Combat Mechanics Explained — Magic: The Gathering Arena Guide

Combat Mechanics Explained

Welcome, Planeswalker, to the definitive guide on mastering combat in Magic: The Gathering Arena! Understanding the intricate dance of phases, priorities, and stack resolution is paramount to victory. This section will break down every aspect, from declaring attackers to resolving damage, ensuring you're always one step ahead of your opponent.

The Combat Phase: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

The Combat Phase is a critical juncture in every turn, where creatures clash and strategies unfold. It's divided into five distinct steps, each offering opportunities for interaction. Missing a step or misunderstanding priority can cost you the game, so pay close attention!

1. Beginning of Combat Step

This is your last chance to prepare before the actual fighting begins. Both players receive priority during this step, allowing for crucial pre-combat plays.

• Actionable Steps:
  • Tapping Opponent's Creatures: If your opponent has a formidable attacker, consider using cards like Frost Breath or Sleep to tap them down, preventing them from attacking this turn.
  • Buffing Your Creatures: Use instant-speed spells like Giant Growth or Might of the Masses to increase your creatures' power and toughness before they're declared as attackers. This can deter blocks or ensure favorable trades.
  • Creating Tokens: Spells like Raise the Alarm or abilities that create creature tokens at instant speed (e.g., Secure the Wastes with enough mana) can surprise your opponent with unexpected blockers or attackers.
  • Removing Key Blockers/Attackers: If you have removal spells like Lightning Bolt or Path to Exile in hand, this is an excellent time to eliminate a problematic creature before it can participate in combat.
• Strategy Tip: Always consider what your opponent might do. If they have open mana, anticipate potential instant-speed tricks and plan your plays accordingly.

2. Declare Attackers Step

This is where you commit your creatures to the offensive. Once attackers are declared, they cannot be untapped or removed from combat unless a specific effect states otherwise.

• Actionable Steps:
  • Choose Your Attackers: Select which of your untapped creatures will attack. Click on each creature you wish to attack with. The game will highlight them, and a confirmation button will appear.
  • Choose Who to Attack: If playing a multiplayer format, you must specify which opponent or planeswalker each creature is attacking. In a 1v1 game, all creatures attack your opponent by default unless you target a planeswalker they control.
  • Paying Costs: Some creatures or abilities require a cost to attack (e.g., Goblin Rabblemaster creates a token that must attack if able). Ensure you have the resources.
• Strategy Tip: Don't just attack with everything. Consider your opponent's potential blockers, their life total, and your own board state. Sometimes holding back a blocker is more valuable than pushing a few points of damage.

3. Declare Blockers Step

Your opponent now has the opportunity to assign their untapped creatures to block your attackers. This is a crucial defensive step.

• Actionable Steps:
  • Assign Blockers: Your opponent selects which of their untapped creatures will block which attacking creatures. A single blocker can block only one attacker, but multiple blockers can block a single attacker.
  • Order Blockers (if multiple): If multiple creatures are blocking a single attacker, the active player (the attacker) must order the blockers. This order determines how damage is assigned. The first blocker in the order must be assigned lethal damage before damage can be assigned to the next blocker.
• Strategy Tip: As the attacking player, anticipate potential blocks. As the defending player, evaluate trades. Is it worth losing a creature to save life or protect a planeswalker? Cards like Venerable Knight might be sacrificed for value, while a Shifting Ceratops might be too valuable to trade.

4. Combat Damage Step

This is where the actual fighting happens and damage is dealt simultaneously. Creatures deal damage equal to their power to the creatures blocking them or to the player/planeswalker they are attacking.

• Actionable Steps:
  • Assign Damage:
    • Attacker with no blockers: Deals damage directly to the defending player or planeswalker.
    • Attacker with blockers: Deals damage to the blocking creatures. If multiple creatures are blocking, the attacking player assigns damage sequentially based on the order established in the Declare Blockers step. Lethal damage must be assigned to the first blocker before moving to the next.
    • Blocker: Deals damage to the creature it is blocking.
  • State-Based Actions: After damage is dealt, the game checks for state-based actions. Creatures with lethal damage marked on them are destroyed and sent to the graveyard.
• Strategy Tip: Remember First Strike and Double Strike! Creatures with these abilities deal their combat damage in a separate, earlier combat damage step. This can lead to situations where a First Strike creature destroys a blocker before the blocker can deal its own damage. For example, a Boros Challenger with First Strike can often take down a larger creature without taking damage itself.

5. End of Combat Step

The dust settles, and the combat phase concludes. Both players receive one last round of priority.

• Actionable Steps:
  • Post-Combat Triggers: Abilities that trigger "at the end of combat" or "whenever a creature deals combat damage" will resolve here.
  • Final Instant Plays: This is your last chance to cast instant-speed spells or activate abilities before moving to the Post-Combat Main Phase. For instance, you might use Act of Treason to steal an opponent's creature, attack with it, and then sacrifice it to a Village Rites in this step before it returns to your opponent.
• Strategy Tip: This step is often overlooked but can be crucial for setting up your next turn or finishing off an opponent with a burn spell after combat damage has been dealt.

Understanding Priority and the Stack

At each step of the combat phase (and indeed, throughout the game), players receive "priority." You whose turn it is (the active player) gets priority first. If they pass priority, the non-active player receives it. If both players pass priority consecutively, the current step or phase ends, or the top object on the stack resolves.

• The Stack: When a spell is cast or an ability is activated, it goes onto "the stack." The last spell or ability added to the stack is the first one to resolve (Last In, First Out - LIFO). This means you can respond to your opponent's spells and abilities with your own.
• Example: Your opponent casts Lightning Bolt targeting your Grizzly Bears. Before the Bolt resolves, you can cast Giant Growth on your Bears, increasing its toughness and saving it from the Bolt. The Giant Growth resolves first, then the Lightning Bolt.

Key Combat Keywords and Mechanics

Familiarize yourself with these common keywords that significantly impact combat:

• First Strike / Double Strike: Creatures with First Strike deal combat damage before creatures without it. Double Strike creatures deal damage in both the First Strike and regular combat damage steps.
• Trample: If an attacking creature with Trample is blocked, and it deals lethal damage to all its blockers, any remaining damage is dealt to the defending player or planeswalker.
• Deathtouch: Any amount of damage dealt by a creature with Deathtouch is considered lethal damage to another creature. This means a 1/1 Deathtouch creature can destroy a 10/10 creature.
• Vigilance: Creatures with Vigilance do not tap when they attack, allowing them to block during your opponent's turn.
• Haste: Creatures with Haste can attack and use activated abilities that require tapping the turn they enter the battlefield.
• Flying: Creatures with Flying can only be blocked by creatures with Flying or Reach.
• Reach: Creatures with Reach can block creatures with Flying.
• Indestructible: Creatures with Indestructible cannot be destroyed by damage or effects that say "destroy." They can still be exiled or have their toughness reduced to 0 or less.

Mastering these mechanics will elevate your gameplay from novice to seasoned Planeswalker. Practice, observe your opponent's plays, and always think a few steps ahead!