Cloudshift blocking creature against Trample
Asked by kupcak3 12 years ago
Sorry for not knowing card names, I just have an example I would like clarification on.
Player 1 decides to attack with a 2/2, Player 2 chooses a 1/1 defender and gives it +3/+3 and trample. If Player 1 then plays [Cloudshift] in response targeting the 2/2 attacker, will Player 1 still take damage? Or vice versa if the attacking and blocking roles were reversed?
As I understand it, once a blocker is declared and the blocker or attack is removed from the game prior to combat damage, neither player takes damage?
So if an attacker chose to attack with a 15/15 with trample, in theory I could chose to block with a 2/2 and prior to passing priority, play cloudshift, and then I would take 0 damage?
November 21, 2012 2:08 p.m.
hunter9000 says... #3
Yes, although blocking it first is unnecessary. It's removed from combat when it leaves the battlefield, whether it's blocked or not.
November 21, 2012 2:23 p.m.
In your scenario, Player 1 won't take damage, anyway, because they are the attacking player. However, if the 2/2 creature is Cloudshift ed before combat damage, then it will not receive damage from the blocking creature.
Now, say Player 2 attacks with the 4/4 trampler and Player 1 declares the 2/2 as a blocker. If Player 1 Cloudshift s the 2/2 before combat damage is dealt, they will take the full 4 damage because the creature is no longer the same permanent that was declared as a blocker. Since the 4/4 no longer has a blocking creature to assign lethal damage to, Player 2 deals the full 4 damage to Player 1.
November 21, 2012 2:46 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Just to be clear, it looks like P1 is attacking and P2 is the one with the trampler. Trample does NOT deal damage to an attacking player. In fact, trample is utterly useless when you're defending.
Once a creature is blocked, it remains blocked for the rest of combat unless an effect causes it to become unblocked. When you block a creature with trample and then remove that blocker from combat, the trampler is still blocked. However, it will assign all of its damage to the defending player or planeswalker if that happens. Tramplers are the only creatures that can still deal damage to the player or planeswalker if their blockers get removed.
November 21, 2012 2:46 p.m.
That is incorrect.
kupcak3, if a creature is removed from combat after being declared a blocker (with Cloudshift for example), the attacking creature is still blocked. The blocking creature is treated (effectively) as a 0/0 creature. Therefore, a creature without trample would still be blocked and deal no damage. However, a creature with trample would still trample over damage equal to its power. No damage has to be assigned to the blocking creature since 0 damage is considered lethal.
i.e. You attack me with Watchwolf . I block with a Champion of the Parish . Once I Cloudshift my Champion of the Parish , the Watchwolf will be considered blocked, and deal no damage.
ex. #2: You attack me with Primeval Titan . I block with Delver of Secrets Flip . After I Cloudshift my Delver of Secrets Flip , the Primeval Titan is considered blocked. I would still take 6 damage since the Primeval Titan can assign all 6 of its damage to me (with trample).
"509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. A creature remains blocked even if all the creatures blocking it are removed from combat."
November 21, 2012 2:55 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
You surround them with double brackets. The formatting help page can be found here.
November 21, 2012 3:02 p.m.
hunter9000 says... #9
What I said wasn't incorrect, I was talking about Cloudshifting the attacker, not the blocker. If you want to Cloudshift the blocker instead, then what fireteam and Epochalyptik said about trampling attackers is correct.
November 21, 2012 3:54 p.m.
@hunter9000
Cloudshift only targets creatures that you control.
October 26, 2013 10:29 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
You need to bracket names to tag them. Also, this question was answered almost a full year ago.
hunter9000 says... #1
If an attacking creature is removed from the battlefield after attackers are declared, then it's removed from combat and won't do any damage. It's a completely different permanent when it comes back, so it has no memory of when it was attacking. Same with a defending creaturer, if it's removed after blockers are declared, it won't do any combat damage, but the creature it blocked remains blocked.
November 21, 2012 1:57 p.m.