Nishaven's Ability vs Protector

[Storknest]

How does this work?

[Gondorian]

Hi. Protector on your friendly ally prevents other friendly non-Protector allies from being targeted by the opponent. But Nishaven's ability does not involve targeting, so it will do 4 damage to all allies on the field unless they have some damage reduction or immunity.

Other examples of untargeted damage are Supernova, Tidal Wave, Murderous Hulk's activated ability.

General rule: All targeted effects explicitly mention "target" in their ability text. The only other situation where Protector is relevant is that your opponent can't target your protected friendly allies for a normal targeted attack. (There are some card effects that cause an untargeted attack - e.g. Cleric's Mantle - which will work regardless of Protector.)

Hope that helps!