Question for a Tetsuko Umezawa deck.
Asked by TearsInRain23 5 years ago
Identity Thief has zero attack power when it attacks. My question is, with Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive in play, is Identity Thief unblockable even after it becomes another creature?
TearsInRain23 says... #2
Okay thanks I didn’t realize we had a rules Q&A forum
August 31, 2018 8:35 p.m.
No worries, glad to help! So you know, you there's a "Mark of Answer" button on posts to indicate your question has been answered--this will ensure everyone knows you no longer need help.
Caerwyn says... Accepted answer #1
First, for future reference, the Commander Deck Help forum is used when you have questions about a deck you are building. If you have questions about how a certain card works, or the interaction between multiple cards, please use the Rules Q&A section of this site. There's usually a couple players lurking there who will answer your questions in fairly short order. I've taken the liberty of moving your thread.
Moving on to your question, this will not work.
Identity Thief's trigger occurs during the declare attackers step. Once you declare it as an attacker, its ability goes on the stack and resolves, still during the declare attackers step.
Base power/Toughness are values that are copied. So, when you use your Identity Thief to copy a Giant Spider, Identity Thief will now be a 2/4.
Then we move into the declare blockers step. At this point, your Identity Thief no longer has a power or toughness less than 1, so it can be blocked.
Compare to Dwarven Warriors. If Dwarven Warriors activated its ability targeting Identity Thief, Identity Thief could not be blocked even after it transforms. Dwarven Warriors, unlike Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, only cares about Power at the time the ability is activated. This would have a lasting impact on Identity Thief, even after Identity Theif's power became greater than 2. In fact, this was referenced in the card's Alpha text: Dwarven Warriors.
August 31, 2018 5:12 p.m. Edited.