How much power to control things does Master Warcraft Master Warcraft have?
Asked by FatFreddiesCat 1 year ago
Comprehensive Rule 802.2 says "As the combat phase starts, the attacking player doesn’t choose an opponent to become the defending player. Instead, all the attacking player’s opponents are defending players during the combat phase." Can I cast Master Warcraft Master Warcraft and then choose who will be (legally) attacked with which creatures (and then, of course, choose all defending creatures)? And can I force the active player to actually attack even if they had no plans to do so in the combat phase?
FatFreddiesCat says... #2
Thanks. Just to make sure I have it right: 1) Active player moves to combat phase (and I remind him/her that there is indeed a combat phase even if he/she doesn't call for one) 2) I declare which creatures are attacking 3) Active player chooses who the creatures will attack 4) I declare who blocks and how
If correct, this sounds like fun...
September 6, 2022 4:37 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #3
Yes, that's how it plays out. The combat phase still happens if the active player doesn't want to attack. If no attackers are declared then the game skips the declare blockers and combat damage steps and goes straight to the end of combat step before moving on to the second main phase.
Rhadamanthus says... #1
It does most of that but not everything. You just decide which creatures attack. The attacking player is the one who gets to decide who they attack. My playgroup misplayed this for a long time before we found out how it really worked.
The Gatherer entry for Master Warcraft includes the following rulings note to clarify what happens in a 2-player game when the defending player controls one or more planeswalkers, but the concept can be extended to the example of a game where there are multiple defending players.
4/1/2008 If the defending player controls a planeswalker, the person who cast Master Warcraft first chooses the complete group of creatures that are going to attack. Then, for each of those creatures, the active player chooses who or what it's going to attack.
September 6, 2022 3:45 p.m.