Is there a power lower than 0?
Asked by MindEcho 9 years ago
Okay, so if I had a ton of mana, what would happen if I -1/+1 Shorecrasher Elemental until his power was 0? Would his toughness just keep going up and his power stay at 0? Or would the power go into negative numbers?
filledelanuit says... Accepted answer #2
So to be totally explicit, Shorecrasher Elemental can have negatice power. If it has negative power it deals 0 combat damage. However its power still is negative. This matters for things like formidable. Negative power will lower the total amount of power you control.
For exampel, you control a Surrak Dragonclaw, 3 2/2 tokens from Xenagos and a -6/12 Shorecrasher you would not have formidable.
March 7, 2015 8:32 p.m.
So with an infinite mana combo one could not simply -1/+1 Shorecrasher Elemental until he was say a "0/20" and then +1/-1 him until he was a "19/1"?
What I am reading is that no matter how many times Shorecrasher Elemental is +'ed or -'ed the original ratio of power and toughness will remain the same?
Wow, that sounds really confusing to me and I am the OP... Do you guys get what I am asking? Sorry if it is vague.
March 7, 2015 8:50 p.m.
filledelanuit says... #4
Negative power is a kinda weird place in magic. In the simplest terms negative power counts as zero unless you need to add numbers up or find the lowest power. There are a few other exceptions but they are total corner cases.
To answer your questions:
You are correct.
I believe that you meant to say that the sum of power and toughness always stays the same.
March 7, 2015 9:05 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #6
You might be amused to see Spinal Parasite's printed power.
March 7, 2015 10:11 p.m.
Oh good heavens! What a ridiculous thing to see... I started reading the posts about this card and found myself on the who's who of ridiculous MTG cards. I have to say that Mirror Gallery is about the most absurd thing ever; well, next to Spinal Parasite. Thanks for sharing I needed a good laugh. Oh, you know what really did it for me? Don't you think that Mirror Gallery should be legendary, just because?! lol
ShamaLamaDingDong says... #1
The power would go into negative numbers. From Ætherling rulings:
4/15/2013: therling's last ability can be activated even if its power is 0 or less. If a creature would assign 0 or less damage in combat, it doesn't assign combat damage at all.
March 7, 2015 8:28 p.m.