Planeswalkers and Damage Redirection
Asked by Dredge4life 8 years ago
I was playing a game of EDH at my LGS against a newcomer that claimed to be quite experienced at the game. I had a Ral Zerek in play with five loyalty counters, and he attacks me for 20. I take it, and am about to drop my life total when he says that he's going to redirect enough damage to kill Ral, without specifying that he was attacking him. I told him I wasn't sure if that worked, that you need to declare that you're attacking a walker when you declare attackers. He told me that was just a thing players do to be nice, and not necessary to deal damage to a walker.
Is this a thing? Is he allowed to redirect unblocked damage to my planeswalker despite that he declared he was attacking me? If so, I need to be more careful about how I block in the future, so I'd really like to know either way.
Thanks!
CandyAngel says... Accepted answer #2
508.1b If the defending player controls any planeswalkers, or the game allows the active player to attack multiple other players, the active player announces which player or planeswalker each of the chosen creatures is attacking.
July 25, 2016 10:45 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
Note also that in situations where you're redirecting noncombat damage, you must redirect all or none of the damage. The planeswalker redirection rule does not allow you to split damage between a player and a planeswalker he or she controls.
Rhadamanthus says... #1
Your opponent was mistaken, and you had the right idea. Non-combat damage can be redirected from a player to a planeswalker they control, but creatures need to be declared specifically as attacking either a planeswalker or the defending player. If the attacking player doesn't make that distinction then it's assumed the creatures are attacking the defending player.
July 25, 2016 10:05 a.m.