Morph after combat damage assignment, before damage is dealt
Asked by BlueScope 10 years ago
Say a player attacks with a 4/4 creature with trample that gets blocked by two creaures, a face-down 2/2 creature and a 1/1 creature. The attacking player decides to first deal damage to the morph creature, then to the other.
Can the defending player turn their 2/2 face-up before damage is dealt?
They way I think it works: The attacking player assigns 2 damage (lethal damage) to the face-down creature, then 1 damage to the 1/1 creature. The defending player should be able to unmorph, as it doesn't use the stack to do so, for example to reveal a 3/5 creature. Next, combat damage takes place, in which the attacking creature will get 4 damage (3+1), the morphed creature 2 damage, the 1/1 will get 1 damage, and the defending player another 1 damage. The morphed creature will have 2 damage marked on it and survive, the other two creatures die.
Am I correct?
BboyGeologic says... #2
If we take your example where the Morph creature is flipped and is a 3/5, then all 4 damage will be assigned to it and their creature will die and both of yours will survive.
Once the attacking player has ordered the blockers,then he must stick to that order. Their creature with trample cannot just divide damage around as it pleases, it has to assign lethal damage to each creature before it can move on to the next and then if there is any damage left over after all blockers have been dealt lethal damage then it may trample over to the defending player. Since the Morph creature was ordered first he must deal lethal to it before it can move on to the 1/1 and then on to the player, but since that creature is a 3/5 they will be unable to trample over it. Their creature will die and you'll have your 3/5 with 4 damage marked on it and a 1/1.
September 30, 2014 7:23 a.m.
BboyGeologic says... #3
The way your worded you question is kind of confusing, so I wrote my answer assuming you had flipped your creature in the declare blockers step after he ordered blockers. If you let the game progress to the combat damage step then you have no chance to turn your morph creature face up until after its already dead in combat.
September 30, 2014 7:26 a.m.
filledelanuit says... #4
I can't tell exactly what you're asking so I'll answer both. There is one important rule to remember about morph. It doesn't use the stack but you can only use it when you have priority. This means you can only do it more or less when you could cast an instant. It doesn't use the stack because otherwise an opponent could just Shock the creature before it was turned face up but after you revealed it.
If you are asking if you can unmorph them after the combat damage assignment order has been declared then you can do this. The order in which creatures have to assign lethal damage is declared in the beginning of the declare blockers step after blockers are declared before anyone gets priority. Then when combat damage went to be dealt your opponents creature would have to deal damage to the morph first and may be unable to kill the other creatures, if the morph was first in the order.
If you mean to do this in the combat damage step then you can't. As I said above you still need priority to unmorph a creature. You would have to do that before the beginning of the combat damage step as you will not get priority again until after damage has been dealt and creatures have died.
September 30, 2014 7:59 a.m.
Absinthman says... #5
The problem with your question is that you're misunderstanding one thing. After blocks are declared, the attacking player DOES NOT assign damage yet. The attacking player only announces the DAMAGE ASSIGNMENT ORDER. Actual number of points of damage is assigned and marked on creatures during the combat damage step. You can unmorph your creatures after the attacking player has announced the order, but then, when the damage will actually get assigned, it will follow the rules for multiple blockers - the creature which is first in the order must be assigned lethal damage before any damage can be assigned to the next one. This means that in your scenario, the attacking creature will deal its damage to the unmorphed blocker, and depending on its unmorphed toughness, it will either soak up all that damage, or there will be some damage left to assign to the 1/1.
September 30, 2014 8:19 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #6
Though "unmorphing" a creature is a special action that doesn't use the stack, you still have to have priority in order to take a special action. Under the current rules about combat, no player gets priority in-between damage assignment and damage dealing. There was a period of time when these rules were different, but the current way has been in place since M10.
September 30, 2014 11:06 a.m.
Most answers seem correct (some contradicting), but williamgp99 actually hinted me the important part about having to have priority... essentially, exactly what Rhadamanthus said. Interesting thing to miss - thanks for all the answers!
nighthawk101 says... Accepted answer #1
Nope. You can only flip a morphed card faceup when you have priority (when you would be able to cast a spell). There is no round of priority after damage assignment but before it is dealt, the last chance would be after the declare blockers step.
September 30, 2014 7:14 a.m.