Best Creatures With Ward – Magic: The Gathering

Summary

• Bronze Guardian extends ward to all artifacts, making it a strong attacker with double strike.
• Ovika, Enigma Goliath has powerful ward triggers that protect a giant flying monster.
• Kappa Cannoneer dishes out damage quickly with a strong ward effect, growing in strength over time.

Ward may be the more balanced approach to abilities like shroud and hexproof in Magic: The Gathering, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some very powerful effects to be found in the cards.

Between artifacts that double up your triggers and undead legends that just won’t stay in the grave, there are plenty of very strong creatures out there with ward, no matter what format you play. If you’re looking for inspiration with your next Commander deck or just want to know what to watch out for on the battlefield, we’ve got you covered.

10

Bronze Guardian

An Artifact’s Protector

Ward for two generic mana might not be a huge amount, though it can still come in handy against plenty of removal spells throughout a game. What makes Bronze Guardian so good is that it extends that ward all the way out to your other artifacts as well.

Giving all your artifacts ward can make your opponent’s removal spells much less mana effective and will start to make your other opponent’s targets look a lot more appealing. Bronze Guardian also comes with the upside of being a brutal attacker since its power matches the total number of artifacts you have out, and if that wasn’t enough, it has double strike too.

9

Ovika, Enigma Goliath

Look At All Those Goblins

An upgrade over the Bronze Guardian in terms of ward effects, Ovika, Enigma Goliath has two ward triggers that can deter your opponents from removing the giant flying monstrosity. With a ward trigger of three generic mana, and then forcing them to pay three life as well if they want that spell to go through.

Since you have a very well-protected and powerful commander, you can feel free to cast all those noncreature spells to your heart’s content, building your army of Goblins until they’re too big to stop.

8

Vein Ripper

Rip And Tear

Vampires are a popular archetype across multiple formats, so having one with a strong ward effect marks for a perfect inclusion in your deck. While a little more straightforward than Ovika, Vein Ripper has one with a bit more of a physical cost on your opponents when they go to target it.

With a ward effect of sacrificing a creature, Vein Ripper was so good in formats like Pioneer and Explorer, that it caused Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord to get banned since the planeswalker could cheat out the Vampire as early as turn three.

7

Kappa Cannoneer

Send In The Turtle

Another artifact-based creature with a strong ward effect, Kappa Cannoneer lets you dish out a ton of damage very quickly so long as you keep pumping out those artifacts. With a ward of four generic mana, Kappa Cannoneer turns even a one mana removal spell into a five mana one, making it very expensive to target.

Now that the Cannoneer is solidly on the battlefield, you can swing in turn after turn as it grows and grows. Each artifact of yours that comes into play under your control gives the Cannoneer a +1/+1 counter and makes the turtle unblockable for the turn.

6

Ratadrabik Of Urborg

One Grave Isn’t Enough

Ward for two generic mana is pretty common amount to see on your average creature, but Ratadrabik of Urborg isn’t simply average. This Zombie Wizard is a champion of legendary creatures, bringing them back to life though not quite to their usual strength.

Anytime another legendary creature you control dies, you get to make a token copy of that creaure but now its a 2/2 Zombie. Since Ratadrabik has ward, you can keep him well protected while letting your other legendary creatures bite the bullet for him so they keep coming back for more.

5

Valgavoth, Terror Eater

One Big House

Since ward was first introduced in Strixhaven: School of Mages, it has evolved away from being just a way to pay a little extra mana to remove a problematic creature. Valgavoth, Terror Eater is perhaps one of the most brutal ward triggers around, forcing your opponent to sacrifice three nonland permanents if they want to target the Elder Demon with any of their spells.

If they choose to target your Valgavoth, they’re trading a grand total of four cards in exchange for taking out your one creature. Even though it may hurt to see your nine mana creature get taken out so quickly, the tradeoff is worth it.

4

Ulamog, The Defiler

No Need For A Library

Technically a downgrade in terms of ward effect from Valgavoth, Ulamog, the Defiler has a ton of other abilities going for it that gives it the edge over the planar-sized Demon. This iteration of Ulamog has a ward trigger of sacrificing two permanents, which can be anything from tokens to lands, just has to be two of them.

On top of that, Ulamog is an Eldrazi, a creature type with a lot of support, particularly in making large mana cost creatures cheaper to play. When you do cast Ulamog, you get to have an opponent exile the top half of their library, gone forever and out of the game.

3

Sauron, The Dark Lord

Rule Them All

There is so much that Sauron, the Dark Lord does that makes it one of the stronger modern Commanders in the game. It comes loaded with four abilities, each one designed to punish your opponents further as the game progresses.

Sauron’s ward trigger forces your opponent to sacrifce a legendary artifact or legendary creature, which is something that most players won’t have extras lying around. Since Sauron is going to be around for a while, you can make the most of those three other abilities, with Sauron watching from the battlefield, where is gaze can safely pierce cloud, shadow, earth, and flesh.

2

Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm

Here There Be Dragons

One of the premiere Dragon commanders, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm not only doubles all your Dragons, but sticks around thanks to that ward effect. Anytime you have another nontoken Dragon come into play, you get to make a token copy of it. It comes with the added bonus that if the original Dragon was legendary, the token isn’t, so you can keep both in play.

Since Miirym has ward for two generic mana, you can keep the legendary Dragon safe from plenty of removal spells. You can back up the ward trigger with a few counterspells, and the fun thing is, you can wait for your opponent to pay the ward cost and then toss out a counterspell or two to keep Miirym safe.

1

Roaming Throne

A Traveling Monarch

One of the most powerful ward creatures around, Roaming Throne is an auto-include in plenty of kindred Commander decks and it’s easy to see why. When the Roamin Throne enters the battlefield, you get to pick a creature type, and then triggers from those creature types are doubled.

The thing is, ward is a trigger, so if your other legendary creatures, like Sauron, the Dark Lord or Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, your opponent would have to pay that ward price twice.