It’s about time that we finally got a keyword for an ability that has been around since Fallen Empires. Goblin War Drums originally gave the evasion ability that required two blockers for one attacking creature, now called Menace, to creatures you controlled. Menace will definitely give your opponents something to think about, as “chump-blocking” (blocking bigger creatures will smaller, less useful ones) is not efficient against a creature with Menace.

It is important to remember that this evasion ability works just like others in regards to blocking. If a creature with Menace is blocked by two creatures but one is removed before damage, the Menace creature is still blocked. This is also true if a creature is blocked by a single creature then given Menace during the declare blockers step. The block was legally declared, and the creature is still considered to have been blocked. If a creature is somehow given Menace twice, the ability will not stack. It will not require 4 creatures to block; it will still only need two creatures to block it.

And if a creature has both Menace and and ability that says “This creature can’t be blocked by more than one creature,” then that means there is no legal block that can be declared, since you can’t violate blocking restrictions. The two abilities effectively make the creature unblockable!

This ability is pretty neat, I hope you’re all excited to see it in action!

Today’s Rules Tip written by Daniel Clarke