Does Protection from Everything Remove Equipment?
When a commander gains Protection from Everything, one of the questions that inevitably arise is whether equipment will remain attached to the permanent or if they will fall off. This is an essential query, as understanding how protection affects equipment is crucial in creating an effective strategy.
What does Protection from Everything do?
Protection from Everything is a state-based effect that prevents a permanent from being damaged, enchanted, equipped by any source, targeted by any source, or blocked by any creature. It essentially acts as an umbrella that safeguards the permanent from any hostile interaction. (Source: Official Magic Tournament Rules)
Direct Answer to the Question: Does Protection from Everything Remove Equipment?
According to official Magic tournament rules, equipment that are already attached to a permanent will fall off when that permanent gains Protection from Everything. (702.16d A permanent with protection can’t be equipped by Equipment that have the stated quality or fortified by Fortifications that have the stated quality.) The equipment will no longer remain attached to the permanent once the Protection from Everything effect takes place.
Why do equipment fall off when Protection from Everything is triggered?
The reasoning behind this lies in the wording of the protection ability. It specifically states that a permanent with protection cannot be "equipped" or "fortified" by Equipment or Fortifications, respectively. In other words, equipment that were already attached to the permanent prior to gaining protection are being explicitly negated by the Protection from Everything effect.
Comparison to Shield and other similar abilities
In comparison to Shield, a shield’s protection does not necessarily affect attached equipment. Shield acts as an "armor" that deflects hostile attacks, but does not nullify already attached equipment.
| Shield vs. Protection from Everything vs. Equipment | |
|---|---|
| Shield | Protects a creature from taking damage but does not remove attached equipment. |
| Protection from Everything | Falls off any equipment that were attached to a permanent once it gains Protection from Everything. |
Other Considerations and FAQs
- Blocking and Equipping: Equipment attached to a creature will fall off once Protection from Everything is triggered. Any future attempts to block or equip that equipment will be nullified due to the protection ability.
- Life total and state-based actions: Equipment falling off does not impact a life total and will not trigger additional state-based actions (SBAs) beyond the initial triggering of the protection effect.
- Enchantment removal: The Protection from Everything effect also applies to enchanted abilities that might remove or destroy attached equipment.
In conclusion, when a permanent gains Protection from Everything, attached equipment will indeed fall off, making this information crucial for constructing and navigating strategy. Understanding how protection interacts with equipment is key to crafting successful combinations and building a well-rounded Magic game plan.