C.5 - Step 4: Combat Damage


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C.5.1- The active player announces how each attacking creature will deal its damage. Then the defending player announces how each blocking creature will deal its damage. This is the assigning of combat damage. These announcements go on the stack as a single entry. Then the active player receives priority to play spells and abilities. When the announcements resolve, the damage is actually dealt to the creatures. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.2- Each attacking creature and each blocking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.3- An unblocked creature assigns its combat damage to the defending player. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.4- A blocked creature assigns its combat damage, divided as its controller chooses, to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (which can happen if all of its blockers were removed from combat), then it assigns no combat damage (unless it has Trample, see Rule A.37.3). [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.5- A blocking creature assigns its combat damage, divided as its controller chooses, to the creatures it is blocking. If it is not blocking any creatures (which can happen if all of them were removed from combat), then it assigns no combat damage. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.6- When combat damage resolves, the amount of damage and the division of that damage among creatures is dealt as originally assigned. This happens even if the creature dealing damage is no longer in play or if its power has changed. If a creature that was supposed to receive damage is no longer in play, then the damage that was to be dealt to it is not dealt to anything. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.7- Combat damage comes from the creature as the creature exists when the combat damage resolves. If the creature already left play, then the game remembers the creature's characteristics at the time it left play. [CompRules 1999/04/23] This rule means that if the creature was blue when damage was assigned, but is black when the combat damage is resolved, then the damage is considered to be black damage, not blue. [D'Angelo 1999/05/01]

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C.5.8- Assigning combat damage isn't a spell or ability, so it cannot be countered. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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C.5.9- If an attacking or blocking creature has First Strike or Double Strike when combat damage would normally start, then there are two Combat Damage steps. In the first one, only creatures with First Strike or Double Strike assign and deal damage. In the second one, any attacking or blocking creatures which did not assign damage in the first step or that have Double Strike do so. Creatures which are destroyed in the first step are removed from combat before the second step, so they do not get to deal damage. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.2b] [Legions FAQ 2003/01/23] If a creature gains or loses First Strike between the steps, this change will be ignored. The check for whether or not a creature has first strike is only performed once and determines if the creature deals damage in the first or second damage step. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.2c] If a creature gains Double Strike between steps then it will deal damage in the second step. If it loses Double Strike between steps then it will not deal damage during the second step. [Legions FAQ 2003/01/23]

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C.5.10- The damage sharing ability of Banding reverses the normal rule for who decides how to divide damage. If there is one or more blockers for a given attacker, and one of those blockers has Banding, then the defending player decides how the attacking creature's damage is divided among the blockers. If there is one or more attackers blocked by a single blocker, and at least one of the attacking creatures has Banding, then the attacking player decides how to divide the blocking creature's damage among the attacking creatures. [D'Angelo 1999/05/01]

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C.5.Ruling.1- Each attacking creature deals damage separately (even if it attacked in a band, see Rule A.8.3). Each blocking creature deals damage separately (even if it is blocking with a banding creature, see Rule A.8.11). [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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C.5.Ruling.2- When assigning damage among multiple blockers, you can assign it in any way you choose, with all damage going to one blocker, or any division of damage among the blockers, as long as each point of damage is assigned somewhere. You can assign more damage to a creature than that creature's toughness. [D'Angelo 1998/08/04]

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C.5.Ruling.3- If there is just one blocker and it has banding, the defending player still decides how damage is divided. This can be important if the attacking creature has Trample (see Rule A.37), or if a creature like Thorn Elemental is involved. [DeLaney 2000/01/13]

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Note- There used to be a rule that if a blocking creature was tapped at the time when it would assign damage, then it would assign no combat damage. This rule no longer exists. [D'Angelo 1999/05/01]

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Note- A blocked Trample creature which has no blocker to assign damage to instead assigns damage to the defending player as if it were unblocked. See Rule A.37.2. [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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