blocking with more than one creature
Asked by 9-lives 1 year ago
Is it possible during combat to block one of an opponent's creatures with more than one blocker? Or does one have to have a special rule that says that is possible?
What is the advantage of blocking with more than one creature if they take turns dealing damage? Do the collective of the blocking creatures end up dealing more damage? That would mean that even though they take turns, the damage accumulates?
February 24, 2023 11:18 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #3
Unless first/double strike are involved (or last strike if we're getting silver-bordered), all damage is assigned simultaneously and then immediately dealt simultaneously.
For example, let's say the attacking player has Hill Giant and the defending player blocks with 2 Grizzly Bears. The attacking player sets one Bear as first in the assignment order and the other one second. Let's say the attacking player assigns 2 of the Giant's damage to the first Bear and 1 to the second Bear (they're also allowed to assign 3 and 0, but not 1 and 2 or 0 and 3). Both Bears assign 2 damage to the Giant. Now it's time to deal that combat damage, so one Bear takes 2, the other takes 1, and the Giant takes 4.
February 24, 2023 1:37 p.m.
I didn't know that you could divide the card's Power into damaging several different targets in combat. This completely changes the way I will play.
Rhadamanthus says... #1
Yes, the base rules of the game allow for that. You don't need to have any extra abilities or effects going on.
If an attacking creature gets blocked by multiple blocking creatures, then the attacking player has to declare a damage assignment order for them, i.e. creature A is first, creature B is second, and so on. This is done during the declare blockers step. When the game moves to the combat damage step, the attacking player has to assign at least lethal damage to the first creature in the assignment order before assigning any to the second one, and so on down the line. "Lethal damage" is either damage equal to or greater than a creature's toughness or any amount of damage from a source with deathtouch.
Any effects that would increase, reduce, or otherwise change the amount of damage that would actually be dealt (protection abilities, damage prevention effects, Furnace of Rath, etc.) aren't considered when determining what "lethal damage" would be. You do consider any damage that has already been marked on the creature this turn from other sources. Being indestructible doesn't matter.
February 24, 2023 10:41 a.m.