Does combat damage step exist if no creatures attack?
Asked by Amarin1492 8 years ago
It is my opponent's first main phase. My opponent plays Prophet of Kruphix. I want to get rid of the prophet with Berserk. If my opponent does not do anything during their combat phase, is the combat damage step "skipped?" Basically, does the combat damage step still exist even though my opponent didn't declare attackers and just went to his second main phase?
make sure you at least mark yourself the answer to get it out of the unanswered section.
May 9, 2015 7:28 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #3
For those who stumble upon this question via Google or something, here's the explanation.
Berserk's effect creates a delayed triggered ability that triggers at the beginning of the next end step. If the creature Berserk targeted attacked this turn, the DTA destroys that creature. However, the DTA will do nothing to that creature if it doesn't attack, and the creature isn't forced to attack in this scenario (it also has summoning sickness, so it can't attack anyway).
If your opponent declares no attackers in the declare attackers step, then the game will proceed to the end of combat step (skipping the declare blockers and combat damage steps) before moving to the second main phase. If this occurs, then you can no longer cast Berserk (not that it matters; combat would be over anyway).
Amarin1492 says... #1
I misread the rules on Berserk. Please ignore this post.
May 9, 2015 4:55 p.m.