Why Does Damage Increasing Work This Way?
General forum
Posted on April 7, 2023, 9:06 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
Since I am building an EDH deck with Gisela, Blade of Goldnight as the general, I read the rulings for her, and the rulings stated that, if multiple effects modify how much damage is dealt, such as Gisela combined with Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, the player receiving the damage chooses how to apply those effects, which does not make any sense, since, in most other situations in which multiple replacement effects apply, the controller of the effects chooses how to apply them (such as a player controlling both Progenitus and Rest in Peace). I also am not pleased to know that, since the player receiving the damage will always apply the effects in a way that minimizes how much damage they receive, whereas the controller of the modifying effects will want to apply the effects in a way that maximizes the damage; for example, the player dealing the damage would want to apply Torbran's ability first and Gisela's ability second, but the player receiving the damage would want to apply Gisela's ability first and Torbran's ability second.
What does everyone else say about this? Why does the player being dealt damage, rather than the player dealing the damage, choose how to apply modifying effects?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Caerwyn, that makes sense, even if it does not work the way that I wish for it work.
Caerwyn says... #2
You are forgetting - the attacking player might not be the only one applying damage modifiers. Cards like Benevolent Unicorn or… Gisela, Blade of Goldnight… exist. They might not be as common as damage increases, but they’re still very much a part of the game.
Rather than have different people apply potentially competing effects, they chose to let one single player handle all of that. Additionally, the rule in question (616.1) applies to all replacement effects - the affected person or object’s controller gets to determine how they or their thing is modified. They did not want to have a carve out of “except in the case of receiving damage” since carve outs like that create more rules problems than they solve.
That said, I expect this is probably one of the most misplayed common rule interactions in the game.
April 7, 2023 9:27 a.m.