#damage assignment order

[magicjudge]

so me and my friends are having a bit of an argument. He want to add a palace guard to his edh deck and give it first strike. So how do the rules work for that? Particularly against a group of attacking tokens?

When a creature like Palace Guard blocks multiple attacking creatures, it’s basically the same situation as when an attacking creature is blocked by multiple blockers.

The player who controls the creature that’s in combat with multiple other creatures chooses in which order that creature will assign damage to the creatures blocked by (or blocking) it. It can’t assign any damage to creatures later in the damage assignment order until it assigns lethal damage to each creature before that creature, and it only gets to assign a total amount of damage equal to its power.

For example, if Palace Guard has first strike and blocks five 1/1 tokens, then its controller will put those tokens in a damage assignment order. When damage is assigned, it will assign and then deal 1 damage to the first token, killing it. It won’t get to assign or deal any damage to the other tokens since it has already dealt its full power in damage. In the second combat damage step, the remaining four tokens will each assign and deal 1 damage to the Palace Guard, killing it.

[magicjudge]

I have a question about Enrage. If I attack with a 3/3 and it is blocked by a 2/2 and a 2/2 with enrage, could I assign all damage to the creature without enrage to avoid the enrage trigger? Or would I only be able to assign up to 2 damage to one of the creatures, with the extra point of damage having to be dealt to the other?

Yes, this is fine. Just put the non-enrage creature first in the damage assignment order. You never have to assign damage to creatures beyond the first if you don’t want to.

[magicjudge]

Hi, I thought I knew this but than someone told me I was completely wrong and basically made me feel dumb. so I gotta ask...If I double block a 3/3 creature with my 2/2 and 1/2 what happens? Who gets to choose which creature is taking the brunt of the damage (attacking player or defending)? Im so confused so if you could break it down as plainly as possible I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

When an attacking creature is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacking creature’s controller chooses the order in which the attacking creature will deal combat damage to the defending creatures. (Similarly, the defending player chooses when one creature blocks multiple attacking creatures.) When combat damage is assigned, damage can’t be assigned to a creature later in the damage assignment order until all earlier creatures have been assigned lethal damage.

So in your scenario, once you declare your blockers, the attacking player will choose a damage assignment order for the 3/3 so that you’ll know if it will deal damage to your 2/2 or your 1/2 first. (They probably want to kill that 2/2.) When the game moves into the combat damage step, they have to assign at least 2 damage to the first creature before they can assign any damage to the second blocker. They can also just assign all three damage to the first creature if they want to, of course.

[magicjudge]

If a player attacks with a 3/3 and I block with a 3/3 and then a 1/1 in that order, the defending 1/1 will not die and the attacking player cannot choose to kill the 1/1 because blocking order, right? Thanks, my friends have been arguing this one lol

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s the controller of the attacking creature that’s being blocked who chooses the damage assignment order when there are multiple blockers. (Similarly, when a creature blocks multiple attacking creatures, the defending player chooses the damage assignment order for their blocker against the two attackers.)

When you block the 3/3 with your own 3/3 and 1/1, your opponent gets to choose if they want to first assign damage to your 3/3 or to your 1/1. This means that they choose which of the two creatures will die.

As for why it works this way and not the other way, imagine blocking that same attacking 3/3 with a 3/1 creature and a 0/5 creature. If you got to choose which of your blockers would be assigned damage first, then you would choose the 0/5 and thus be able to pick off your opponent’s attackers with no consequences. The defending player already has the advantage of being able to choose whether or not to block and which creatures to block with, so allowing the attacking player to choose the damage assignment order brings the scales more back into balance. (It also more closely mirrors the pre-M10 system of being able to assign damage as you wanted across all blockers.)

[magicjudge]

I have two attacking creatures: a 4/4 with trample and a 3/3 without trample. My opponent blocks both with Wall of Glare, a 0/5 creature. Do I assign the order in which my creatures deal damage (i.e., can I make it so my trampler tramples through after my other deals 3 to the wall)?

Damage assignment order is only for when a creature is blocking or blocked by two or more creatures. (e.g. Wall of Glare in this scenario). When multiple creatures are assigning combat damage to the same creature, there’s no order to it. The total damage assignment just has to be legal. So yes, you can trample over for 2 here.

[magicjudge]

Topic blocking one attacking creature with two defending (blockers) creatures. My opponent attacks with one of their creatures and I block with two of my creatures. Does opponent choose how damage is dealt or do I choose which creature blocks first it is dealt damage and then second creature blocks. Was discussing with a friend and they said that it is the second option and I had mentioned that I (attacking) assigns damage first to which creature I choose first.

When multiple creatures block a single attacking creature, the attacking player chooses a damage assignment order for those creatures, i.e. they’re choosing that the attacking creature will assign damage first to a specific creature that’s blocking it, then if it can assign lethal damage to that creature, further damage can be assigned to the next creature in the blocking order and so on.

[magicjudge]

If you double-block, is there a chance to cast spells or activate abilities in the time between the opponent choosing where to assign damage and the damage being dealt?

No, damage is assigned and dealt simultaneously.

However, your opponent will choose which of your creatures will be assigned damage first, and lethal damage has to be assigned to that creature before damage can be assign to the next creature in the damage assignment order, and so on.

[magicjudge]

i have Master Apothecary and two 2/2 bears. my opp. attacks with a 2/3 death touch and i double block to kill it. When the order of damage is decided can i prevent 2 damage to the 1st bear to keep "lethal damaged" from being assigned to my 2nd bear?

No.

Damage assignment doesn’t take damage prevention effects into account when determining what counts as lethal damage. Because the attacking creature has deathtouch, your opponent can still assign 1 damage to each of the blockers to kill the second bear.