Hello again Magic players! Conner Morrison here, with my second weekly MtG Article at Bel Air Games. Judge’s Ingenuity is a column designed mostly for players who know the basics of how to play, but aren’t super familiar with the rules. Here, I’ll be taking some of the deeper rules of magic and giving a rundown on them so that you all can play a tighter game!
This week on Judge’s Ingenuity, we’ll be talking about combat. It’s something that a lot of players know the basics of – attack with creatures, creatures block. How hard can that be? Well, it’s a lot more complicated than you might think, once you throw in instant-speed combat tricks, tapping effects, and stuff like Divine Verdict. First, I’ll go over how a combat happens in slo-mo, then I’ll go into some specific situations that you might find useful. There are a few niche situations where things play out differently than they do in this article, so remember that this is not the end-all, be-all!
The Magic combat phase is divided into 5 steps: Beginning of Combat, Declare Attackers, Declare Blockers, Combat Damage, and End of Combat.
Beginning of Combat is, shockingly enough, the start of combat. This is what most players will mean when they say, “Entering Combat.” Interestingly, nothing happens in this step unless a player uses and ability or an ability triggers. It is very important to enter this step before you declare attackers – if you just go ahead and attack with your creatures, you’ve given your opponent information since if he has any abilities, he can call for a judge and you’ll take your moves back. I cannot stress enough that you must announce this step before declaring attackers!
Next is Declare Attackers. At the beginning of this step, you declare which creatures are attacking and tap the ones that are (unless they have vigilance!). One of the most common mistakes players make is thinking that this action uses the stack, or that you can respond to declare attackers. Technically, you can’t – once a card is announced as attacking, there’s nothing you can do. Tapping creatures to prevent attacking is done BEFORE this step. You do, however, get an opportunity to cast instants and activate abilities after your opponent declares attackers. This is, for example, the first time that you can cast Divine Verdict targeting an attacking creature.
After that is Declare Blockers. This plays very similarly to Declare Attackers – At the beginning of the step, you’ll choose which creatures are blocking where. Again, this does not use the stack and cannot technically be responded to. If you want to tap a creature, tap it during the beginning of combat or declare attackers step. When multiple creatures block, the attacking player chooses the order that the defending creatures will be dealt damage. Again, afterwards both players get an opportunity to cast or activate abilities.
Combat Damage is next. At the beginning of this step, attackers and blockers assign damage. This is all done at once. If a creature is blocked by multiple blockers, that creature will deal damage to the blockers in the order defined above. Each creature must be dealt lethal damage before you can deal damage to creatures behind it. Damage does not use the stack, and cannot be responded to. After this, players can do stuff. You know the deal by now.
Finally, End of Combat. Damage has been dealt, but you still have one more chance to cast instants or activate abilities before creatures stop being attacking or blocking. You can still, for instance, cast Divine Verdict now.
So that’s how combat goes in a nutshell. A few miscellaneous tips:
Once a creature is blocked, it will remain blocked even if the blocker leaves the battlefield. This also means it will deal no combat damage. This is useful if you have a sacrifice outlet and your opponent’s creature has lifelink!
Tapping or untapping a creature will not remove it from combat. It will still be attacking or blocking, and will still deal damage. You’re safe to play that Savage Surge if you want to!
As a general rule, it’s better to wait with an instant tap effect and use it when your opponent declares combat rather than do it on your turn. That way you get to avoid an attack and get rid of blockers!
That’s all for this week of Judge’s Ingenuity folks. I’ll be back next week with another column. Got questions? Please ask me in the comments, I will be more than happy to answer or elaborate on them. See you tonight at Magic!
Note on Judge’s Ingenuity:
Judge’s Ingenuity is a weekly column wherein our local Magic judge, Conner Morrison, talks about Magic Rules, tricks, and tips. This week: Combat! Judge’s Ingenuity and all content are TM & Copyright Bel Air Games and Conner Morrison.
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