question about ninjutsu

Guest · Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:46 pm Post subject: question about ninjutsu

Quick question about ninjutsu creatures. A friend and i were playing a casual game last night. I attacked w/ a dimir infiltrator and used ninjutsu to bring in a ninja of the last hours on the combat dmg step so the ninja would do dmg. My friend then tried to terror my ninja (which in itself is fine), but my question is, does my ninja do dmg, and do i get to draw a card from his triggered ability?

thanks,

Eraxian

CMA-Flippi · Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:49 pm Post subject:

first, you can't bring your ninja in the combat dmg step with an advantage. at this point, damage (from infiltrator) would be already of the stack..so let's imagine you did it in the declare blockers step.....

now, your opponent receives priority to play his terror (when you want to turn to combat dmg step) and will kill your ninja

your ninja will be dead when you finally move to the combat dmg step, so no dmg will be dealt by him and you will not draw a card.

Guest · Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:08 pm Post subject:

so exactly when does hte combat dmg go on the stack, i was under the impression once he declares no block that i get priority?

scurvy · Joined: 01 Sep 2004 Posts: 119

How's about a Combat FAQ?

Beginning of Combat: This is the first part of combat. If you want to tap any of your opponent's creatures to prevent them from attacking, this is your last chance to do so.

Declare Attackers: All the attackers are picked as a single event. Once the attackers are set and play proceeds, the active player (the attacker) gets priority to play spells or abilities. Once the active player passes priority, the nonactive player can do stuff.

This phase ends with both players pass on an empty stack, which is useful information sometimes if you want your force your defending opponent to make the first move.

Declare Blockers: Once both players pass priority, the blocker declares all blockers. Players can play spells and abilities after all blocks are declared, starting again with the active player and ending again when both players pass on an empty stack.

For ninjutsu purposes, this is the first time you are able to use a Ninja's ability from hand, as this is the first time a creature is considered "not blocked". This is also the time you NEED to switch the creatures if you want the Ninja in play and attacking when damage gets stacked in the next step.

Stack Damage: Both players passed on an empty stack, so combat damage goes on the stack. All currently attacking creatures deal damage to either blockers or the opposing player, and blocking creatures simultaneously deal damage to attackers.

Players can do stuff when damage is stacked, but increasing a creature's power with Giant Growth or switching with a Ninja won't change the damage that was stacked. Note that it's still legal to use a Ninja during this stage, as the creature is still attacking and unblocked, but it's too late to do so and have the Ninja deal damage. This can be used as an unexpected way to save an attacker from lethal combat damage or a Putrefy with damage on the stack, so it's not entirely useless.

Once both players pass priority, combat damage resolves and is dealt to everybody. State-based effects will put any creature with lethal damage into the graveyard and kill any players with 0 or less life at this time, before either player has priority to do anything.

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This is how I think of combat when I play the game with its relevance to the situation, so it covers most (but not all) of the situations that come up for combat. If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask here or in #judges4you.

Spyx · Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 820

Nice post ^

Sanor · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 7

scurvy · Joined: 01 Sep 2004 Posts: 119

I will take your comments in the editorial spirit they were given, with the caveat that the post wasn't really an attempt to submit a lasting, authoritative document. Do people want that sort of document on here? This could easily get cleaned up into a plain-language combat flowchart that could get sticked or something.

Sanor · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 7

I'm NOT A MOD, but I think that would be a great idea. It's been my experience that combat order creates more confusion than any other part of the game.

Strovil · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 567

I plan to write a Tolarian Polytechnic article on the combat phase.