Faith’s Fetters – MTG Throwback Thursday (2006)

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

Faith’s Fetters has been a long time returning, and I think I know why it was gone all that time. Back in 2006, the legend rule worked slightly differently than it does now: if a player cast a legendary creature that shared a name with one already in play, all creatures with that name would go to their owners’ graveyard. This meant that playing Faith’s Fetters on an opponent’s legendary creature would not only stop that one, but the next copy that the opponent might play as well. Since the planeswalker uniqueness rule was also different when it started – it checked for planeswalker type, not name – Fetters was devastating against decks that needed a particular character for their gameplan.

Now, of course, things are quite different, and you can use a second copy of either a legend or a planeswalker to effectively get them “out” from a Faith’s Fetters. Does that mean it’s less valuable? Far from it – for one thing, it’s perhaps the most effective way in recent sets to interact with lands with abilities. And while white isn’t short on ways to deal with larger creatures, particularly at around this mana cost, gaining four life and stopping an attacker can help stabilize against aggressive decks. Plus there’s the whole War of the Spark situation . . .

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 3/5

Another of white’s Pacifism-style effects, though with a lot more pop to it in that it turns off everything besides mana abilities and triggered abilities. This hits a lot of problematic things, including planeswalkers! The four life is a nice bonus, but hardly the main attraction of the spell, as a more-flexible Pacifism can ruin days. Four mana is a high price to ask for, though, and you’re going to want to make it count, but you can get a lot of mileage out of this particular effect (especially since, as an Aura, there are quite a few ways to search for it).

Constructed: 3.25 (might see some play as a tech option, but it is fairly slow)
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5 (flexible removal is excellent)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.5 (hit someone’s Commander for extra joy)