Not always. In Magic: The Gathering, indestructible prevents a permanent from being destroyed—including by lethal damage—but it does not protect against every kind of board wipe. Check whether the spell destroys, deals damage, exiles, sacrifices, or changes toughness: those actions have different results.
What indestructible stops
The current Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, dated June 19, 2026, state in rule 702.12b: “A permanent with indestructible can’t be destroyed. Such permanents aren’t destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the state-based action that checks for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g).”
- A wipe that says “destroy”: It does not destroy an indestructible permanent.
- A wipe that deals damage: The damage can still be dealt and marked, but lethal damage does not destroy a creature while it has indestructible.
“Board wipe” is an informal label, not a single rules action. The exact wording of the effect determines whether indestructible helps.
What can still remove an indestructible permanent
Indestructible is protection from destruction, not from every way a permanent can leave the battlefield.
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- Exile: An effect that exiles a permanent does not destroy it, so indestructible does not stop the exile.
- Sacrifice: If an effect makes a player sacrifice a permanent, indestructible does not prevent that sacrifice.
- Another zone change: Returning a permanent to its owner’s hand or putting it into a library is not destruction.
- Toughness reduced to 0 or less: A creature with toughness 0 or less is put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action. This is not destruction, so indestructible does not save it.
How to check a specific board wipe
- Read the effect’s exact rules text rather than relying on the card being called a “board wipe.”
- Identify the action: destruction and lethal damage are stopped by indestructible; exile, sacrifice, other zone changes, and toughness of 0 or less are not.
- For damage effects, check whether the permanent still has indestructible when state-based actions are checked.
- For an unusual card interaction, check the card’s current Oracle text and Gatherer ruling.
Why timing matters for damage
Damage marked on a creature generally remains until the cleanup step. If a creature takes lethal damage while it is indestructible, it survives the lethal-damage check. But if it loses indestructible before the marked damage is removed, state-based actions are checked again; the lethal damage can then destroy it. State-based actions are checked before a player receives priority.
For card-specific corner cases, Wizards describes the Comprehensive Rules as a reference for rules questions and edge cases; the current document is available from its rules page.
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