creatures fighting
Asked by ticked-off-squirrel 6 years ago
if a card has one creature fight another creature, does either creature tap?
Not intrinsically, some cards may specifically call for creatures to be tapped, which they wouldn't bother doing if the fight mechanic already caused those creature to tap. For instance: Arena and Magus of the Arena specifically say to tap both creatures and then have them fight, so that requires tapping (though either or both of those creatures may already be tapped). Ulvenwald Tracker taps to make two creatures fight, but doesn't tap either of them. Nightfall Predator Flip taps to fight another creature, but doesn't tap the creature it fights.
TheVectornaut says... Accepted answer #1
"701.11a A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature."
Tapping is never mentioned in the process of a fight. While it may seem like combat, fighting is not the same thing. The fighting creatures are not declared as attackers and the damage dealt is not counted as combat damage. This means you can use a card like Pounce to fight with and/or against a creature that is already tapped.
November 18, 2017 3:16 a.m.