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Gerdef

Date Joined: Aug 25, 2006

Posts: 5,254

rudolf wrote:
How about just adding it to the entry for Champion?

I think this is the best option. Evoke already has such an entry.

In fact.... *snip* *scritch scritch scritch* *paste*

Q: Can I respond to the champion trigger by doing something with my creature? Say, sacrifice it to Greater Gargadon or Nantuko Husk ?
A: Absolutely. Champion's trigger works just like any other triggered ability, and can be responded to just fine by playing any abilities or instants you like.

There we go :D

Gerdef

Magic Judge
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Rules Theory and Templating: "They may be crazy, but they're good."
--Matt Tabak, Rules Manager*

zammm

Date Joined: Jul 3, 2003

Posts: 27,264

Here are the new entries for lands and mana, respectively (I separated them). Any problems? Anything you think needs to be added?

[indent]Lands

[indent]Q: What are lands, and how do they relate to mana?
A: First, let's get one thing clear. Land is not the same thing as mana, and mana is not the same thing as land. This is a common misconception among new players, but lands are an entirely different thing from mana.

Lands are a type of card used mostly to produce the mana (magical energy) necessary to play spells. Any basic land is a colorless permanent that stays in play (until something removes

it) and has the ability " Tap

: Add [big symbol in the text box] to your mana pool."--that's the ability you're playing when you tap lands to play your spells. You're tapping the land to produce some amount of mana which you can then use to play your spell.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Can you explain that another way?
A: Sure. The relationship between lands and mana is a lot like the relationship between land in real life and oil. Let's say you tap Alberta (Texas, Saudia Arabia, wherever) and start pumping up oil. You can then sell this oil, trade it, use it--whatever you like; it's profitable. Did tapping Alberta allow you to search the world for another Alberta? No, it just got you some oil.

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Q: When and how do I play lands?
A: You may play one (and only one) land during each of your turns, and you can do it only during your main phase (see the Turn Structure entry) when the stack (see the Stack entry) [LINKS NEEDED] is empty. To play a land, simply take it from your hand and drop it directly into play. This is a special action that doesn't use the stack and that no player can respond to.\

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Are lands spells?
A: No. Never. A spell is a card that is sitting on the stack waiting to resolve. Lands are never put on the stack, so they are never spells.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: I use a spell or ability that allows me to "put [a land] into play". Does this count as my one land for the turn?
A: No. You may only play one land each turn, but "putting" a land into the in-play zone through some method other than actually playing it doesn't count towards this total.

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Q: My opponent plays Early Frost or something else that allows him to tap my lands--does that give me mana? (And force me to use it if I don't want to take mana burn?)
A: No. An activated ability (such as the ones lands have that give you mana) needs you to deliberately pay its cost for the purpose of using that particular ability in order to do anything--tapping a land as an effect of a spell or abilityis completely different from tapping the land for mana.

Note that this also applies to other card types--an opponent can never force your permanents' activated abilities to "go off" on their own. (Triggered abilities, on the other hand, are a different matter.)[/indent][/indent]

And now for mana:
[indent]Mana

[indent]Q: What is mana, and how does it relate to lands?
A: First, let's get one thing clear. Mana is not the same thing as land, and lands are not the same thing as mana. This is a common misconception among new players, but mana is an entirely different thing from lands.

Mana is the magical energy required in order to play spells. It is most commonly produced by lands, but may be produced by other means. Mana is either colorless or one of five colors: White ( White

), Blue (

), Black ( Black

), Red (

), or Green ( Green

) Each colored symbol stands for one mana of the appropriate color--amounts of colorless mana will be represented by numerals in little gray circles (

,

, etc.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: So what's a "mana pool", then?
A: Any time you use a spell, ability, land, or anything else to produce mana, it goes into your mana pool, an imaginary place in which you store it. From there, it can be used to pay for other things. At the end of each phase, your mana pool will empty, causing mana burn. (See the next question.)

