Normally, when you think of first strike, you think “Alright, my guy gets to deal damage before that other guy, so my guy survives”. And that’s true. However, that’s not the only advantage there is. Let’s look at a few examples of what you might want to do after dealing first strike combat damage but before you move on to the normal combat damage step.

Players get priority after first strike damage is dealt, but before we move on to the normal combat damage step. This means we can cast instants and play abilities. What kind of spells might we want to play?

How about something like Celestial Flare? You can let first strike damage be dealt, killing some of your opponent’s creatures, then cast the Flare to get rid of a creature that wasn’t going to die. For example. let’s say you’re attacking with two 4/2s. I only have a single 2/2 with first strike to block with. I can block one of your 4/2s with my 2/2. We deal first strike damage, and your blocked 4/2 dies. Now, before we move on to the normal combat damage step, I cast Celestial Flare. You only have one attacking creature left (the unblocked 4/2), so you’ll have to sacrifice that one. In the end, you lost both of your 4/2s and I didn’t take any damage. I feel like I won that combat step.

What else can we do? Well, we can activate abilities. For instance, let’s take that previous example we had, but I also have a Cartel Aristocrat as well as my 2/2 with first strike. I really don’t want to lose my Aristocrat, but I have to block with it. I can block with both of my creature, and then after first strike damage is dealt (and one 4/2 dies), I can sac the creature with first strike to my Aristocrat and give my Aristocrat protection from the color of the creature it’s blocking. Sure, I lose my other 2/2, but my Aristocrat survives and (once again) both of your 4/2s die.

Here’s another tech-y play. Your opponent is at 7 life, is tapped out with no available blockers, but has you dead next turn. You untap with Falkenrath Aristocrat as your only creature, with no cards in hand, and you top-deck Ash Zealot. Your eyes light up as you announce Ash Zealot, and attack with both creatures. The opponent thinks he’s in good shape and says “Ok, I take 6.” You say “Not so fast. First strike damage? Take 2. Before regular damage, sacrifice Ash Zealot to Aristocrat, adding a counter. Take 5 more, for a total of 7. Good game!”

So don’t ignore that chance of priority between first strike and normal combat damage being dealt. It’s not relevant every time, but you may catch your opponent by surprise with some of the tricks you can pull!

Today’s Rules/Strategy tip written by Nathan Long and Josh Stansfield