Indestructible in MTG - Rules, Best Cards + Decks! (2024)

MTG Indestructible Example

In this example, two creatures deal damage to each other, and one has indestructible.

Let’s say that you have [c]Blightsteel Colossus[/c] and your opponent attacks you with their [c]Worldspine Wurm[/c]. You block the Wurm with your Colossus. In a normal situation, the Wurm would deal 15 damage to the Colossus, and with only 11 toughness the Colossus’s health would be reduced to zero, sending it to the graveyard.

However, the Colossus has indestructible meaning it cannot die from lethal damage. So even though its health gets reduced to zero, nothing will happen to it.

So at the end of combat, the Colossus’s toughness will be reset to 11, and neither the Wurm nor it will die.

Indestructible vs Damage Instant

The last example uses a burn spell against our indestructible. Let’s say that we have a [c]Creepy Doll[/c] out on the battlefield, and our opponent decides they want to get rid of it by using [c]Shock[/c].

In a normal situation, using Shock will deal two damage to Creepy Doll, take its toughness down to zero, and send it to the graveyard.

However, having indestructible means that any lethal damage will not apply to it, and our opponent will cast Shock sending it to the graveyard, and nothing will happen to our Creepy Doll.This card is amazing at picking off creatures!

Indestructible vs Deathtouch

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What happens when indestructible is met with deathtouch? In essence, deathtouch deals lethal damage to a card no matter what its toughness is.

Hence you can have a 1/1 with deathtouch kill any creature with any amount of toughness.

For our example, our opponent is attacking with [c]Deadly Recluse[/c], and we are again blocking with [c]Blightsteel Colossus[/c].

In a typical situation, if our Colossus did not have indestructible, the Recluse would kill it, sending them both to the graveyard.

However, our Colossus has indestructible (meaning no lethal damage can kill it), so it will not die, but it will still cause enough damage to send the Recluse to the graveyard.

Indestructible vs Trample

Creatures that have the trample ability will still not be able to destroy a card that has indestructible because lethal damage does not affect a card with indestructible.

Instead, the amount of toughness the indestructible card has will take that amount of damage from the attacking card, and the rest of the damage (the Trample damage) will be directed to the player.

Take our example, where we have our [c]Blightsteel Colossus[/c] and our opponent attacks with the [c]Worldspine Wurm[/c].

If we block with our Colossus, the Wurm will deal 15 Trample damage. 11 damage will be used to reduce our Colossus’s toughness to zero, leaving 4 Trample damage to being applied to us.

We will take 4 damage however, our Colossus will revert back to 11 toughness and will not die at the end of combat.

Indestructible Equipment

Indestructible equipment works in a similar way to how creatures with indestructible work. No cards that say destroy will have any effect on equipment cards with indestructible. Indestructible equipment will not be destroyed if targeted with a removal spell, unlike other equipment cards that would be destroyed and placed into the graveyard.

For instance, [c]Darksteel Axe[/c]. If a player tried to remove it with a spell like [c]Disenchant[/c], nothing would happen to Darksteel Axe, although Disenchant would go to the graveyard after being played.

Remember that equipment cards are permanents. So if a creature dies that has equipment cards attached to it, those equipment cards will remain on the battlefield, whether or not they have indestructible.

Best MTG Indestructible Cards

Bontu the Glorified (Black Indestructible Creature)

[c]Bontu the Glorified[/c] is a legendary God creature that, besides having indestructible, also has menace. It is relatively cheap, only costing three mana, but this 4/6 comes with a catch.

It can only attack or block if a creature died in this turn. It does come with an ability to help achieve this by paying mana and sacrificing a creature.

Used in conjunction with creatures that have regenerate, or ones that you can play from the graveyard, this card can effectively destroy your opponent from round three!

Kefnet the Mindful (Blue Indestructible Creature)

This 5/5 Flying, Indestructible creature, [c]Kefnet the Mindful[/c], has a similar drawback to our previous example in that it can’t attack or block unless you have seven cards in hand.

However, its draw a card ability can help you out! Used in conjunction with drawcards such as [c]Ancestral Recall[/c], by turn four, you could be putting copious amounts of pressure on your opponent!

Nylea, God of the Hunt (Green Indestructible Creature)

Another legendary God card but green this time, [c]Nylea, God of the Hunt[/c], costs four mana while being a 6/6 indestructible.

The only drawback is that you need the devotion to green to be five or more. If you’re using a mono-green deck, then this shouldn’t be a problem. Remember that Nylea’s casting cost will also add to your devotion pool, meaning once again, by turn four, you could have your opponent against the ropes!

Anya, Merciless Angel (Red Indestructible Creature)

[c]Anya, Merciless Angel[/c], is a great legendary creature that offers quite a unique play style. Costing a medium amount of mana, you would probably play this mid-game.

It can apply a tremendous amount of pressure because as your opponent’s health drops below half of their starting life total, Anya gets a +3/+3 bonus and becomes indestructible.

If you’re playing a format such as Commander, where you have multiple players, this effect gets stacked for each player whose health drops below half! This effectively means +3/+3 for each player below half health.Sweet!

Avacyn, Angel of Hope (White Indestructible Creature)

[c]Avacyn, Angel of Hope[/c], is incredible! It gives all other permanents you control indestructible. Needless to say, this effect also targets enchantments, lands, and artifacts!

The card does cost eight mana to play and is reserved for the late end game, but when this flying, vigilant, indestructible 8/8 Angel hits the battlefield, your opponent is in some serious trouble!

Indestructible Planeswalkers

Gideon of the Trials (White Indestructible Planeswalker)

The most popular planeswalker built around indestructible has to be Gideon. Even though a few Gideon planeswalker cards feature indestructible, one of the most played has to be [c]Gideon of the Trials[/c].

This card prevents damage to a target permanent you control if you choose to add to its counter, but by adding no counters, it becomes a 4/4 indestructible creature that prevents all damage to it.

Furthermore, an emblem that costs no counters will ensure you can’t lose the game and your opponents can’t win. Truly a card that players do not want to see if it is not coming from their hand!

MTG Indestructible Decks

Modern Indestructible deck

We will cover a deck that does well in Modern. Remember that Standard sets rotate in and out, and sometimes there aren’t enough, or rather there aren’t enough complimentary cards to build an indestructible deck.

This deck centers around indestructible artifact creatures like [c]Darksteel Juggernaut[/c],[c]Darksteel Myr[/c],[c]Darksteel Sentinel[/c], and[c]Manor Gargoyle[/c].

Along with artifacts that grant indestructibility, such as [c]Darksteel Plate[/c], it focuses on cheap green creatures that can add mana to the mana pool.

The final mechanic revolves around[c]Worldslayer[/c]. Its ability states that when a creature who is equipped deals combat damage, destroy all other permanents other than Worldslayer!

Because this entire deck is indestructible, nothing will happen to any of the player’s permanents when Worldslayer’s ability comes into play! Perfect! (Remember, the “destroy” effect will do nothing to indestructible cards.)

However, it will effectively board-wipe the opponent’s cards removing everything from creatures to enchantments, artifacts, equipment, and lands.Hah!