Veteran Bodyguard
Creature — Human
As long as this creature is untapped, all damage that would be dealt to you by unblocked creatures is dealt to this creature instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Intl. Collectors' Edition
- Price
- $1.72
- EDHREC rank
- #26865
Veteran Bodyguard redirects all damage that would hit your other creatures or planeswalkers to itself — a five-mana 2/5 that turns your board into an untouchable zone as long as it lives. The effect is uniquely powerful in Commander, but the card dies to a stiff breeze, and the moment it leaves the battlefield the protection vanishes entirely.
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 |
In Commander, Veteran Bodyguard fills a niche protection role that no other single card fully replicates — shielding an entire board from damage-based removal and combat trades simultaneously. The problem is that any targeted removal, exile effect, or -X/-X kills it and immediately exposes every creature you were protecting, making it fragile as a linchpin. Legacy and Vintage have access to it but the effect is too slow and situational to see play in those formats, where the game is decided before a five-mana creature matters. Commander is essentially the only home where the political and battlefield geometry creates enough value to justify the slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.72 cheap tier
At $1.72, Veteran Bodyguard sits in the budget range where you're not taking a financial risk to test it. Demand is low and niche enough that the price is unlikely to move meaningfully in either direction.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.