When a attacks and is blocked by , the Crusader will not die. As we discussed a few weeks ago, protection does several things, such as preventing all damage from any source it has protection from. That means that deathtouch will not apply, as damage that is prevented is not considered dealt. Now let’s say […]
Category: Combat Phase
What first strike and double strike mean for the combat phase.
First Strike and Double Strike: Fun abilities that make creatures scary good in combat. But what exactly ARE they? How do they work? How does my deal damage ‘first’? Normally, during the Combat Phase, there’s only one step where damage is dealt. Immediately after the Declare Blockers step, but before the End of Combat step, […]
The combat shortcut: What it means when you say, “Declare attackers?”
Many players are unsure about how the combat shortcut works; when they tried to tap an attacker before their opponent swung, the opponent said, “You can’t tap it, I already attacked.” Whether that’s true or not depends on what was said before that. There is a default tournament shortcut that says, “A statement such as […]
A blocked creature stays blocked for the rest of combat, no matter what happens to the blocker.
The first thing that happens in the declare blockers step is that the defending player chooses which creatures will block and how they’re blocking. Once that happens, the blocks are locked in. Attackers that had a blocker declared become “blocked” creatures, and nothing can change that (aside from a few obscure effects that specifically say […]
Pyreheart Wolf’s triggered ability is not cumulative.
has a triggered ability that makes it harder for your opponent’s to block your attacking creatures. When Pyreheart Wolf attacks, its ability triggers. When this triggered ability resolves, it creates an effect that prevents your attacking creatures from being blocked by just one creature. This ability is not cumulative in any way. If two Pyreheart […]
Prevention effects can only prevent the trample damage that is assigned to a creature.
There are many ways to prevent damage that would be dealt to or by a creature. Some effects specify a specific amount of damage (), some will prevent all damage from specific sources or types of damage (the portion of the protection ability of that prevents damage), and others will prevent all damage (). However, […]
Damage assignment order is chosen immediately after blockers.
When Magic 2010 was released, a few changes were made to the combat phase. One such change concerns what happens when a creature in combat is either blocked by or blocking more than one creature. When this happens, the controller of the creature that is blocking or blocked by more than one creature must choose […]
Creatures are no longer attacking or blocking once combat ends.
Attacking or blocking is a status that is given to creatures in combat when they attack or block. A creature will become either attacking or blocking when legal blocks or attacks are made. This status will remain until the combat phase ends. For example, a creature that was attacking earlier in a turn is not […]
Wooden’s Stakes triggered ability resolves before combat damage is dealt.
Abilities that trigger when a creature blocks or becomes blocked will do so in the declaration of blockers step. These abilities will go on the stack and resolve in that step and before the combat damage step. With something like this means that if a Vampire is blocked or blocked by a creature equipped with […]