Mortal's Ardor and double strike
Asked by Argy 8 years ago
My Opponent hits with Two-Headed Cerberus and I block with Nyxborn Shieldmate.
He then plays Mortal's Ardor on the Cerberus, killing my Creature and giving his Lifelink.
Does he gain 7 life, having done 7 damage to my Creature and killing it with that amount, or 14 life due to the Double Strike?
I'm sorry, I failed to explain something.
Due to other spells being cast on it prior to combat, the Cerberus had 7 power at the time when attackers were declared.
March 12, 2016 2:55 a.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #3
Ah, I see. Well, the opponent would gain 7 life, not 14. For same reasons above. And if he hadn't cast Mortal's Ardor yet, then it would be 8 life gained.
March 12, 2016 3:12 a.m.
Are you saying he could cast Mortal's Ardor between the first and second strike?
March 12, 2016 3:15 a.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #5
Technically he could, but that would not benefit him whatsoever.
I meant that if the Two-Headed Cerberus was already at 7 power prior to casting Mortal's Ardor, when the opponent does cast it, the creature would get an additional +1/+1 until end of turn, making it have 8 power and thus gaining him 8 life.
At the end of each step and phase (Except untap and cleanup), a round of priority is passed where players may cast spells and activate abilities. At the end of the first combat damage step, the opponent has the ability to cast Mortal's Ardor, but it wouldn't behoove him to, because he would not gain any life from it due to the damage in the regular combat damage step being dealt to nothing.
Raging_Squiggle says... Accepted answer #1
I fail to see where 7 damage appears anywhere here. Two-Headed Cerberus's power is 1, not 7.
Whenever a creature has a blocked declared against it, that creature is considered blocked for the rest of combat, even if the creature that was blocking it is either removed from combat or leaves the battlefield prior to combat damage.
During the first combat damage step, Two-Headed Cerberus will deal 2 damage to Nyxborn Shieldmate, making your opponent gain 2 life and killing your Nyxborn Shieldmate. Then, in the regular combat damage step, your Two-Headed Cerberus will attempt to deal 2 damage to the creature blocking it. But since that creature already died, there is nothing to deal damage to so no damage is dealt. Your opponent will gain a total of 2 life.
Note that if Two-Headed Cerberus has trample (Perhaps from Archetype of Aggression), that 2 damage in the regular combat damage step will trample over the dead creature to be dealt directly to you. In this case, your opponent would gain a total of 4 life.
March 12, 2016 2:32 a.m.