Combat Damage = Destroy?

Asked by DancesWithGoblins 12 years ago

If my opponent attacks with a 3/3 and I block with Knight of the Holy Nimbus , both creatures would die and be sent to the graveyard.

My question is whether combat damage triggers the regenerate effect (Assuming no player paid the 2 mana cost), or is it only the keyword destroy that triggers it (i.e. Murder )?

aavb132 says... Accepted answer #1

"Destroy" does have certain rules baggage, and in this situation in applies perfectly.

Now, off the top of my head, I believe the only ways to "destroy" a creature are:

  1. marking it with lethal damage (combat or direct damage works), which causes state-based effects to "destroy" it.

  2. Using a spell or ability that explicitly says "destroy," such as Murder or Wrath of God

So yes, combat damage would trigger the regeneration ability, which, in case you're unfamiliar with the exact effect, works as a shield, then when used up by a destruction effect, removes all damage from a creature, taps it, and remove sit from combat.

April 15, 2013 6:04 a.m.

aavb132 says... #2

Incidentally, neither indestructibility, nor regeneration can save a creature from sacrifice (forced or not) or from the Legend rule, because neither of those things involved destruction; they just move things onto the graveyard.

  • 701.14a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner's graveyard. A player can't sacrifice something that isn't a permanent, or something that's a permanent he or she doesn't control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn't destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can't affect this action.

  • 704.5k If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are on the battlefield, all are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the "legend rule." If only one of those permanents is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.

April 15, 2013 6:10 a.m.

Denial048 says... #3

I am curious as to how the 3/3 would die when it is the attacker; Flanking only gives a blocking creature -1/-1...

April 15, 2013 6:21 a.m.

So it does, I derped there. Although, to be fair, that's not really the point. Thank you for mentioning it anyway.

April 15, 2013 6:25 a.m.

Denial048 says... #5

Ah, well good to see I was able to help in another way :D

April 15, 2013 7:46 a.m.

Epochalyptik says... #6

It's important to note that the regeneration ability of Knight of the Holy Nimbus is NOT a triggered ability. Regeneration is never a triggered ability. Regeneration is a replacement effect that modifies an event as it would happen. Triggered events wait for an event to happen, then do something as a result of that event happening.

The Knight of the Holy Nimbus would never be destroyed, and, therefore, it would never go to the graveyard.

April 15, 2013 10:05 a.m.

This discussion has been closed