how does assigning damage work?
Asked by r3mu5 13 years ago
have the rules changed since m10?because frankly i don't like the idea of assigning damage to the conga line of blockers my opponent has assigned.
in other words, do i have to deal lethal damage to blocker 1 then blocker 2 etc. sparing the guy with the OP ability and taking out the chump tokens first, or has it changed since then?
Basically, the ruling states that once the blockers are declared, and lined up by the blocker how they are going to proceed to block, then the creatures do need to have lethal damage placed on the first creature before any damage can be placed on the next creature in line...
August 23, 2011 3 p.m.
damage assignment order, WOW. Argh!! so the conga line of blockers does exist!
i think i'm going to stop playing magic now
-_-'
August 23, 2011 3:11 p.m.
I thought that you could do say 0 then 0 then 0 then lethal and lethal again if that many creatures blocked it.
August 23, 2011 3:53 p.m.
@xo2, no apparently you HAVE to assign lethal damage to each little creature in the conga line:
However, it can't assign combat damage to a creature that's blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage.
August 23, 2011 4:01 p.m.
lol, that just means you won't bother with the little creatures. that card lets you go straight to the man.
August 23, 2011 4:13 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #8
If the new rule seems strange or bad, consider this: How do you almost always assign combat damage among multiple blockers? Lethal to as many as possible, and the rest to whoever is left. Because the attacking player decides blocking order, the new method produces the same result.
Setting up the blocking order before doing damage assignment is a way to make up for the fact that damage assignment doesn't "go on the stack" anymore. With the new method, each player is still able to get some useful information about how damage is going to be dealt before it actually happens, and can make responses accordingly.
August 23, 2011 5:28 p.m.
i think i was just confused.
let me get this straight.
The ATTACKER assigns the damage order to the blocking creatures regardless of how the blocker chose to set up the creatures?
in other words, if i attack with a 6/6, and my opponent blocks with 5 1/1s and a 3/3 with a BAMF ability, i can choose to deal lethal damage to the 3/3 mo'fo' and 3 other little guys correct?
it's not like my opponent gets to choose the order they block so that my creature dies and his 3/3 lives? (he can't say "these 5 1/1s will block first, then this one will block" can he?)
August 23, 2011 5:39 p.m.
ThiagoMaia says... #10
But who chooses the assigning damage order, the attacking player or the blocking player?
August 23, 2011 5:40 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #12
@r3mu5, that's right. The attacking player is the one who decides the damage assignment order for the blockers. The only time the defending player chooses a damage assignment order is if one of his blockers is somehow blocking multiple attackers (Palace Guard , Avatar of Hope , Entangler , etc.), and he decides an order for his blocker to deal damage to those creatures.
Here's the relevant rules from the description of the Declare Blockers step:
509.2. Second, for each attacking creature that's become blocked, the active player announces that creature's damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures blocking it in an order of that player's choice. (During the combat damage step, an attacking creature can't assign combat damage to a creature that's blocking it unless each creature ahead of that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage.) This turn-based action doesn't use the stack.
Example: Craw Wurm is blocked by Llanowar Elves, Runeclaw Bear, and Serra Angel. The Craw Wurm's controller announces the Craw Wurm's damage assignment order as Serra Angel, then Runeclaw Bear, then Llanowar Elves.
509.2a During the declare blockers step, if a blocking creature is removed from combat or a spell or ability causes it to stop blocking an attacking creature, the blocking creature is removed from all relevant damage assignment orders. The relative order among the remaining blocking creatures is unchanged.
August 24, 2011 2:15 p.m.
ah thank you so much for your help Rhadamanthus, thank you so much that i'm going to ask you if you can help make my deck viable Saltwater.
hahaha
August 24, 2011 2:30 p.m.
Swampfox213 says... #14
So an attacking 2/2 can't kill a defensive 2/10?
September 7, 2016 11:07 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #15
Not by itself, no. Each creature assigns damage equal to its power, and a creature will only die if it's been dealt an amount of damage equal to or greater than its toughness. In your example both the 2/2 and the 2/10 will be dealt 2 damage. The 2/2 will die and the 2/10 will survive.
For future reference: if you have a question then it's a better idea to start a new Q&A topic than to comment on an old one. With the way this part of the site is set up, only users who have already posted in the old topic and are still subscribed to it will be aware of your question. If the topic is more than a few weeks old then your post may go unnoticed, depending on how active the other users are (I took a quick look at the profiles of the other users who posted here, and it looks like I'm the only one who's been active on the site in the last 2 years!).
arobidoux says... #1
510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage. If exactly one creature is blocking it, it assigns all its combat damage to that creature. If two or more creatures are blocking it, it assigns its combat damage to those creatures according to the damage assignment order announced for it. This may allow the blocked creature to divide its combat damage. However, it can't assign combat damage to a creature that's blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that's being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that's actually dealt. An amount of damage that's greater than a creature's lethal damage may be assigned to it.
August 23, 2011 2:57 p.m.