Valiant GuardHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Valiant Guard is a 1/3 creature that costs only one white mana. Its primary role is to serve as a 'vanilla' creature, meaning it has no rules text, but it belongs to two highly relevant creature types: Human and Soldier. With three toughness, it can safely block most other one-mana and many two-mana creatures without dying.

How It Resolves Step by Step

First, you pay one white mana to cast Valiant Guard, and it moves to the stack. If no players have responses, the spell resolves and the creature enters the battlefield. Because it does not have an 'Enters the Battlefield' (ETB) ability, no triggers occur from the Guard itself, though other permanents you control may trigger based on a Human or Soldier entering.

Common Mistakes

A common mistake is forgetting that Valiant Guard has no evasion or protection. While its 3 toughness is high for its cost, it can still be destroyed by basic removal spells or blocked by larger creatures. Additionally, remember that as a non-artifact creature, it does not benefit from effects that specifically target artifacts, even if paired with artifact-heavy cards.

When to Play It

Play Valiant Guard in the early turns of the game to stabilize your board against aggressive strategies. It is particularly effective in decks that care about the number of creatures you control or specifically seek to buff the Soldier or Human subtypes. In the late game, it serves as an inexpensive way to trigger 'cast' or 'creature entering' abilities.

Interaction examples

Copying Valor

Kimahri, Valiant Guardian

If you have Valiant Guard on the battlefield and Kimahri, Valiant Guardian enters combat, you can target Valiant Guard with Kimahri's ability. Kimahri will gain a +1/+1 counter and you can choose to have Kimahri become a copy of Valiant Guard. Kimahri will now be a 2/4 (due to the counter) named Kimahri, Valiant Guardian with vigilance and the Ronso Rage ability, but it will have the base stats and types of Valiant Guard.

Taxing the Opponent

Esper Sentinel

When you control both Valiant Guard and Esper Sentinel, you present a difficult board state for aggressive decks. Valiant Guard can block 2-power creatures safely, while Esper Sentinel punishes your opponent for trying to use noncreature removal spells to clear your blockers. If they cast a spell to kill your Guard, Esper Sentinel will trigger, forcing them to pay mana or let you draw a card.

Mana Acceleration into Defense

Ornithopter of Paradise

On turn one, you play Valiant Guard to establish a defensive line. On turn two, you play Ornithopter of Paradise. Now you have a blocker on the ground and a flying mana source. This allows you to hold the ground with Valiant Guard while the Ornithopter of Paradise provides the specific colors of mana needed for more expensive spells in subsequent turns.