Combat Basics

Creature Ordering

Creatures generally will fill the three creature slots in the order they are cast. There are 3 creature slots. Their order is from bottom to top. "First" slot is always on the bottom.

There are a few exceptions to this:

• Creatures with Defender  will reorder to the first slot that does not have a creature with Defender  in it.
• Creatures with Reach  will reorder to the first slot that does not have a creature with Defender  or Reach  in it.
• Creatures with Vigilance  will reorder to the first slot that does not have a creature with Defender , Reach , or Vigilance  in it.
• Temporary effects that grant Defender , Reach , or Vigilance  will reorder a creature until that effect wears off, at which point, the order will revert using the rules above.

Attacking

Any non-Disabled creature without "can't attack" evergreen with a power greater than 0 will attack during the combat phase. The creatures attack in the order of the slot they are in.

Blocking

When a creature attacks, it is blocked by the first eligible defending creature. A defending creature is any non-Disabled creature with Defender , Reach  or Vigilance .

• If the creature has Unblockable , then it will bypass all blockers.
• If the creature has Menace , then it will bypass blocking if there is only one eligible defending creature, otherwise it will be blocked by the first defending creature.
• To block a creature with Flying , a defending creature must have either Reach , or Flying  combined with Defender  or Vigilance .

Trample

Trample  damage is applied after enough damage is applied to match the toughness of the defending creature.

Example: A creature with a toughness of 5 is hit by a trampling creature with a power of 8, in this case, 5 damage will be applied to the defending creature and the remaining 3 damage will be applied to the defending Planeswalker.

The planeswalker will take the excess damage even if that creature has Prevent Damage  or other effects that keep it from dying when taking damage.

First Strike

First Strike  damage occurs first, then there is a check for whether one of the two creatures in combat would die prior to the second creature applying any damage. If second creature dies during the first strike attack phase, it doesn't retaliate and thus if it had deathtouch, this effect will not trigger.

Double Strike

Double Strike  applies damage in both the First Strike and normal combat damage phases. In MtGPQ, trample damage applies to both the first and second strike of a double strike creature, even if the defending creature would die from the initial First Strike damage. An attacking creature with Double Strike is not considered to attack twice per combat round; it attacks once, but it deals damage twice.

Berserker

A creature with Berserker  will seek to attack the first eligible creature that the defending player has, even if that creature does not have any defending skills. In this way, a Flying  creature with Berserker  can attack a non-flying creature, but a non-flying creature cannot attack a flying one.