The Walls of Ba Sing Se 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
Defender Other permanents you control have indestructible.
Complete guide
Welcome to Earth Kingdom territory, where The Walls of Ba Sing Se provide an impenetrable defense for your entire board. This massive legendary artifact creature turns your battlefield into a fortress, ensuring your other permanents cannot be destroyed by conventional means. In Ba Sing Se, your permanents are safe, and there is no war within these walls.
Unbreakable Defense
The Walls of Ba Sing Se is an 8-mana Legendary Artifact Creature with Defender. Its primary function is a static ability that grants Indestructible to every other permanent you control. This includes creatures, artifacts, enchantments, lands, planeswalkers, and battles. While The Walls themselves do not have indestructible, they serve as the ultimate shield for the rest of your kingdom.
How Indestructibility Resolves
Once The Walls of Ba Sing Se is on the battlefield, the effect is immediate and does not use the stack. Any 'destroy' effects, such as those from spells or lethal combat damage, are simply ignored by your other permanents. If The Walls leave the battlefield, the protection ends instantly. Note that damage is still marked on creatures; if a creature took lethal damage while protected and The Walls leave the battlefield before the turn ends, that creature will be destroyed.
Important Exceptions
Indestructible does not mean 'invincible.' While your other permanents cannot be destroyed, they can still be exiled, returned to your hand, or sacrificed. Planeswalkers still lose loyalty counters when damaged and will go to the graveyard if their loyalty reaches zero. Similarly, Siege battles are still exiled and transformed once their defense counters are removed, as that process is not considered destruction.
Strategic Deployment
Because of its high mana cost of eight, The Walls of Ba Sing Se is a late-game finisher designed to lock down a winning board state. It is best played when you already have a significant presence that you want to protect from board wipes. Since it has Defender, it won't be joining the attack, but it ensures your attackers can charge in without fear of losing their lives in combat.
Interaction examples
Meteor GolemIf your opponent plays a Meteor Golem and targets one of your other permanents while The Walls of Ba Sing Se is on the battlefield, the Golem's ability will fail to destroy the target. However, if the opponent targets The Walls of Ba Sing Se itself, the Walls will be destroyed because they do not grant themselves indestructible.
Myr BattlesphereWhen you control both The Walls of Ba Sing Se and Myr Battlesphere, your Battlesphere and all its Myr tokens gain indestructible. You can attack with the Battlesphere and tap your Myr tokens for extra damage without worrying about losing your creatures to blockers. Even if the opponent blocks the 1/1 Myr tokens with massive creatures, the tokens will survive the combat step unscathed.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : The Walls of Ba Sing Se
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
A battle with indestructible still loses defense counters as it's dealt damage. If it's a Siege, it will still be exiled when the last defense counter is removed from it, and its controller may still cast it transformed without paying its mana cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Because damage remains marked on a creature until the damage is removed as the turn ends, nonlethal damage dealt to a creature you control may become lethal if The Walls of Ba Sing Se leave the battlefield during that turn.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
A planeswalker with indestructible still loses loyalty as it's dealt damage. It is put into its owner's graveyard if its loyalty becomes 0.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Freed from the Real
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill thirty cards.
- 2Activate Freed from the Real by paying
, untapping The Walls of Ba Sing Se. - 3Repeat as mana allows.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Pemmin's Aura
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill thirty cards.
- 2Activate Pemmin's Aura by paying , untapping The Walls of Ba Sing Se.
- 3Repeat as mana allows.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Crab Umbra
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill thirty cards.
- 2Activate Crab Umbra by paying
, untapping The Walls of Ba Sing Se. - 3Repeat as mana allows.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Umbral Mantle
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill at least thirty cards.
- 2Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by paying
and untapping it, giving it +2/+2 until end of turn. - 3Repeat as mana allows.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Sword of the Paruns
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill thirty cards.
- 2Activate Sword of the Paruns by paying , untapping The Walls of Ba Sing Se.
- 3Repeat as mana allows.
Phenax, God of Deception + The Walls of Ba Sing Se + Gauntlets of Light
- 1Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by tapping it, causing a player to mill thirty cards.
- 2Activate The Walls of Ba Sing Se by paying
, untapping it. - 3Repeat as mana allows.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with The Walls of Ba Sing Se
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