Protect // Serve
Instant // Instant
Target creature gets +2/+4 until end of turn.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Pioneer Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #27776
Protect // Serve is a split card that pulls in two directions — Protect gives a creature hexproof and untaps it for two mana, while Serve is a one-mana Sorcery that makes target creature fight another. Neither half is particularly efficient on its own, and the combination doesn't add up to more than the sum of its parts. It's a narrow inclusion that most Commander decks should skip in favor of dedicated protection or removal.
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 |
Protect // Serve sees essentially no competitive play across the formats where it's legal. In Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and Vintage, both halves are outclassed — Serve's fight effect is slow at sorcery speed, and Protect's hexproof can't save a creature from a removal spell already on the stack in most situations where it matters. In Commander, the most charitable home is a Voltron or fight-synergy deck that can leverage both halves situationally, but even there the card competes against strictly better options like Heroic Intervention for protection and Ram Through for fight effects. It's legal in Oathbreaker as well, though nothing about that format changes the calculus.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Protect // Serve isn't currently available, but given its low competitive demand and limited Commander applications, it almost certainly sits in bulk rare territory — likely under $0.50. Unless a specific combo or ruling dramatically changes its utility, there's no urgency to pick it up.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.