If you destroy a protect tile, does the protect tile prevent the damage from that match?
IE, I match a purple with a bullseye protect tile, does that bullseye tile lower the damage from the purple match itself?
I believe it does. The protection will be reduced for the next move.
The match that destroyed the special tile still benefits (or is hindered) by the said special tile. Match your own strike tile, and the move that destroyed it still gets the strike bonus of the tile you just destroyed.