability to gain a really limited version of hexproof for one turn.

WotC suggests that “big creatures that are hard to interact with are positive additions to their environments.” They might have been thinking of the Caretaker when they said that, but I’m not sure anyone would agree in the case of that card.

What if a Spell or Ability that Can’t Be Countered Targets a Ward Creature?

The ward ability doesn’t apply to abilities or spells that can’t be countered. So nothing happens and no ward cost has to be paid.

That's right – you get to ignore ward.

Will Ward Work Against Sacrifice?

Generally no, ward does not stop forced sacrifice effects since the player is the one that sacrifices the card.

Does Ward Work Against Planeswalker Abilities?

Ward does work against planeswalker abilities. Just like with shroud and hexproof, anything that targets the permanent with ward has to pay the tax or it’s countered.

Can Ward Save My Creature From a Board Wipe?

No, board wipes do not target, so ward will not protect against board wipes.

Does Ward Stop Deathtouch?

No. Ward only taxes/counters targeted spells or abilities, but deathtouch doesn’t target anything. It’s a static ability of creatures with deathtouch, so it doesn't do anything.

Are There Cards That Give Ward to My Creatures?

Yes, more and more cards are designed with ward dialed up and down to be a protective boost, and the range of influence is quite wide.

Wrap Up

Patchwork Automaton | Illustration by Donato Giancola

Ward still has a lot of potential options for Magic designers to work through. Since it’s scalable and can have stack interactions which hexproof and shroud can’t, I’d anticipate seeing a lot of different ideas show up in this design space. Ward X, anyone? Ward with sacrifices or mill. We haven’t seen a planeswalker with hexproof, but can that be far behind now that more removal spells also target planeswalkers?

A mechanic with a lot of creative levers to pull as a game designer or as a deckbuilder is a good mechanic. That’s why ward is such an exciting development. What’s your favorite ward card? Do you have any fun ward stories? Let me know in the comments. And you should definitely follow Draftsim on Twitter.

Happy deckbuilding, folks!