If you're having trouble visualizing your mana pool, think of it as your checking account. You work a job and get paid. After you get your check, you deposit it in your bank, where you can then use that money to buy stuff. The only difference is that your bank doesn't take your money away and hurt you if you don't spend it (like mana burn will do).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: "Mana burn"? What's that?
A: At the end of each phase (see the Turn Structures entry [LINK NEEDED] for a list of the phases) of each turn, if you weren't able to spend all of the mana you produced during that phase (you still have some in your mana pool), all of it disappears, and you lose 1 life for each point of mana that vanished this way. This is not very common, because most of the time you will only produce the mana you need when you need it, but it can arise when a spell or ability adds a fixed amount of mana to your mana pool and you aren't prepared to handle all of it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How can I get mana?
A: Lands are the most common way of producing mana, but they are by no means the only way. Mana can be produced by any type of card-- creatures

, enchantments

, artifacts

, or even instants

and sorceries

.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: If a card lets me add mana "of any color" to my mana pool, can I pick purple, aqua, pink, or some other random color?
A: No. The only color choices allowed are one of the five colors of Magic.[/indent][/indent]

Level 2 Magic Judge

~

And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary

rudolf

Date Joined: Sep 17, 2005

Posts: 16,229

zammm wrote:
Q: If a card lets me add mana "of any color" to my mana pool, can I pick purple, aqua, pink, or some other random color?
A: No. The only color choices allowed are one of the five colors of Magic.[/indent][/indent]

It wouldn't hurt to restate what those colors are (white, green, blue, red, black), and also say that colorless is not a valid choice.

Hardtrack

Mogic Puzzle Master
Plays Well With Others

Date Joined: May 6, 2005

Posts: 2,570

Are these going to be seperated into seperate posts as well, cause that could be quite a hassle to link to. In the end, if somebody doesn't understand the difference between land and mana, they probably need both...

Besides that, really good entries!

DCI Level 2 Judge

"That's what's so stupid about the whole magic thing, you know," Rincewind said. "You spend twenty years learning the spell that makes nude virgins appear in your bedroom, and then you're so poisoned by quicksilver fumes and half-blind from reading old grimoires that you can't remember what happens next."
- Terry Pratchett, The Colour Of Magic

zammm

Date Joined: Jul 3, 2003

Posts: 27,264

Hardtrack wrote:
Are these going to be seperated into seperate posts as well, cause that could be quite a hassle to link to. In the end, if somebody doesn't understand the difference between land and mana, they probably need both...

Besides that, really good entries!

Yes, they'll be in separate posts, but the two posts will be interlinked, so that one references you to the other and vice versa if you need more information.

Thanks for the suggestion, rudolf.

Level 2 Magic Judge

~

And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary

zammm

Date Joined: Jul 3, 2003

Posts: 27,264

All right, now here's the first draft of the entry for Planeswalkers. I think I've covered the basic rules and most of the common confusions well, but probably not everything. Is there anything I need to make clearer? Add?

[indent]Planeswalkers

[indent]Q: What is a planeswalker?
A: Planeswalkers are a completely new card type. It's actually easier to start off explaining what planeswalkers aren't. Planeswalkers are not players, though they are similar in some respects, and they are not creatures. Thus, spells that target players can't target them, and things that affect creatures don't affect them, either.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: So how do I play a planeswalker?
A: Planeswalker spells are played like any other spell that isn't an instant; you may play a planeswalker from your hand during a main phase of your turn when the stack is empty. (See the Turn Structure and Stack entries in the FAQ for more information on main phases and the stack) [LINKS NEEDED] Planeswalker spells, just like any other spell, may be responded to, and can be countered by anything that can counter a spell. (Note that since planeswalkers are not creatures, things that specifically counter creature spells, like Remove Soul

, can't counter them.)

When the planeswalker spell resolves, it comes into play just like any other kind of permanent, and it will have a number of loyalty counters on it equal to the number listed in the bottom right-hand corner of the card. These counters act like hit points or your life total--when a planeswalker is dealt damage, that many loyalty counters are removed from it, and when it has no loyalty counters on it, it gets put into your graveyard. If two or more planeswalkers with the same planeswalker type (the type listed on its type line after the dash), all are put into their owner's graveyard; this is similar to the rule for legendary permanents. [LINK NEEDED]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do I use a planeswalker's abilities?
A: The abilities printed on a planeswalker card are activated abilities [LINK NEEDED] that you play by adding or removing some number of loyalty counters to/from the planeswalker. (Note that since these are activated abilities, not triggered ones, they only happen if you add/remove the counters specifically in order to play the ability--if counters are added/removed some other way, the ability won't "go off".)

