“Declare attackers?”, “ready for combat”, or any similar statement during your turn means you’re offering to pass priority until your opponent has priority in your beginning of combat step. Unless an opponent acts at this point, it’s too late to cast spells or activate abilities before you declare attackers. For example, if you say “combat?” and your opponent passes priority back to you, you can’t activate your Raging Ravine in time to attack with it.

Similarly, “no attacks” or anything similar means you’re offering to pass priority until your opponent has priority in your end of combat step. (You actually skip the declare blockers and combat damage steps if no creatures attack.)

Two other shortcuts apply to combat, but these don’t deal with passing priority:

When you attack with a creature, it’s attacking the defending player and not any planeswalker he or she controls unless you specify otherwise. For example, your opponent attacks with three creatures while you control Jace Beleren, but doesn’t say anything when he declares his attack. You don’t have to ask him if they’re attacking you or Jace; they’re attacking you by default since he didn’t say they were attacking Jace.

Also, a creature with trample assigns all possible damage to the defending player or planeswalker unless its controller states otherwise. For example, if you attack with Primeval Titan and your opponent blocks with Wall of Omens, you don’t have to state that you’re assigning 2 damage to your opponent, it’s just assumed. Be sure you opponent records the damage, though.

Today’s Rules Tip was provided by Charlotte Sable, a level 2 judge from Ontario, Canada.