Does Fateful Showdown do damage before you discard?

Asked by mrfr1day 7 years ago

Let's say i casted Paradoxical Outcome on my opponents turn. I have 20 cards in hand. I cast fateful showdown. It does 20 damage to my opponent. Do I win right when he takes damage or do i have to discard and draw then I win? I ask this because what if I can't draw 20? Do i lose then?

merrowMania says... #1

Unless otherwise stated (like with a replacement effect such as the landfall version of Searing Blaze), spells and abilities always affect the game in the order they are written. However, state based actions are not checked while a spell is resolving. Therefore, when Showdown resolves, there is a player with zero or less life (I assume that you are dealing lethal damage) and a player who attempted to draw from an empty library. The game will end in a draw because both players invoked a lose condition at the same time (from the game's perspective).

October 5, 2016 12:25 a.m.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2

You follow the instructions of the card's effect in the order they're written, but you wait until the spell is completely finished resolving before you figure out who loses. Losing the game for 0 or less life or for trying to draw from an empty library are both state based actions (SBAs), and SBAs are checked and dealt with simultaneously right before each time a player would get priority. After a spell is finished resolving, the active player gets priority.

If your opponent went to 0 and you were actually able to draw 20 cards as Fateful Showdown resolved then your opponent loses and you win the game. If your opponent went to 0 and you weren't able to draw all 20 cards because your library didn't have enough then you both lose and the game is a draw.

October 5, 2016 12:26 a.m.