The number of loyalty counters you need to add or remove is shown in the little "shield" symbol just before the colon; if you need to add counters, the shield points up and the number will be positive (+1, +2, etc.). If you need to remove counters, the shield points down and the number will be negative (-1, -2, -10, etc.) Note that you can't take off counters that aren't there, so you can't play an ability whose cost requires you to remove counters unless the planeswalker already has the appropriate number of counters on it.

Finally, most importantly, you may only play one activated ability of a given planeswalker each turn (so you can't play the same ability twice, nor can you play one ability and then a different ability of that same planeswalker) and you may only play activated abilities of a planeswalker during your main phase when the stack is empty.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do planeswalkers work in combat?
A: Planeswalkers aren't creatures, so they can't attack or block. However, they can be attacked, just like you can be. As your opponent is declaring attackers, he or she can decide whether each of his creatures is attacking you or attacking one of your planeswalkers. You can use your creatures to block creatures that are attacking a planeswalker you control just the same as you can use them to block creatures that are attacking you. Creatures that are attacking a planeswalker you control that you don't block will assign and deal their combat damage to your planeswalker just the same as they would assign and deal damage to you if they were attacking you; and again, since planeswalkers are not creatures, the planeswalker doesn't deal any damage back to those creatures.

Remember, when a planeswalker is dealt damage, that many loyalty counters are removed from it, and when it has no loyalty counters on it, it gets put into your graveyard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How is damage dealt to a planeswalker outside of combat?
A: If a spell or ability your opponent controls would deal noncombat damage to you, that opponent can choose to have all of that damage dealt to one of your planeswalkers instead. So if your opponent Shock

s you, that opponent may choose to have that Shock deal its damage to one of your planeswalkers instead. This is a redirection effect that is applied as the damage is actually dealt--they don't make the decision until the spell or ability is resolving and the damage would actually be dealt.

Note that only your opponents can do this--you can't have the damage from a spell you control be redirected to one of your planeswalkers. And this redirection only applies to noncombat damage, so your opponent can't attack you and then redirect the damage to your planeswalker. If he wants to deal combat damage to one of your planeswalkers he has to attack that planeswalker.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How does this redirection work with things that prevent damage?
A: If two or more replacement effects (redirection and prevention are both a kind of replacment effect) are trying to alter the same event (in this dase, damage being dealt to you), the player who would be affected by the event (you) gets to decide in which order to apply them. So you can choose to either give your opponent the opportunity to redirect the damage and then apply the damage-prevention effect if it's still relevant, or vice versa. Note that your opponent doesn't choose whether or not to redirect the damage until the redirection effect is actually applied, so at the time you decide how to apply the effects you can't be sure whether or not your opponent will choose to redirect the damage or not.

So, let's take an example. You control an Ajani Goldmane

with five loyalty counters on it. Your opponent plays a Lava Axe

targeting you. (He can't target your planeswalker with it, because a planeswalker is not a player.) In response, you play a Mending Hands

targeting yourself. (You can't target your planeswalker either, for the same reason.) Mending Hands resolves, setting up a prevention "shield", and then the Axe resolves. You have two choices; either give your opponent the opportunity to redirect before applying the Hands' effect, or apply the Hands' effect, then give your opponent the opportunity to redirect.

If you do the former, your opponent can choose to redirect all 5 damage to Ajani, and then the Mending Hands won't do anything, because the Axe isn't trying to deal damage to you anymore. The Axe would deal 5 damage to Ajani, removing all the counters from it, and Ajani would die. (He could also choose not to redirect the damage, in which case the Hands would kick in and you would only be dealt 1 damage, but I think he'd probably want to go with the former.)

If you do the latter, however, you prevent 4 of the 5 damage first, before your opponent chooses whether or not to redirect the damage. Then your opponent gets the chance to either let the Axe deal its remaining 1 damage to you, or to your Ajani, which wouldn't be enough to kill it anyway.

