Trample interaction with Drudge Sentinel
Asked by Shliken 6 years ago
So if I attack with any creature with trample, for example's sake a Duskdale Wurm, and my opponent blocks with Drudge Sentinel and uses his ability tapping him, the sentinel still blocks the creature and indestructible absorbs all the damage? Thank you for your input!
Thank you Neotrup for the feedback! I lost a game because the defending player with the Drudge Sentinel "blocked" my 13/13 Dread Shade effected by Song of Freyalise and survived the round with a single health, winning on the next turn. His argument was that since you need to assign lethal damage to the sentinel, and no amount is lethal, all was blocked. The "judge" (its a small store) sided with him, but this at least puts my mind to rest. May ye always topdeck well!
Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1
No. A creature with indestructible is not destroyed by lethal damage, but it does not prevent any damage. In this case the attacking player chooses how much damage to assign to the blocking Drudge Sentinel, having to assign at least lethal damage (usually 1, but if they cast Gideon's Reproach they could assign 0 as lethal), then they may assign any remaining damage to the defending player or planeswalker. Again, usually 6, but they could choose to deal more to the defending creature, or in the Gideon's Reproach instance just deal all 7 to the defending player.
I mention being able to deal more because this can be relevant. Let's say the Drudge Sentinel is equipped with a Shield of the Realm. It still only has 1 toughness, so if it's indestructible you only need to assign 1 damage and can still trample over for the 6. If your opponent assumes you'll do that though they might not bother with making the sentinel indestructible, at which point you can still choose to trample over for 6, or you can choose to assign 3 damage to the sentinel, 2 of which will be prevented, and 4 to the defending player. This will let you actually kill the Drudge Sentinel, and you're opponent won't be able to respond by making it indestructible after you choose what you're doing, they have to guess how you'll assign the damage and act accordingly.
April 22, 2018 6:54 p.m.