Serra's Emissary is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Flying As this creature enters, choose a card type. You and creatures you control have protection from the chosen card type.
Complete guide
Serra's Emissary is a powerful Angel that offers an absolute shield for you and your army. By naming a single card type, you can effectively shut down entire strategies and render your opponent's best tools useless. Understanding how its protection works is key to mastering its defensive potential.
Choosing Your Shield
As Serra's Emissary enters the battlefield, you choose a card type. The valid types in a standard game are artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, instant, kindred, land, planeswalker, and sorcery. You cannot choose supertypes like 'Legendary' or subtypes like 'Angel' or 'Elf'. Because this is a replacement effect and not a triggered ability, it happens immediately as the creature lands; your opponents cannot cast spells in response to your choice once the Emissary has started to enter.
The Power of Protection
Once a card type is chosen, you and all creatures you control gain protection from that type. This follows the DEBT rule: you cannot be Damaged, Enchanted/Equipped, Blocked, or Targeted by anything of the chosen type. For example, if you choose 'Creature', your creatures cannot be blocked by your opponent's creatures, and any damage they would deal to you is prevented.
Strategic Timing
Since Serra's Emissary has a high mana cost of seven mana, it is often a finisher or a 'lock' piece. Choosing 'Creature' is the most common defensive choice to stop combat damage, while choosing 'Instant' or 'Sorcery' can protect your board state from targeted removal or board wipes that target. Remember that protection does not prevent effects that do not target or deal damage, such as a board wipe that says 'Destroy all creatures.'
Common Mistakes
A frequent error is trying to choose a subtype. You cannot name 'Goblins' or 'Dragons'; you must name 'Creature'. Additionally, remember that protection only extends to you and your creatures. Other permanents you control, like lands or enchantments, are not protected unless they are also creatures. Lastly, if Serra's Emissary leaves the battlefield, the protection effect ends immediately.
Interaction examples
If you choose 'Creature' as Serra's Emissary enters, your creatures can no longer be blocked by the opponent's creatures. You can safely attack for the win regardless of how many blockers they have standing.
Avacyn, Angel of HopeWith Avacyn, Angel of Hope on the battlefield, your permanents are indestructible. If you then play Serra's Emissary and choose 'Instant', your opponent cannot use spells like Swords to Plowshares to exile your creatures, and they cannot use destroy effects because of Avacyn, making your board nearly impossible to interact with.
Sun TitanIf you choose 'Creature' with Serra's Emissary, your Sun Titan gains protection from creatures. This means Sun Titan can attack every turn without fear of being destroyed in combat, allowing you to repeatedly trigger its ability to return small permanents from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Serra's Emissary
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
You may choose any card type. The ones that may appear in a normal game of Magic are artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, instant, kindred, land, planeswalker, and sorcery. Supertypes such as snow and basic may not be chosen. Subtypes such as Angel, Aura, and Forest also may not be chosen.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
The card type choice is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to. Notably, if you choose instant, your opponent can't try to cast an instant on the Emissary before it has protection.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Frenetic Efreet + Karplusan Minotaur + Serra's Emissary
- 1Activate Frenetic Efreet an arbitrarily large number of times by paying a total of
. - 2Resolve the first Frenetic Efreet ability, flipping a coin and either sacrificing Frenetic Efreet or causing it to phase out.
- 3If you won the flip, Karplusan Minotaur's first ability triggers, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- 4If you lost the flip, Karplusan Minotaur's second ability triggers, dealing 1 damage to any target of an opponent's choice.
- 5Serra's Emissary prevents you or a creature you control from being targeted by an opponent.
- 6Resolve the next Frenetic Efreet ability, flipping a coin and not sacrificing Frenetic Efreet or causing it to phase out due to it no longer being on the battlefield.
- 7Repeat from step 3.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Serra's Emissary
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.