Does protection stop trample damage?
Asked by ScarrFisH 12 years ago
In this instance, Etched Champion w/ metalcraft blocks Primordial Hydra with 24 +1/+1 counters. Does the damage go through in full?
Rhadamanthus says... #2
Protection prevents damage, but when assigning damage with trample you don't take into account any effects that would change the amount of damage actually dealt.
In your example, 2 to the Champion and 22 to the defending player is a legal damage assignment, because 2 is enough to count for "lethal damage" on a blocker with 2 toughness. When damage is dealt, protection will cause the damage assigned to Champion to be prevented, and the defending player will be dealt 22.
February 28, 2013 10:11 a.m.
GreatSword says... Accepted answer #3
The rules for Trample are more important in this situation:
702.18b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s)blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remainingdamage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player orplaneswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take intoaccount damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures thats beingassigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might changethe amount of damage thats actually dealt. The attacking creatures controller need not assignlethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case cant assign any damage to the player or planeswalker its attacking.
So the Primordial Hydra will assign 2 damage to the Etched Champion (because that would be considered lethal damage) and is then able to assign 22 to the defending player.
February 28, 2013 10:14 a.m.
Absinthman says... #4
Trample allows you to deal the remaining damage from an attackers power to the defending player after lethal damage has been marked on the blocker. Protection prevents the damage dealt to a creature but does not prevent marking it on that creature, so if a creature with protection blocks a creature with trample, you have to mark damage equal to that creature's tougness on it and then you can deal the rest to the defending player. The damaged marked on the blocker will then be prevented.
February 28, 2013 10:15 a.m.
There is an example dealing with this exact situation in the comprehensive rules, under 702.18b. To quote the example:
Example:A 6/6 green creature with trample is blocked by a 2/2 creature with protection from green. The attacking creatures controller must assign at least 2 damage to the blocker, even though that damage will be prevented by the blockers protection ability. The attacking creatures controller can divide the rest of the damage as he or she chooses between the blocking creature and the defending player.
February 28, 2013 10:18 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #6
@Absinthman: A small technical note - "marked damage" refers to damage that has been dealt, which won't happen if it gets prevented. This is all about how damage is assigned.
February 28, 2013 10:32 a.m.
Absinthman says... #8
Thanks Rhadamanthus for this correction. I'll remember this.
Bobgalarneau says... #1
the damage blocked by Etched Champion is prevented, the rest go to the player
February 28, 2013 10:11 a.m.