You don't need to register an account to read articles, but registering does provide you with several benefits including commenting on articles, saving site options, and more!
Trample pig, trample pig, don't attack wolf shout.
So last week I got a question at the local game store about a large trample creature being blocked by several creatures while there was a Furnace of Rath on the board and just how much trample damage gets through. This week's article ends with that question, but it got me thinking, there are lots of questions people have about trample, so every question today will cover different interactions and problems that people ask about trample.
If you have any Magic questions burning at the back of your brain, you can send them to us. We may even use them in a future article. If you have a short question, you can send it to us via our Twitter account at @CranialTweet, and you can send us longer questions at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: Alacard casts Pit Fight targeting his own Giant Warthog and targeting Nina's Giant Spider. How much damage does this cause Nina to take?
A: The answer is...
A: 5
B: 3
C: 0
The answer is
C.
Trample can only modify combat damage. It also only modifies combat damage if the creature with trample is attacking. A fight is not combat damage, therefore trample has no effect during a fight.
Q: Amber attacks Nicodemus with Giant Warthog. Nicodemus declares Bear Cub as a blocker, but before damage is dealt Nicodemus activates his Lilysplash Mentor's ability to blink his Bear. How much damage, if any, will Nicodemus take from the Warthog this turn?
A: The answer is...
A: 5
B: 3
C: 0
D: A bacon load of damage.
The answer is
A.
Normally if a creature is blocked, but all blocking creatures disappear before damage (destroyed, bounced, and/or phased out) then the attacker deals no damage. However, if the creature has trample, then it will assign all its damage to the defending player (or the planeswalker or battle it's attacking).
Q: Angelina controls three Giant Warthogs. She attacks with only one. Nigel blocks it with his Wicked Wolf. After blocks, Nigel sacrifices a Food to the Wolf, to give it its only +1/+1 counter and make it indestructible until end of turn. What's the most damage Angelina can have her Warthog deal to Nigel?
A: The answer is...
A: 5
B: 1
C: 0
The answer is
B.
Trample creatures must assign lethal damage to each creature blocking it, then can assign any remaining damage to the player (or permanent) they are attacking. However, this will not account for indestructible. As far as the Warthog knows, it thinks 4 damage is lethal to the Wolf and can trample over with the remaining 1.
Q: Nicole blocks Alfred's Giant Warthog with her Dive Bomber. Before damage, Nicole taps her Aven Redeemer to prevent the next 2 damage to her Dive Bomber. What's the most damage Alfred can assign to Nicole with his Warthog?
A: The answer is...
A: 5
B: 3
C: 2
D: 0
The answer is
B.
Trample creatures must assign lethal damage to each creature blocking it, then can assign any remaining damage to the player (or permanent) they are attacking. However, this will not account for prevention effects or replacement effects that prevent some amount of damage (such as Aven Redeemer) or increase the damage (such as Dictate of the Twin Gods). You must assign what the game thinks is lethal before accounting for replacement effects, then any remaining damage may be assigned to the player or permanent being attacked. This remaining damage may be split among the blocking creatures and the player or permanent being attacked as the attacker chooses.
In Warthog versus Bomber + Redeemer, Alfred can assign 2 damage to the Bomber and have the remaining 3 damage hit Nicole. This means the Bomber will survive as 2 damage gets prevented. Alfred could also choose to assign 4 damage to the Bomber to guarantee it dies, but doing so will reduce how much damage Nicole will take.
Yes, by the tusks of my snout-ie snout-ie snout!
Q: Alice's Giant Warthog is wielding Fireshrieker and attacking Nathan's Personal Decoy. Nathan blocks it with his Claim Jumper. What's the most damage Alice can have her Warthog deal to the Personal Decoy this turn?
A: The answer is...
A: 10
B: 8
C: 7
D: 2
E. Does the pig carry the fire staff in his mouth?
The answer is
C.
An attacking creature with double strike gets to deal its full damage during two different combat damage steps. During the first damage step, it must assign 3 damage to the Rabbit, and 2 can trample over. During the second damage step, the Rabbit is long gone, so now the attacker must assign the full 5 damage to Personal Decoy.
A: 5
B: 4
C: 3
D: 2
E: 0
F: I guess the pig could grab on by biting the snake hair.
The answer is
C.
Any nonzero amount of damage from a creature with deathtouch is considered lethal, and trample accommodates for this. So Aaron can assign as little as 1 damage to each creature blocking his Warthog, and all remaining damage can trample over.
Q: Let's revisit the last question but combine several things we have learned. Aaron's attacking Giant Warthog is wielding both Gorgon's Head and Fireshrieker. Natalie double blocks it with her Elvish Warrior and Arwen, Mortal Queen which still has an indestructible counter. What's the most damage Aaron can have his Warthog deal to Natalie this turn? A: The answer is...
