Much like Marchesa from yesterday, Protector of
the Crown is devoted to making and keeping you
the monarch, but from a defensive perspective
rather than an offensive one. Its ability has a
long lineage in Magic, going all the way back to
Veteran Bodyguard, but five toughness isn't
always as much of a wall in multiplayer as it
used to be (or in other settings). It also does
surprisingly little against other cards that
make you the monarch as a comes-into-play
ability, other than setting up an amusing
stalemate when you and an opponent each have one
(much less against Marchesa and her assassin
tokens). In the worst case, the Protector will
just buy you a turn or two to do other things,
but there's also a deck out there that enchants
it with Heart of Light and locks out half the
table.
It makes you monarch and tries to make it harder
to get the crown off your head. Cute trick, in
all.
Protector of the Crown is a combination of
Pariah (redirecting damage to a specific
creature) and giving you the crown, so a
card-draw engine. Note that Protector will
protect you even if you are not the monarch, and
it also protects from burn spells and other
sources of damage. Add to that a fairly hefty
body (2/5 isn't small, to be sure), and you have
a creature that does a decent job of protecting
you, even if it's just for one round of attacks.
(If you have a massive horde swinging in, you
can let all the damage go to Protector of the
Crown, even if it’s arbitrarily large, such as
from a horde of squirrel tokens.)
Six mana is awkwardly high for a small creature,
though, and the only protection the Protector
has itself is its large backside. A black kill
spell or massive burn source will dispose of
him, and it’ll leave you exposed and ripe to
have the crown taken. Still good, but definitely
not constructed playable in the formats it is
legal in.
