Defender

From MTG Salvation Wiki

Defender is a static ability that renders a creature unable to attack. The keyword was introduced as a replacement of the baggage that the creature type Wall carried. It was introduced with Champions of Kamigawa and was retroactively added to all Walls.

Before defender was introduced all Walls were unable to attack as a definition of their creature type. Now creatures with Defender can potentially lose the ability and attack - this would have been a rules-hassle before. However, Defender has introduced some confusion as well, because not all cards that refer to Walls or non-Walls have been changed.

Examples Erhnam Djinn has the text: "At the beginning of your upkeep, target non-Wall creature an opponent controls gains forestwalk until your next upkeep." It is perfectly legal to choose a non-Wall creature with Defender, such as Carven Caryatid, even though that was not the original intent. Norritt has the text: ": Target non-Wall creature attacks this turn if able. If that creature doesn't attack, destroy it at end of turn unless it came under its controller's control this turn. Play this ability only during that creature's controller's turn before the declare attackers step." This ability is clearly designed to work on non-Defenders, but that is not the case. It is legal for Norritt to target any non-Wall creatures with Defender, such as Carven Caryatid.

Whenever confusion arises, always see the Oracle Card Reference or Gatherer for clarification.

[edit] Rulings

• Changing a creature's type no longer affects whether it can attack. A Wall that becomes a non-Wall will still have the defender ability. Likewise, a non-Wall that becomes a Wall won't have the defender ability.

[edit] Reminder text

The latest reminder text for Defender reads "This creature can't attack."