Cenn's Tactition and Gang Blocking
Asked by Andromedus 5 months ago
Let's say I have a Cenn's Tactician (with one +1/+1 counter on it) in play, and two Botanical Brawlers both of which have 4x +1/+1 counters. I also have a Giver of Runes in play (no summoning sickness).
My opponent attacks with 3x Acid Web Spiders.
A. Can I assign each Botanical Brawler to block two Acid Web Spiders so that one of them is gang-blocked while the other two are blocked only by one Botanical Brawler?
B. Alternatively, could I also block the two solo-blocked Acid Web Spiders with the Cenn's Tactician so that all three spiders are double-blocked and one is also gang blocked?
Is it just me or does damage assignment in this case get very complicated (assuming this blocking is allowed)? And we only have one Cenn's Tactician in play, imagine if we had more! I get that the attacking player assigns damage first, choosing which gang blockers he prioritizes in order. That part seems relatively straightforward.
C. But then how is the double-block and gang block damage assigned by the defending player? The defending player chooses which creature to assign double-blocked damage, and then what happens with gang blocker damage?
D. And then after my opponent assigns combat damage I assume I can potentially respond to save one of my creatures with the Giver of Runes, which further complicates things for the attacker?
Maybe I'm overthinking this?
Andromedus says... #2
Ok, thank you! I'm still confused about how to apply this in an actual game, where there may be two Cenn's Tacticians in play creating the opportunity for all kinds of triple-block-with-gang-block overlap shenanigans. I'm just not sure how to untangle everything much less use it to my advantage when defending.
November 6, 2023 2:45 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
Some more comments on C and D:
- For each attacking spider, the opponent decides a damage assignment order for the creatures blocking it, just like any normal "gang-block" situation. The big thing that's different here is that you also make the same decisions for each of your blocking creatures: a damage assignment order for the attackers it's blocking.
- When it's time to actually assign and deal damage, the requirements for determining a legal damage assignment are the same as normal, where the first creature in order has to be assigned at least lethal damage before any damage can be assigned to the next one behind it. You do take into account combat damage being assigned to that creature by another creature, if applicable (as it is in your example).
- Keep in mind that legal damage assignments don't take into account any effects that would increase/reduce/replace the damage that would actually be dealt after assignment. This means if you give Protection to one of your blockers that's first in a particular attacker's damage assignment order, that attacker will still need to assign at least lethal damage to it before moving on to the next blocker in order, even though Protection is going to prevent all that damage from being dealt.
wallisface says... Accepted answer #1
Answering your questions in order:
A. Yes. However note that this will end up with both your creatures taking lethal damage, and only 1 spider dying.
B. Yes. Note this will result in all the attacking creatures dying, as well as 2 of your blockers of the opponents choice.
C. Damage is assigned in each combat. Each attacking spider will effectively assign its 3 damage as it chooses to the creatures it is being blocked by. Each of your blocking creatures assign their damage to each creature they’re blocking.
D. You need to activate Giver of Runes before combat damage is assigned. While this activation can save one creature, it won’t stop the opponent from beating-up on the others.
November 6, 2023 2:05 p.m.