Guardian of Faith
Creature — Spirit Knight
Flash
Vigilance
When this creature enters, any number of other target creatures you control phase out. (Treat them and anything attached to them as though they don't exist until their controller's next turn.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos
- Price
- $5.69
- EDHREC rank
- #2005
Guardian of Faith enters the battlefield and immediately phases out your entire team, dodging a board wipe before it even untaps — then comes back swinging with flash, flying, and vigilance. At three mana, it's one of the most cost-efficient protection effects in white, and King of the Oathbreakers running it in over 77% of builds is the proof.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
King of the Oathbreakers
King of the Oathbreakers builds a token army that becomes an immediate board-wipe target, and Guardian of Faith is the single most played protection piece in the 99 precisely because it saves every rogue token in a single flash at instant speed.
Quintorius, History Chaser
Quintorius, History Chaser cares about spells cast from exile and creatures entering, and Guardian of Faith's phasing interaction creates a clean re-entry trigger window that pushes the engine forward while keeping the board intact.
Dion, Bahamut's Dominant
Dion, Bahamut's Dominant helms a creature-heavy go-wide strategy where losing the board to a single wipe is catastrophic, so Guardian of Faith's ability to phase out the entire team for a turn is a full-reset button that costs three mana.
Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir
Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir rewards attacking with knights repeatedly, which means protecting that knight board is a core priority, and Guardian of Faith phases them all out at instant speed before a wipe can undo multiple turns of development.
Millicent, Restless Revenant
Millicent, Restless Revenant creates spirits as a byproduct of having spirits die, but Guardian of Faith lets you skip the dying part entirely by phasing the token army out through the threat that would have triggered those deaths.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Guardian of Faith earns every cent — three-mana flash creatures that nullify board wipes are exactly what white creature strategies need, and the body that's left behind is legitimately relevant rather than a throwaway. In Modern and Pioneer, the effect is real but the competition is stiff; proactive threats and countermagic dominate those formats, and a reactive three-drop that doesn't advance a board state is harder to justify. Legacy and Vintage have the same problem compounded by format speed — Guardian of Faith is too slow to matter before the game has already been decided. Oathbreaker sits in the same wheelhouse as Commander and rewards the same kind of flash-protection role, particularly in white creature builds that need one card to answer the wrath threat.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Semester's End does the same phase-out trick at instant speed for two mana and even lets you pick which permanents you save, though it's a sorcery-speed setup that requires anticipating the wipe rather than reacting to it on the stack. Teferi's Protection is the gold standard for this role but costs significantly more; if the budget ceiling is strict, Eerie Interlude and Ghostway are bulk alternatives that exile and return the team while triggering enter-the-battlefield effects, trading Guardian of Faith's flash body for a pure spell that does nothing if you're behind.
Price Context
Current price
$5.69 mid tier
At $5.69, Guardian of Faith sits squarely in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel in a budget build, cheap enough that it belongs in any powered white creature deck without discussion. The effect is unique enough that price has stayed stable; it doesn't have a strict functional reprint, which keeps demand consistent.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- King of the Oathbreakers
- Quintorius, History Chaser
- Dion, Bahamut's Dominant
- Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir
- Millicent, Restless Revenant
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.