A: 8
B: 7
C: 6
D: 5
E: This is getting silly, how does a pig wield both of these at the same time?!?
The answer is
B.
Double strike, trample, and deathtouch all together are crazy powerful.
During the first damage step, Aaron must assign at least 1 damage to each blocking creature, and even though we know this will not kill Arwen, the remaining 3 can be assigned to Natalie.
During the second damage step, the Elf Warrior has already died, but Arwen is standing strong with 1 damage marked on her. Aaron must assign 1 damage to the Arwen, even though again we know this will not kill her. The remaining 4 can be assigned to Natalie.
3+4=7
Q: Anna is attacking with both her Giant Warthog and Karoo Meerkat. Norin who controls Brave the Sands blocks both with his Hyena Pack. What's the most damage Anna can have the Warthog deal to Norin this combat?
A: The answer is...
A: 5
B: 4
C: 3
D: 1
E: 0
The answer is
C.
Trample creatures must assign lethal damage to each creature blocking it, then can assign any remaining damage to the player (or permanent) they are attacking. This does account for damage already marked on a creature (such as being Shocked earlier in the turn) and can also account for damage being assigned at the same time such as from multiple attacking creatures being blocked by the same creature. Anna can have Meerkat assign 2 damage to the Hyena, allowing the Warthog to assign 2 damage to the Hyena making for a lethal total, then the remaining 3 damage can be assigned to Norin.
Your chargin' & crashin' don't knock my light out
Q: Anissa is attacking Nina's Space Beleren with Giant Warthog and attacking Nina with Colossal Dreadmaw. The only block Nina declares is Kellan, the Kid blocking Colossal Dreadmaw. After blocks, but before damage, Nina casts This Town Ain't Big Enough targeting Space Beleren and Colossal Dreadmaw. What happens to the Warthog this combat?
A: The answer is...
A: Since the planeswalker the Warthog was attacking is gone, it now deals its full 5 damage to the defending player.
B: The Warthog attempts to deal 5 damage to the Jace that isn't there, so the damage is prevented.
C: The Warthog deals no combat damage as it's removed from combat since it's not attacking anything anymore.
D: The Warthog deals no combat damage as it's not attacking anything anymore, but remains attacking until the combat step ends.
The answer is
D.
Combat damage normally only tramples through blocking creatures to the defending player, and not through planeswalkers, so option A is incorrect. (Thrasta, Tempest's Roar is an example of an exception, but it's not relevant here.) Answer B can be eliminated because no damage prevention is involved; the damage is simply not happening. Finally, creatures only get removed from combat when an effect explicitly says so, so answer C is eliminated as well, leaving answer D as the correct outcome.
Q: Alex controls Furnace of Rath and is attacking Nancy with a Giant Warthog wearing Vulshok Battlegear. Nancy triple-blocks the Warthog with a 1/1 Rabbit token, Bear Cub and Cave Tiger. Which of the following, if any, are possible amounts of life Nancy could lose to damage caused by the Warthog?
A: The answer is...
A: 11
B: 6
C: 4
D: 2
E: 0
The answer is
B, C, D, or E.
One might think that 11 damage is possible: 8 damage doubled to 16, blocked with a total of 5 toughness should mean 11 damage tramples over. However, Furnace of Rath is a replacement effect and the game doesn't take that into consideration when assigning damage. Alex only has 8 damage to assign to the creatures blocking the Warthog. Each point assigned doubles as it's dealt, but Alex must assign lethal before doubling to each creature blocking the Warthog before any remaining damage can be assigned to Nancy.
Usually a player in Alex's position will assign 2 damage to the Bear, 2 to the Tiger, 1 damage to the Rabbit, and 3 to Nancy. Each of these amounts get doubled as they are dealt. (Answer B)
However, players can choose to "over trample" or assign more than lethal damage to one or more creatures blocking their attacking creature if they want. Maybe one of the blockers has an ability that triggers on being dealt damage, such as Screaming Nemesis. In this case you could assign all damage to the other creatures and none to Nemesis, leaving no damage to trample to defending player. (Answer E)
This "over trample" gives the option of doing more than necessary damage to one or more blockers and still trample over to the player for the remaining damage as well, so long as at least lethal was assigned to each blocker. The attacking player may want to do this if the creature has an ability that triggers off "excess" damage being dealt, such as trample from a Giant creature while controlling Aegar, the Freezing Flame to draw a card. (Answers C and D)
So, I was explaining to my wife when writing this article that I liked using a "Trample Pig" in all the questions, giving me the option to use pig puns. She retorted, "Of course one of the questions needs to have a meerkat." I looked at her blank-faced for a minute, then realized, "Ohh, a Lion King reference!" So, you may have caught on to some of them, but every one of the ten questions above uses the cards to reference a different pop culture Pig. I've given you one, Pumbaa, but can you get the other nine? Answers will be at the end of my next article in three weeks.
Deutsch
Français
