#last strike

[renari-and-tun]

The fear of god hit my soul seeing this

[tarynstunes]

Visit Original Link

[rsm-hq]

Upon the call of death, what will you do?

[fuforthought]

Soul Brothers of Kung Fu (1977)

[moranmagic]

Magic Rules: Last Strike and Triple Strike

So Unstable gave us these glorious bastards.

[Image is of two Magic: the Gathering cards. “Extremely Slow Zombie” with the ability last strike, and “Three-Headed Goblin” with the ability triple strike.]

And of course we all want this in black border Magic, but as Mark Rosewater has said a whole lot, the rules rework isn’t worth the headache. There are various concerns, not the least of which is how you handle creatures gaining and losing a whole slew of new strike abilities as within a big ole combat damage step. We’ve now got to resolve first strike damage, double strike damage, triple strike damage, last strike damage, and normal combat damage. And that’s not to mention combinations like first strike and last strike, or what if a creature loses last strike before last strike damage would be dealt, or what if a creature gains triple strike after you’ve already done first strike damage?

But what if it actually was kind of simple, really? What if the answer wasn’t adding paragraphs upon paragraphs to the comprehensive rules? What if it only roughly doubled section 510.5 of the combat damage step rules from 121 words to 249 words and accounted for everything above?

Here’s my answer to those quandaries.

Let’s establish three clear combat damage steps and label them. Here we have steps A, B, and C. If any creatures with the relevant abilities are attacking or blocking as that combat step begins, then you do that step and resolve the combat damage before moving onto the next step.

If there are no attackers or blockers with the relevant ability as the combat damage step for that would begin, then you just skip it. Normal combat damage is always done during Step B. If there were no attackers or blockers with first strike, double strike, or triple strike as the combat damage step begins, then you go straight to step B and do normal combat damage. Then if there are no attackers or blockers with triple strike or last strike, you move on to the end of combat step.

This means a creature in combat that has double strike only ever deals combat damage during steps A and B. If it only gains double strike after step A combat damage has already been assigned, then it assigns combat damage in step B but it will not assign combat damage in step C (assuming there is a step C) unless it somehow gains triple strike or last strike before step C begins.

That’s pretty easy, right? Literally all you need is that little six cell chart above showing in which steps everything deals combat damage. And if you want a more nuanced approach, below the read more cut I have the current rules for 510.5, followed by my proposed rewrite of those rules.

But all of this leads me to say...

TEAR THIS TO PIECES

Find corner cases. Break it open. Show me flaws. Did I fail to account for something? Is my rewrite not as simple and intuitive as I think? Ask me questions. Bring up examples. Is my proposal going to grant as three wishes (as in, the wishes are to deal damage once, then twice, then a third time), or have I struck out?

510.5. If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step. (121 words, 702 characters)

510.5 If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7), double strike (see rule 702.4), last strike (see rule 702.?), or triple strike (see rule 702.?) as the combat damage step begins, then combat damage is resolved in up to three steps, identified as step A, step B, and step C. Step A occurs if there are attacking or blocking creatures with first strike, double strike, or triple strike. All such creatures assign combat damage in step A. After that, instead of proceeding to the end of combat damage step, proceed to step B of combat damage. The only creatures that assign combat damage in step B are the remaining attackers and blockers that did not have first strike, double strike, triple strike, or last strike as step A began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike or triple strike. After step B, instead of proceeding to the end of combat damage step, proceed to step C of combat damage. The only creatures that assign combat damage in step C are the attackers and blockers with last strike, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have triple strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step. Complete only those combat damage steps necessary for the creatures present in combat. For example, skip step C of combat damage if there are no attackers or blockers with either last strike or triple strike. (249 words, 1433 characters)

Lastly, I do believe this is all the rules rewriting you need. And then of course adding the relevant sections in 702 for the new abilities.

[magus-of-the-color-pizza]

LAST STRIKE IS FINALLY A THING AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[ashleyydirtbikes]

If I send you this emoji 🎳 just know you on ya last strike baby

[almaaren]

Currently Reading:

I was just a girl, standing in a bar, hoping a guy would buy me a drink... I got my wish. Kind of. I got a drink... spilled on me... by a guy. No, not just any guy. A man. A hot man. America's hottest baseball coach, apparently. And he didn't even apologize. That was the first time we met. Or what I like to call strike one. The second time we met? He was late to a parent teacher conference. The one where I realized I was his daughter's new teacher, and where he told me I should quit my job. Strike two. You know what they say in baseball? Third strike. You're out.