Indestructible

Indestructible was an attribute that some permanents had and has become a keyword in Magic 2014. Indestructible permanents can't be destroyed by rules or effects. Indestructible permanents can still be put into their owner's graveyard by other means, such as by the "legend rule", by being sacrificed, or in the case of creatures having zero toughness.

The first card that conferred indestructibility was Consecrate Land in Alpha followed by Guardian Beast in Arabian Nights, but no other cards followed (and no formal rules existed) until Darksteel.

Rulings

• Damage accumulates on indestructible creatures, and that damage is removed during the cleanup step.
• Lethal damage is defined as an amount of damage greater than or equal to a creature’s toughness. Even though an indestructible creature isn't destroyed by lethal damage, that definition is still used for things like assigning trample damage.
• If a creature with lethal damage on it stops being indestructible, it's destroyed the next time state-based effects are checked.
• Being indestructible stops only effects that would destroy the permanent, including destruction due to lethal damage and destruction that doesn't allow regeneration. An indestructible permanent can be exiled, returned to a player's hand, put into a graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, or sacrificed.
• You can use a regeneration effect on an indestructible permanent, but since that permanent can't be destroyed, the effect does not apply, unless it loses indestructibility before the end of the end step, then it would regenerate.
• Planeswalkers with indestructible will still have loyalty counters removed from them as they are dealt damage. If planeswalker with indestructible has no loyalty counters, it will still be put into its owner's graveyard, as the rule that does this doesn't destroy the planeswalker.

Magic 2014 updates:

• In most cases, indestructible becoming a keyword doesn’t represent a functional change. There are two exceptions:
• Previously, if a permanent was made indestructible by a resolving spell or ability (such as Withstand Death), and then that permanent lost its abilities, it would still be indestructible. This was because indestructible wasn’t an ability; it was just something true about the permanent. Now, the permanent will gain the ability indestructible, and it will lose this ability along with its other abilities.
• Previously, if a group of permanents were made indestructible by a resolving spell or ability (such as creatures you control being affected by Rootborn Defenses), permanents that joined that group or entered the battlefield after that spell or ability resolved would also be indestructible. This was because the effect making the permanents indestructible wasn’t changing any of those permanents’ characteristics. Now, a permanent that enters the battlefield or comes under your control after the spell or ability resolves won’t have indestructible as it wasn’t under your control at the appropriate time to gain it.

Reminder text

The latest reminder text for Indestructible reads "Effects that say "destroy" don’t destroy this artifact."

Spells that just grant Indestructible

Instant

• Withstand Death

Enchantment

• Indestructibility
• Terra Eternal

Creature

• Aegis Angel
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• Dauntless Escort
• Deathless Angel
• Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
• Spearbreaker Behemoth

Artifact

• Darksteel Forge
• Darksteel Garrison
• Darksteel Plate
• Shield of Kaldra
• That Which Was Taken

Planeswalker

• Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Spells that grant Indestructible and more

Instant

• Break of Day
• Withstand Death

Enchantment

• Shield of the Oversoul Template:Gw

Creature

• Guardian Beast
• Falkenrath Aristocrat
• Knight Exemplar
• Thornling
• Timber Protector

Artifact

• Eldrazi Monument

Land

• Consecrate Land

Cards that are Indestructible

Creature

• Angelic Overseer
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• Blightsteel Colossus
• Creepy Doll
• Darksteel Colossus
• Darksteel Gargoyle
• Darksteel Juggernaut
• Darksteel Myr
• Darksteel Sentinel
• Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
• Manor Gargoyle
• Myojin of Cleansing Fire
• Myojin of Infinite Rage
• Myojin of Life's Web
• Myojin of Night's Reach
• Myojin of Seeing Winds
• Phylactery Lich
• Predator Ooze
• Sapling of Colfenor Template:BgTemplate:Bg
• Spearbreaker Behemoth
• Stuffy Doll
• Tajic, Blade of the Legion
• Transcendent Master
• Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Artifact

• Darksteel Axe
• Darksteel Brute
• Darksteel Forge
• Darksteel Ingot
• Darksteel Pendant
• Darksteel Plate
• Darksteel Reactor
• Darksteel Relic
• Myr Matrix
• Shield of Kaldra

Land

• Darksteel Citadel