(In most cases, you'll probably be wanting to prevent the damage first.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How does the redirection work with things that otherwise replace the damage? (ie Furnace of Rath

, Pyromancer's Swath

, and so on.)
A: Very similarly to how it works with prevention effects. Again, you choose in which order to apply the effects. So in the case of a Furnace of Rath

or Pyromancer's Swath

, you would choose whether to first give your opponent the opportunity to redirect and then increase the damage, or double the damage then give your opponent the opportunity to increase it. (You'll probably want to do the first, because then if they redirect the damage the Furnace/Swath will no longer apply and they won't be able to increase it--they don't affect damage being dealt to planeswalkers, see.)[/indent][/indent]

Level 2 Magic Judge

~

And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary

Argus_Panoptes

Trumps Judges

Date Joined: Sep 17, 2004

Posts: 5,196

On the Early Frost example for lands, it might be a good idea to mention that the controller of the target can choose to play the mana ability in response.

No, I am not a judge. That's why I like to quote sources such as the rules that trump judges.

Gerdef

Date Joined: Aug 25, 2006

Posts: 5,254

Great entry Zammm!

My suggestions
-In the first question, I'd state they are permanents somewhere. Planeswalkers are unique, but they're still a normal card, and I think it's important to remind people. "Planeswalkers are a type of permanent, like artifacts, enchantments, and creatures." (or something.)

zammm]If two or more planeswalkers with the same planeswalker type (the type listed on its type line after the dash), all are put into their owner's graveyard wrote:
If two or more planeswalkers with the same planeswalker type (the type listed on its type line after the dash), all are put into their owner's graveyard; this is similar to the rule for legendary permanents. [LINK NEEDED]

I think you forgot a part of your sentence after the ( )'s, namely "are in play." I have experience with these sorts of things.

zammm](in this dase, damage being dealt to you)

Typo. (dase => case)

My suggestions for additions:
Q: How can I kill my opponent's Planeswalker?
A: You can attack it directly with your creature , redirect a burn spell sent at your opponent, or find something that removes permanents.

Q: What happens if I attack my opponent's Planeswalker with a landwalking creature (and he controls the appropriate land)?
A: Your creature is unblockable. Even though you are attacking the Planeswalker, the defending player is still your opponent.

(in this dase, damage being dealt to you)[/quote]
Typo. (dase => case)

My suggestions for additions:
Q: How can I kill my opponent's Planeswalker?
A: You can attack it directly with your creature , redirect a burn spell sent at your opponent, or find something that removes permanents.

Q: What happens if I attack my opponent's Planeswalker with a landwalking creature (and he controls the appropriate land)?
A: Your creature is unblockable. Even though you are attacking the Planeswalker, the defending player is still your opponent.

Gerdef

Magic Judge
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Rules Theory and Templating: "They may be crazy, but they're good."
--Matt Tabak, Rules Manager*

zammm

Date Joined: Jul 3, 2003

Posts: 27,264

All right, next, the sections on Attacking, Blocking, and Combat Damage--these will be in three separate posts. Questions? Comments? Suggestions for more questions?

[indent]Attacking

[indent]Q: I want to tap a creature to keep it from attacking--when do I have to do that?
A: If you want a creature to be unable to attack, you have to tap it before your opponent gets the chance to declare it as an attacker--after that, it's too late.

The last chance to tap a creature to keep it from attacking is during the Beginning of Combat step, before the Declare Attackers step begins. (Note that at that point you technically don't know for sure whether your opponent is going to attack with that creature or not...though you may be able to make a fairly accurate guess if he has a massive creature on the board and you have no blockers.)

If your opponent is rushing things and goes ahead without allowing you a chance to do the things you want, you are perfectly justified in getting him to back up so you can play the things you want to--Magic is not supposed to be a game of reflexes. If you had your chance and wasted it, however, there's no turning back.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Does untapping an attacking creature make it stop attacking?
A: Not unless the spell or ability that taps or untaps it specifically says so. Once a creature is attacking, tapping or untapping it can't change that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: So what can make a creature stop attacking?
A: A creature is removed from combat when something specifically says it removes it from combat ( Gustcloak Savior

), or when it leaves play ( Terminate

), changes controllers ( Grab the Reins

), stops being a creature (very rare), or is regenerated. (Note that using something that regenerates a creature simply creates a shield that will perform the actual regeneration later, and doesn't remove the creature from combat right away; see the Regeneration FAQ entry.) Nothing else (including tapping or untapping) will remove a creature from combat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My opponent attacks with a particular creature--can I then do something before he attacks with his other creatures?
A: No. All attackers are declared at once--there is never a time "between" two creatures attacking during the same combat phase.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My opponent's creature "attack[s] if able" for some reason, and there is some restriction on how or when that creature can attack. (For example, it's an Ember Beast or I have a Ghostly Prison in play.) What happens?
A: When the time comes for your opponent to declare attackers, your opponent's creature is forced to attack if it is possible for your opponent, at that very moment, to make it do so somehow. Your opponent is required to pay costs, declare other attackers, and so on, in order make the attack legal.

