GENERAL NOTES
Combat Notes
Combat in 2HG is changing quite a bit with the release of Dominaria. Previously you used to attack the opposing team and then still had to figure out the defending player individually for each effect that cared.
Now for each creature you declare as an attacker in the declare attackers step you choose one opponent (or planeswalker) to attack. This clarifies who the defending player is and who will be dealt combat damage.
No matter who the creatures are attacking, the defending players still can block as a team, this hasn’t changed at all.
More about this rules change here.
Weatherlight, Urgoros, the Empty One
You declare which player you are attacking in the declare attackers step. Weatherlight’s and Urgoros, the Empty One’s abilities will trigger if they deal combat damage. If the damage is prevented by the opposing team, the abilities will not trigger.
Baird, Steward of Argive.
If you want to attack a player who controls Baird, Steward of Argive, you will have to pay 1 for each creature attacking that player. You can attack their teammate without having to pay any cost. This is a change to how these kind of abilities used to work.
“YOU”
The rule of thumb for 2HG is “You” still refers to you alone, not both you and your teammate. Look for the word you in the card text, such as “creatures you control get +1/+1”, “whenever you cast a historic spell”, etc.
Legendary sorcery
Casting a legendary sorcery requires you to control a legendary creature or planeswalker, so any permanents your teammate has don’t count and vice versa.
Warcry Phoenix
For the ability of Warcry Phoenix to trigger, you need to control 3 or more attacking creatures. Warcry Phoenix doesn’t care about your teammate’s attacking creatures.
“EACH”
Cards that say “each opponent” or “each player” do affect more players than usual.
The Eldest Reborn
When you put the first lore counter on The Eldest Reborn, both your opponents will have to sacrifice a creature or planewalker.
When you put on the second lore counter, both of them will have to discard a card.
Caligo Skin-Witch
If you pay the kickercost for Caligo Skin-Witch, both of your opponents will have to discard two cards.
Fall of the Thran
When you put the second and third lore counter on Fall of the Thran, every player (your opponents, your teammate and you) may return 2 lands to the battlefield.
Ghitu Journeymage, Cabal Paladin
Ghitu Journeymage and Cabal Paladin deal damage to both opponents, essentially doubling the damage to 4.
Hallar, the Firefletcher
Hallar deals damage equal to the number of +1/+1 counters to each opponent, doubling the amount of damage dealt.
“Each opponent X and you Y”
Slimefoot, the Stowawaym, Chainer Torment
Slimefoot, the Stowaway deals 1 damage to each opponent, doubling the damage to 2. You still only gain 1 though.
Chainer’s Torment deals 2 damage to each opponent, doubling the damge to 4. You still only gain 2.
Life Notes
If you lose life during a turn then it’s only you who loses the life, not your teammate! Same goes for gaining life.
Whenever you need to know your lifetotal for an effect, use your team’s life total.
Evra, Halycon Witness
For the ability of Evra, Halycon Witness you’ll use the team’s life total. The loss or gain of life only happens to you. Things that care about life gain or life loss will only trigger for you, not your teammate.
Firesong and Sunspeaker
With Firesong and Sunspeaker, the second ability will only trigger if player that controls the Firesong and Sunspeaker gains life, not their teammate.
Torgaar, Famine Incarnate
When Torgaar, Famine Incarnate enters the battlefield, you target up to one player. Their team’s life total becomes 15. This counts as losing or gaining life for only the targeted player.
Extra Turns
Karn’s Temporal Sundering, Teferi Timebender
In 2HG, teammates share turns. So if you gain an extra turn, your team will get an extra turn.
Other Notes
Lich’s Mastery
With Lich’s Mastery in play, you can’t lose the game, so your team can’t lose the game. When Lich’s Mastery leaves the battlefield, you lose the game so your team loses the game.
Life loss and life gain happens to players, not the team. So you only draw cards or exile permanents/cards when you have gained or lost life.
In the declare attackers step on your opponents’s turn, they choose for each creature whether it’s attacking you or your teammate. You will only lose life if creatures attacking you deal combat damage to you. Then you will have to exile permanents/cards. Creatures dealing damage to your teammate does not cause you to lose life.
Jaya’s Immolating Inferno
Both players on a team can be targeted by Jaya’s Immolating Fire.
Verdant Force
Verdant Force’s ability will trigger only once during each teams’s upkeep.
So is landwalking ability getting a “silent nerf” ? In former times I could attack enemy A controlling a planeswalker and an Island with an unblockable Riverboa, then redirecting damage to the planeswalker. Since planeswalkers doesn’t own lands, landwalkingcreatures can now always be blocked, right ?
Landwalk is only half nerfed. Like a normal game, if you attack a planeswalker, that planeswalker’s controller counts as the defending player, so if that player has the island, you can attack the planeswalker and the Boa can’t be blocked.
What is no longer possible, is if player A has the planeswalker and player B has the island, to attack the planeswalker and being unblockable at the same time. Now you attack either the planeswalker, which means only player A is the defending player for the Boa, or you attack player B and the Boa is unblockable.
Woo-hoo, was waiting for this! Thanks guys for making these articles, we much appreciate them over here!
This sentence took time to interpret, even in context:
“In declare attackers, your opponents choose for each creature which player it’s attacking.”
You meant that “you” were on the non-active team, right?
Ah I see now, it has an unintended meaning if you read it as being the declare attackers step on your turn =)
Should be fixed now.
Just a note for a minor error in this article: Torgaar, Famine Incarnate says “target player’s life total”, not “target opponent’s life total”, so you should be able to target yourself or your teammate with it.
Oh I missed that when proofreading, thanks!