Pippin, Guard of the Citadel

Gameplan

Pippin is a cheap, durable enabler for a Voltron or evasion-aggro plan in UW: pick a single threat, then tap Pippin each turn to grant protection from creatures (unblockable + can't be blocked), spells (uncounterable, untargetable), or sorceries/instants to dodge removal. You build mana early, deploy a beater, and use protection to push damage through and shield it from interaction while playing a controlling backbone.

Key Cards

• Swiftfoot Boots — Hexproof plus haste stacks with Pippin's tap-protection to make a beater nearly untouchable.
• Rogue's Passage — Backup unblockable when you'd rather save Pippin's tap for protection from removal.
• Sword of Fire and Ice — Card draw, damage, and its own protections turn one Pippin-shielded creature into a game-ending threat.
• Thassa, Deep-Dwelling — Untaps Pippin each turn so you can protect twice and keeps your threats safe.
• Inkmoth Nexus — A protectable, evasive infect threat that closes games fast under Pippin's umbrella.
• Teferi's Protection — The catch-all for the board wipes and edicts Pippin can't stop.

Upgrade Path

Lean into a tight Voltron core with the best equipment (the Mirran swords, Batterskull) and protection backups like Teferi's Protection and Heroic Intervention so wraths don't undo your plan. Add untappers (Thassa, Deep-Dwelling; Kiora's Follower) to double Pippin's activations, and improve card flow with Esper Sentinel, Smothering Tithe, and cantripping cantrips to avoid running dry. Tighten the manabase and curve so you reliably deploy and protect a threat by turn three or four.