However, it's very important to note that while the above is true, nothing is forcing your opponent to take unrelated actions that would then, in turn, make it possible for the requirements to be met so that that creature to attack.

To give an example, take the case of the forced-to-attack creature being an Ember Beast

. If your opponent controls other creatures that are able to attack when it becomes time to declare attackers, he will be forced to attack with his Ember Beast and one of his other creatures, because Ember Beast must attack if able and it can't do so alone. It's possible at that moment for your opponent to attack with the Beast and another creature, so he must do so. However, imagine your opponent's only creature in play is the Ember Beast, but he has a Raging Goblin

in his hand. Playing the Goblin before combat would later allow his Ember Beast to attack (along with the Goblin), but your opponent is not required to do so, because that's a separate, unrelated action. Sure, it would allow him to fill the requirement later on, but the game isn't looking that far ahead--it only cares about what he can do right as attackers are declared, and can only force him to do things right then and there. He isn't required to do anything before that if he doesn't want to.

For another example, take the case of you having a Ghostly Prison

in play. While your opponent would be required to pay the two mana to let his creature attack if he had the mana in his mana pool right at that moment, if he doesn't already have the mana in his mana pool, he is not required to produce it if he does not wish to do so.[/indent][/indent]

[indent]Blocking

[indent]Q: Can a creature be blocked by more than one creature?
A: A creature can be blocked by any number of creatures. It can block only one creature. (Unless specified otherwise.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: I want to tap a creature to keep it from blocking--when do I have to do that?
A: If you want a creature to be unable to block, you have to tap it before your opponent gets the chance to declare it as a blocker--after that, it's too late.

The last chance to tap a creature to keep it from blocking is during the Declare Attackers step, just before the Declare Blockers step begins. (Note that at that point you technically don't know for sure whether your opponent is going to block with that creature or not...though you may be able to make a fairly accurate guess if you're attacking with a massive creature that will kill him if he doesn't block.)

If your opponent is rushing things and goes ahead without allowing you a chance to do the things you want, you are perfectly justified in getting him to back up so you can play the things you want to--Magic is not supposed to be a game of reflexes. If you had your chance and wasted it, however, there's no turning back.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Does tapping a blocking creature make it stop blocking? Does it make it not deal combat damage?
A: Not unless the spell or ability that taps or untaps it specifically says so. Once a creature is blocking, tapping it can't change that, and will have no effect on whether or not the blocking creature deals combat damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: So what can remove a creature from combat?
A: A creature is removed from combat when something specifically says it removes it from combat ( Gustcloak Savior

), or when it leaves play ( Terminate

), changes controllers ( Grab the Reins

), stops being a creature (very rare), or is regenerated. (Note that using something that regenerates a creature simply creates a shield that will perform the actual regeneration later, and doesn't remove the creature from combat right away; see the Regeneration FAQ entry.) Nothing else (including tapping or untapping) will remove a creature from combat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: If all the creatures blocking a particular creature are somehow removed from combat, does that make the creature unblocked?
A: No. Once a creature becomes blocked, it stays blocked for the rest of combat, no matter what happens to the creatures blocking it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My opponent blocks my creature with another creature--can I then give my creature flying, fear, unblockability, or some other evasion ability to make it so the creature's no longer blocking?
A: No. Once blockers have been declared, that's it. It doesn't matter whether the creature has some sort of ability that would prevent it from being blocked if you went through declaring blockers again--it's blocked now, and that's all that matters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My opponent blocks with a particular creature--can I then do something before he blocks with his other creatures?
A: No. All blockers are declared at once--there is never a time "between" two creatures blocking during the same combat phase.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My opponent's creature "block[s] if able" for some reason, and there is some restriction on how or when that creature can block. (For example, it's an Ember Beast or it's enchanted by Cowed by Wisdom .) What happens?
A: When the time comes for your opponent to declare blockers, your opponent's creature is forced to block if it is possible for your opponent, at that very moment, to make it do so somehow. Your opponent is required to pay costs, declare other blockers, and so on, in order make the block legal.

