Question about multiple blockers?
Asked by magicjurok 12 years ago
I don't really think I understand multiple blockers correctly.
If I had a 4/2 blocked by 2 of the same 2/2s what would happen and why?
If I had a 3/1 blocked by 4 0/1s what would happen/why?
Sorriy if these are stupid questions, I just never really learned it correctly.
GreatSword says... #2
When an attacking creature is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacking player gets to assign damage between the defending creatures. This is a turn-based action that doesn't use the stack, and is done right before combat damage is dealt. Lethal damage must be dealt to the first creature before moving onto the next, and etc.
In your first example, the attacking player must assign at least lethal damage (2 or more) to whichever blocker and then the rest to the other creature. If the attacking creature had a Power of 5 and trample, he could assign 2, 2, and then 1 to the defending player.
In the next example, the attacker must assign at least lethal damage to one defender (1 damage) before assigning damage to the next, and so on.
April 5, 2013 1:17 p.m.
GreatSword says... #3
Let's see if you can answer your own 3rd question, I'm sure you can do it :D
April 5, 2013 1:21 p.m.
Jarrheadd0 says... Accepted answer #4
If you have a 4/2 blocked by 2 2/2s, then you assign the combat damage from your 4 power wherever you like. The logical damage assignment would be 2 damage to one of the 2/2s and 2 damage to the other 2/2. All combat damage happens at the same time, so your 4/2 will do 2 damage to each 2/2. At the same time, each of the 2/2s will deal their 2 power to your 4/2. As a result, all creatures would die.
If you had a 3/1 blocked by 4 0/1s, something similar would happen. You would deal your 3 power however you want, the most logical way being 1 damage to each of 3 of the blockers. Then all combat damage happens at the same time. You deal 1 damage to each of 3 of the 0/1s, and they deal their combat damage (0 in this case) to your creature. So at the end of combat, 3 of the 0/1s are dead, leaving a single 0/1, and your 3/1 is still alive.
If you have a 3/3 blocked by 2 2/2s, you chose to deal your combat damage however you want to each creature. The logical combat damage assignment would be 2 to one of the 2/2s (to kill it) and 1 to the second 2/2 (This won't kill it though). Then all combat damage happens at the same time. Your 3/3 deals 2 damage to a 2/2 and 1 damage to the other, and at the same time, both 2/2s deal their 2 power to your creature. After combat, your 3/3 will be dead, one of the 2/2s will be dead, and the other 2/2 will have one point of damage on it until end of turn.
I hope that helps.
April 5, 2013 1:23 p.m.
the1to4get says... #6
(1.) The attacker assigns the damage to the opponent's assigned blockers. The Defending player (blocking) first chooses the order of his blockers. In this case, it does not matter because they are the same 2/2. So, what would happen is, you have to assign enough damage to kill the first creature in order to do damage to the next. The damage assigned to the second creature can be up to the (total power of your creature, in this case [4] minus the amount you assigned to the first creature). All the while, the defending player's creatures still do their power on you aka damage to your creature. it is all applied during the damage step after everything is assigned. However, in the case that the defending player's creatures were not the same: (we will say a 3/3 & 2/2) if the defending player blocks with 2/2 first and 3/3 second on your creature of 4/2, then in order to touch the 3/3 you must assign 2 damage to the 2/2. If you are looking to do as much damage as you possibly can to those creatures, optimally you would assign enough to kill the first (2) and then the remaining amount to assign (which is 2, because 4-2=2) would go to the 3/3. As a result, your 4/2 would die after calculating damage from the defending player's creatures.
( 2.) if you had a 3/1 blocked by four 0/1s , then like i said before, you would have to assign enough damage to the previous 0/1 to move on to the next. in this case, you could assign 1 damage to each of the first 3 ( 0/1 )s to kill them off, but your opponent would still be left with the last 0/1 because it never saw damage.
Also, some tips or helpful hints that come with this mechanic is Deathtouch. if your creature has the effect of 'deathtouch' he only needs to assign 1 damage to any creature to kill it. The reason being that your creature has the effect where any amount of damage it deals is enough to kill a creature.
April 5, 2013 1:35 p.m.
magicjurok says... #7
I just need to know one thing first: for number 2, the creature would do 1 damage to each of the 0/1s, so the fourth 0/1 would survive because the 3/1 used all 3 damage right? If this is the case, I think the 2/2 would deal 2 damage to the 3/3 and the 3/3 would deal 2 damage to it, killing it. Then, the second 2/2 would assign 2 damage to the 3/3, killing it, while the 3/3 could only assign 1 damage to the second 2/2? So would one 2/2 be alive, and the 3/3 dead?
April 5, 2013 1:42 p.m.
the1to4get says... #8
Yes to your first question magicjurok . However, if i am getting this right, you are attacking with the 3/3 and the defending player has the 2 (2/2)s blocking it. If that is the case then, yes your 3/3 would be dead as well as one of the 2/2s. Reason being, the second 2/2 could only be assigned a total of 1 damage.
April 5, 2013 2 p.m.
GreatSword says... #9
Your result is correct, but it's important to note that all damage is dealt at the same time. The 3/3 and the 2 2/2's all hit each other at the same time.
April 5, 2013 2:03 p.m.
the1to4get says... #10
That is a big part of the damage step Greatsword . I almost forgot, thankyou!
April 5, 2013 2:06 p.m.
It is worth nothing that some combat abilities will change the outcomes here.
First strike would allow whichever creature that possesses it to deal damage first.
In your first example, let's say the 4/2 has first strike and is blocked by 2 2/2. The 4/2 would deal damage first and you get to decide where it goes. The obvious choice is to assign 2 to one of the blockers and 2 to the other. (You COULD deal all 4 damage to one of those guys if you like. But, it is not the best play generally speaking.) Because of first strike, you resolve that creature's damage first. The 2 2/2's die. Because they die, they do not deal damage back.
Anyways, the general theme here is that the attacker gets to choose how damage is divided among defenders.
The only exception to this is banding. But we don't talk about banding. It's embarrassing. And it generally won't come up since it hasn't been put on a creature since around 4th edition or so.
April 5, 2013 2:58 p.m.
It's important to note that you never have to assign lethal damage before assigning more damage to the "next" blocker. Your creature doesn't damage blockers in any specific order; you assign however much of the damage to whichever blocker you choose.
This is important when you have things like Phyrexian Obliterator blocking you. If you have, say, a Ruination Wurm that attacked and got double-blocked by Phyrexian Obliterator and Grizzly Bears , you could assign all of the Wurm's damage to the Grizzly Bears in order to avoid sacrificing a ton of things to the Obliterator.
magicjurok says... #1
April 5, 2013 1:15 p.m.