Runed Halo - WW
Enchantment
As Runed Halo comes into play, name a card.
You have protection from the chosen name.

How good is it? Well I wouldn't mind getting protection from Tarmogoyf, Incinerate, Thoughtsieze, Rift Bolt, Flame Javelin, Stupor, Chameleon Colossus, Meadowgrain Stalwart or, heck, even Mulldrifter! It's a weaker Ivory Mask and a stronger Pacifism all rolled into one two-casting cost enchantment! I'm sure that's an excellent bargain, being able to effectively nullify with just one card a maximum number of four cards in an opponent's deck. It's virtual card advantage, and sometimes even tempo advantage if ever an opponent has two or more copies of a creature card with the same name in play. I'm inclined to believe that this card, in the right deck, may even be better than its name-a-card predecessors Meddling Mage, Cranial Extraction, and Pithing Needle, for the simple reason that the Halo can also effectively deal with beatdown creatures on the opponent's side of the table.

That said, the Halo still has its limitations. It is not an auto-four-of in any deck sporting white. It is best in a dedicated control deck. While aggro decks would want to win in the early- to mid-game, control decks bide their time. When a game reaches the late-game, the possibility of drawing multiple copies of the same card is higher. The Halo becomes more powerful as the number of copies of cards it effectively negates increases.

I'm surprised how there seems to be little buzz for Runed Halo. At this moment, this underrated Shadowmoor card has been selling for only around four dollars. Fulmiunator Mage started out as the most expensive card in the set, but the hype is slowly dying down -- together with its price tag. The Flores-backed 2/2 tempo card started out at 15 dollars a week ago, but now sells for only about 13. Both the Mage and the Halo are very good cards no doubt. The problem is that they currently don't fit in any Tier One deck. I hope that situation would change soon, at least for the double-white-mana enchantment. Here's a sample deck which packs in main-deck Runed Halo.

UW Halo Control

4 Runed Halo
2 Declaration of Naught
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Rune Snag
4 Cryptic Command
4 Ancestral Visions
4 Wrath of God
2 Careful Consideration

2 Voidstone Gargoyle
4 Vendilion Clique
2 Sacred Mesa

4 Faerie Conclave
4 Mystic Gate
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Dessert
6 Plains
4 Island

The deck is a new twist to the classic Blue-White Control deck. The "name-a-card" spells (Runed Halo, Declaration of Naught, and Voidstone Gargoyle) offer a new, interesting strategy for control. This deck's disruption spells are no longer limited to counter-magic. You can virtually nullify the strategy of your opponent's deck by naming its key spells. This is how true-blue (pun not intended) control players want to win -- by rendering an opponent's deck useless.

Vendilion Clique lets you "peek" at your opponent's hand to see which immediate threat would be the best target for your name-a-card spells. The 3/1 pseudo-Coercion faerie also shines against opposing control decks. The deck's other win condition is Sacred Mesa, which can create its own version of "faeries" sometimes faster than Bitterblossom.

UW Halo Control excels against creature decks and Red-based burn decks. "Protection from Tarmogoyf" or "Protection from Flame Javelin" just sounds so good that those words might actually spell a win. The various counterspells help against Reivellark decks. A Declaration of Naught naming the 4/3 flying elemental can pretty much seal the game.

Tempo decks packing some counterspells are a challenge though. As long as Faerie and Merfolk decks abound, most control decks would have difficulty achieving Tier One status. Faeries in particular are difficult to beat especially due to Bitterblossom. I hope the four main-deck Desserts would be enough to give the deck a fighting chance against Tinkerbell decks.

For me, Runed Halo is the most underrated Shadowmoor card right now, much like Meddling Mage in the early days, but ironically unlike the over-hyped cards Pithing Needle and Cranial Extraction. In the right deck, Runed Halo might prove to be Shadowmoor's sleeper. I hope it soon wakes up to its true potential.