Spiteful Shadows-- Win, Lose, or Draw?

Asked by linkofhyrule 13 years ago

This situation was told to me by a fellow player:player A has 3LP remaining, player B has 5LP left.B attacks A with a creature enchanted by Spiteful Shadows, and two other 3/3 creatures.A blocks the enchanted creature with a 5/5 creature, causing it to deal 5 damage to player B (0LP).however, A couldn't block the two 3/3 creatures and has -3LP(really only 0LP, as it's game loss there...)My take is this: all the combat damage is dealt as such: the blocked creature is killed(it was less than 5/5), and A takes 6 combat damage, and immediately loses, preventing Spiteful's 5 damage to B, and B wins.The only other possibility i see, is Spiteful's damage happens at the same time as the rest(being it's dealt to the player as it happens to the creature), and it's a draw.

KrazyCaley says... #1

Spiteful Shadows

March 14, 2012 4:50 a.m.

KrazyCaley says... Accepted answer #2

The creatures all deal their combat damage simultaneously and player A drops to below 0. The combat damage causes a triggered effect to go on the stack that will cause the Spiteful Shadows creature to deal fatal damage to its controller, but before that can happen, player A will lose for having 0 or less life.

March 14, 2012 4:52 a.m.

GoblinsInc says... #3

Player A has 3 Life remaining. Player B has 5 Life left.B attacks A with a creature enchanted by Spiteful Shadows, and two other 3/3 creatures.A blocks the enchanted creature with a 5/5 creature, causing it to deal 5 damage to player B.However, A couldn't block the two 3/3 creatures and has -3LP(really only 0LP, as it's game loss there...)

Actually he would go to -3. In the combat damage step, the damage is dealt simultaneously. He won't take 3, go to 0, and lose before the other 3 is dealt. He will take 6 and be at -3.

My take is this: all the combat damage is dealt as such: the blocked creature is killed(it was less than 5/5), and A takes 6 combat damage, and immediately loses, preventing Spiteful's 5 damage to B, and B wins.The only other possibility i see, is Spiteful's damage happens at the same time as the rest(being it's dealt to the player as it happens to the creature), and it's a draw.

All the combat damage is assigned and dealt. A takes 6 and winds up at -3, and the enchanted creature takes 5 damage which triggers the enchantment.Now, since a player would receive priority, the game checks if any State-Based actions need to be performed. It sees a creature with lethal damage marked on it, and player at 0 or less life to which it sends the creature to the graveyard and player A loses the game.Now, if there were more players in the game, the game would then put the triggered ability on the stack, and player B would lose the game due to it. But since there are no other players, player B wins.Just like all triggered abilities, Spite Shadows' uses the stack and must resolve before the damage it would deal, is dealt.

March 14, 2012 4:54 a.m.

KorApprentice says... #4

In that scenario, player A would lose. Combat damage is dealt simultaneously, so player A would be dealt 6 damage at the same time that his creature deals 5 damage to player B's creature enchanted with Spiteful Shadows. This would immediately bring player A's life total to 0 or less, but Spiteful Shadows uses a triggered ability that goes on the stack when the enchanted creature is dealt damage. When the ability is placed on the stack, State Based Actions will cause Player A to lose the game before the ability resolves. Player B would not take any damage because the game will be over before Spiteful Shadows' triggered ability resolves.

March 14, 2012 4:56 a.m.