the truth about life gain
General forum
Posted on March 6, 2013, 10:04 a.m. by jawilliams15
ok so i have a scenario for you guys that according to the enemy had a very sketchy outcome.
His life: 4
His creatures: Tariel, and Knollspine Dragon
My life: 41
My creatures: Karrthus, Mana-charged Dragon, and Daybreak Ranger
I attacked with karrthus and Mana-charged boosting him +15/+0. He chose to block karrthus with Tariel and mana-charged with Knollspine.
After declaring blockers I tapped Daybreak Ranger to do two damage to knollspine.
In response to that was activating Vault of the Archangel and giving them both Lifelink and Deathtouch.
So after damage goes through he would first go to -13 and then gain 11 which would put him at -2.
But his argument was that he cant go under 0 and that so he would end up having 11 health after combat. Is this true? it seems incredibly stupid in my opinion.
Schuesseled says... #5
Yes, you can have negative life, you are just normally dead.
March 6, 2013 10:40 a.m.
Also I'm pretty sure even if he had gained 15 life and would be left at +2 in the end, he would still lose the gane as soon as state based actions happen/are checked, between dealt damage and the trigger for lifelink.
I'm not 100% on this though.
March 6, 2013 11:18 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #7
Lifelink used to be a triggered ability, but that changed with the M10 Rules Update. It's now a static ability that modifies the result of damage being dealt. You gain life at the same time as damage is dealt.
March 6, 2013 11:23 a.m.
Captain_Man says... #8
Like others have said, life gain form life link is simultaneous to damage. Let's say though that after combat, he's in a sense at negative whatever and tries to play a life gain spell, you know, those gain 7 life ones? He can't. He's already dead.
March 6, 2013 12:04 p.m.
It's possible your opponent may have been getting rules confused.
As stated by many, you can go to less than 0 life through damage or loss of life. Some people get this confused with the rule where you can't pay more life than you have for a spell or effect.
For example: You are at 3 life and you have Phyrexian Unlife in play. You cast a Vizkopa Confessor. When the Vizkopa Confessor ETB trigger resolves, it say you may pay any amount of life... However, even though you won't die for having 0 or less life, you cannot choose a number greater than 3, as you can't pay life you don't have.
Some people get this confused, and believe that you cannot go below 0 life.
Rhadamanthus says... #2
There's no rule saying a player can't go below 0 life.
Also, lifelink is applied at the time damage is dealt, not after. He would simultaneously take 17 damage and gain 11 life, which means he loses a net of 6 life (and loses the game).
March 6, 2013 10:12 a.m.