One of the most appealed rulings from GP Melbourne was about Fateful Hour becoming active in the middle of combat and saving creatures from dying. It’s understandable, as the interaction is a little bit more complex than your average combat trick.

Let’s say I’m at 7 life and I control Gavony Ironwright and Thraben Doomsayer. You attack me with three 4/4 creatures, and I block one each with the Ironwright and the Doomsayer, leaving one unblocked. As the the combat damage step begins, the first thing that happens is each creature deals damage at the same time. This results in Ironwright and Doomsayer each having 4 damage marked on them and me losing 4 life all at once.

Now you might think that this damage is lethal to both creatures, and they’ll be destroyed. However, there is a tiny period of time in the game that separates the time damage is dealt and the time creatures are destroyed by state-based actions. While players never get a chance to do anything during this time, the game is able to apply static abilities in the layer system faster than anything else in the game.

Because I took 4 damage (putting me at 3 life), Fateful Hour has become active immediately. When the game moves to the point where it performs state-based actions (the janitors of MtG that kill creatures with lethal damage, among many other things), it sees that your Ironwright is now a 3/6 creature because of the Doomsayer’s boost, but it only has 4 damage marked on it. It also sees that your Doomsayer is now a 3/6 creature thanks to the Ironwright’s boost, and it only has 4 damage marked on it. Since this is not lethal damage for either creature, no creatures are destroyed during this combat phase.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Josh Stansfield, Level 2 judge from Orange, CA