Red Ward
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has protection from red. This effect doesn't remove this Aura.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Limited Edition Alpha
- Price
- $41.50
- EDHREC rank
- #23696
Red Ward grants a creature protection from red for one white mana — cheap, permanent, and relevant against any table running red removal or combat damage. It's a one-mana aura that punches above its slot in the right shell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Red Ward sees its most credible play, primarily as a piece of voltron or creature-protection strategies that need to dodge red removal and blockers on the cheap. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but effectively invisible — one-mana protection auras have never competed in those environments where threats and answers operate at a different axis entirely. Red Ward is locked out of Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper, so the realistic conversation starts and ends with Commander and Oathbreaker, where a single protected attacker can close out a game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Most of what Red Ward does can be replicated for pennies by Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves, both of which grant hexproof or shroud rather than color-specific protection — broader coverage, zero color restriction, and they equip for free or nearly free. The trade-off is that protection from red also phases out blocking red creatures and stops damage from red sources entirely, so if your meta is heavily red, Red Ward's narrow application is actually more powerful than a hexproof effect in those specific combat interactions.
Price Context
Current price
$41.50 premium tier
At $41.50, Red Ward sits firmly in premium territory — a steep ask for a one-mana aura whose competitive homes are narrow. The price is driven by scarcity from an old printing rather than ubiquitous demand, so it holds value mainly as a collectible; functionally, almost every deck would rather spend that budget elsewhere.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.