Shield Mare
Creature — Horse
This creature can't be blocked by red creatures.
When this creature enters or becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, you gain 3 life.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Core Set 2019
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #15563
Shield Mare enters with a protection ability that blankets your life total against one color, and it replaces itself with a card draw trigger when it dies — meaningful upside stapled to a two-mana body. Outside of Thurid, Mare of Destiny decks where it's a core piece, the effect is too narrow for general play.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Thurid, Mare of Destiny
Thurid, Mare of Destiny cares specifically about Mares, and Shield Mare's death-draw trigger feeds the engine while the protection ability gives Thurid's board a defensive layer — it's in 68% of Thurid decks for good reason.
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 |
In Commander, Shield Mare is a role-player in one deck and an afterthought everywhere else — Thurid, Mare of Destiny is the only commander who actively wants it, and outside that shell the protection clause is too situational to justify a slot. In competitive constructed formats like Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, Shield Mare doesn't clear the bar: a two-mana 1/3 with conditional protection won't make a sideboard when better hate pieces exist. Vintage has no interest in it either. This is a Commander card, and a tribal-specific one at that.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Shield Mare is bulk in every sense — pick it up as a cheap staple if you're building Thurid, Mare of Destiny and move on. Demand outside that single commander is too thin to push the price anywhere meaningful.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Thurid, Mare of Destiny
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.