However, it's very important to note that while the above is true, nothing is forcing your opponent to take unrelated actions that would then, in turn, make it possible for the requirements to be met so that that creature could block.

To give an example, take the case of the forced-to-block creature being an Ember Beast

. If your opponent controls other creatures that are able to block when it becomes time to declare blockers, he will be forced to block with his Ember Beast and one of his other creatures, because Ember Beast must block if able and it can't do so alone. It's possible at that moment for your opponent to block with the Beast and another creature, so he must do so. However, imagine your opponent's only creature in play is the Ember Beast, but he has a Mobilization

in play. Playing the Mobilization's ability before he needs to declare blockers would later allow his Ember Beast to block (along with the Soldier token), but your opponent is not required to do so, because that's a separate, unrelated action. Sure, it would allow him to fill the requirement later on, but the game isn't looking that far ahead--it only cares about what he can do right as attackers are declared, and can only force him to do things right then and there. He isn't required to do anything before that if he doesn't want to.

For another example, take the case of the creature being enchanted by Cowed by Wisdom

. While your opponent would be required to pay the two mana to let his creature block if he had the mana in his mana pool right at that moment, if he doesn't already have the mana in his mana pool, he is not required to produce it if he does not wish to do so.[/indent][/indent]

[indent]Combat Damage

[indent]Q: Does untapping an attacking creature or tapping a blocking creature prevent it from dealing combat damage?
A: No.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: If all the creatures blocking a particular creature are somehow removed, will that creature deal damage to the defending player?
A: No. Once a creature becomes blocked, it stays blocked for the rest of combat, no matter what happens to the creatures blocking it, and blocked creatures can't deal combat damage to the defending player. (Unless, of course, they have Trample or a similar ability.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: When is my last chance to boost/shrink creatures to make them deal more/less damage in combat?
A: If you want to change the size of a creature so that it deals more or less damage, you have to do it before that creature's combat damage is assigned at the beginning of the combat damage step. Once a creature assigns damage, that damage is dealt as originally assigned, no matter whether or not the creature has changed in the interim.

In most cases, that means you have to pump/shrink the creature during the Declare Blockers step. (If first or double strikers are involved in combat, you can wait until the first strike combat damage step to pump/shrink non-first-strikers.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Can I sacrifice my creature (say, as a cost to play a spell or ability) and still have it deal combat damage?
A: Usually, yes. If you play your spell or ability after combat damage has been assigned, but before it is dealt, your creature will already have assigned combat damage, and that damage will be dealt as assigned even if your creature disappears in the interim.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Can my creature be dealt more damage than its toughness?
A: Yes. Things that deal damage to creatures don't "pull their punches" based on the toughness of the creature. If your creature is blocked by an 8-power creature, it's going to take 8 damage, no matter what its toughness is.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: My creature is blocking or blocked by more than one creature. What happens?
A: Your creature assigns damage equal to its power divided as you choose among all the creatures blocking or blocked by it. (Your creature will deal the same amount of damage it would if it was only blocking/blocked by one creature--you can just split it up between the the blocking/blocked creatures however you like.)

(Remember that creatures can normally only block one attacking creature each. There would have to be something

special

in order for a blocking creature to be able to block more than one attacker.)[/indent][/indent]

Level 2 Magic Judge

~

And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary

Hardtrack

Mogic Puzzle Master
Plays Well With Others

Date Joined: May 6, 2005

Posts: 2,570

It all looks real good. Nothing much to add.... Still going strong

.

DCI Level 2 Judge

"That's what's so stupid about the whole magic thing, you know," Rincewind said. "You spend twenty years learning the spell that makes nude virgins appear in your bedroom, and then you're so poisoned by quicksilver fumes and half-blind from reading old grimoires that you can't remember what happens next."
- Terry Pratchett, The Colour Of Magic

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