A Planeswalker's Primer for Magic 2010: Combat

[rage711]

Couple questions:

1. Does the attacker or the blocker get to choose the order of the blocking creatures?

2. Why did the bandage ability not get applied to the sprite when damage was dealt?

[MooOfDoom]

In answer:

1. The attacker chooses the order. Think about it this way: the controller of the creature gets to decide how the creature deals its damage.

2. The bandage ability did get applied to the sprite, but it only prevented 1 damage. Since 3 damage was assigned to the sprite, 2 of that damage was dealt (i.e. not prevented), which is enough to kill the sprite.

[grimbdsm]

WotC claimed that damage on stack doesn't make sense but I doubt blockers come to fight one by one like a train doesn't make sense also. Defenders should gang invader in their home. this is not a Spartar

[Runningman616]

This opens up combat alot more for me at least. After seeing it explained well I wonder why they didnt do it sooner

[ndscrub]

cant wait till game turns into duel master i havent yet played wiht the new rules yet iam goin go freiday check it out i dont like it iam selling my 11 year colection

[deathsent]

if you played pre sixth, it should be like back then. if you complain about it, stfu and learn to play a new way.

[ThisScreen4Rent]

fucking dumb dumb dumb dumb DUMB. i cant stand it. No bouncing before damage is dealt and.....UHG! its simply SHIT! no more damage on stack during combat! idc if ppl say its more strateigic ect. its still dumb.

[MaseYevon]

It isn't dumb it offers more choices.

[mrmaigo]

Herm, you speed up combat a little but then you slow it down with the multiple blockers

[RiftDragon]

it is because he originally had enough to kill it

[xXBeLIEveMeBrokenXx]

wait...no more damage stack? D= GAYYYYYY

[bLurrr47]

maybe it was bc after the 3/5 was killed he oringally had enough to kill the 9/9?? someone plz explain

[bLurrr47]

im not understanding why he chose to block the 9/9 with four-5 different creatures even though they didnt have enough damage to kill it...why wouldnt he just block with one seeing as it didnt have trample no damage would be dealt to himself and thus he would have creatures left

[BryanCDonaldson]

This is simply to demonstrate how it works.  He wouldn't do that in a normal game, most likely.

[akapyro]

He was demonstrating how one can assign multiple blockers. Even though not enough damage could be done to destroy it, the tutorial showed how blocking order affects combat outcome.

In a serious game, of course he might have blocked with only one creature, but this was just for teaching purposes.

[angelf1]

You can block and activate the ability still?

[DanielHoward777]

what are the best two colors in the game that i can combined to get a really good aggro control deck, mostly control, I think one of them is blue?

[beastbomb35]

The best two colors would be white and blue. White control cards are where they can't attack, can't block, and some have they can't use abilities and you gain life. blue can be set up strategic with monsters in a deck. You can easily try to go for white controls the heck of of them and blue has your monsters.

I know that if you want to control with over half your deck then 10 plains 10 islands with obliv rings for sure (stop anything) mind control (I believe) take control of anything.

[Phecee]

Green has been really really powerful for ages. Almost all good decks are at least partly green.

[gowdy343]

blue for control and then you got either white and black, there tie with blue nicely. Black is for creatrue control with stuff like terror, or white for a different form of control like arrest, or artifact killing

[lamewing]

WoTC really cleaned up the combat system. It is more like combat in The Spoils; simple, neat and straightforward.

I stopped playing MTG around Iceage, but with the new rules I will be getting back into the game. It is about time.

[nsalamander]

why did they remove stack combat. my rescue deck is now useless.

[DunbarConfederalist]

RIP Frostling

[LayzorFish]

absolutely no need to remove combat damage from the stack; a totally unnecessary change that does nothing but increase complexity and remove strategic depth.

the stack may not have been as intuitive to use for combat damage, but it was once you understood the stack, and you still need to understand the stack to play properly.

heres a thought, if you dont know how to play a game, learn. game designers shouldnt pander to ignorance.

i mean, who wants to think in a strategy game anyways?

[zips28]

please tell me, what was the difference between elvish archers and frostling when they were in combat against any other creature, before this change?

[zips28]

well my supposition is wrong so forget it, but basically when attacking with fanatic or frostling, it had no sense to sacrifice a creature already dead, dont you think?

[lamewing]

This kind of nonsense was said each time the game rules were updated. Adapt or find a new game.

[paledragon64]

I am personally opposed to "stack damage," apparently unlike everyone else, and I am very glad they took it out. It just doesn't make sense, and I've always saw it as a really cheap thing to do.

[ostimeg]

no I agree with you paledragon, explaining combat damage and tricks to new players was a headache and having jduged events it was never ever an "obvious" thing to deal with.

Plus it just means turns are quicker

[Enchurito]

This was totally unnessisary, unintuitive, and definitely just more complicated and less fun. Who cares if it didn't make sense that you could "unsummon" the creature but it would still do damage not making sense. It worked well and added alot of sneaky things you could do. Did you guys even test this set of changes with actual magic players not just internal testing?

[Drake111145]

I think they don't care.

[duckinmypants]

It is only another 10 years for them to fix this mess they made of combat.

sooooooooooooo dumbed down.....

[rollerking540]

These new rules... I'm not pleased with them.

RIP stacking combat damage. I'll miss you Mogg Fanatic.

[ANZPRIDE00]

i dont like the new rules

they should keep the old ones :(

[aaaaaaaaooooooo]

This guy Sam has really good presentation and a likable style.

I just get the feeling sometimes that he doesn't like his job...

[Jaryism]

NOooo... Block the 9/9 with the 1/1 ya nubbin'!!! Lol, I know. Good tutorial though, helpful

[dolemiteX]

Don't block with the Piker!! :)

I actually love(d) stacking damage, even just intrinsically, but this change really does give you more options. Honestly, before it was really just "am I good or bad?".

[Gakoranus]

Lol I was gonna say that. Some cards are less rigged because of these changes though. I was just at the prerelease playin with theses rules, and theres not a whole lot of change.

Ton o bitchin bout no mana burn tho :p

[fourstatefav]

mogg fanatic sucks now ... what a shame!

[doggiepineda]

Mogg Fanatic = frostlING!

[Soulforge00]

More like Mogg Fanatic = Bile Urchin

[chronikuad]

Nicely done video as always. I just have one strong suggestion. Instead of the speaker holding up the card he is talking about, show a large picture of the card and highlight what is being explained on that card. That would make it easier for someone new to the game, that doesn't know what each card does, to see and understand what is being explained.

[wowrulez111]

and for christ sake don't put ken in videos again!!!

[safricancracker]

Ditto! Great suggestion!

[Sam7376]

So, a creature that's not on the "battlefield" can no longer deal combat damage but can still block...very intuitive.

[NinjaKirby22]

I picture the situation like this:

The attacking creature charges towards you, when the blocking creature gets in its way. The attacking creature now focuses on the blocking creature.

Just before the blocking creature is hit and dealt damage, it disappears, causing the attacking creature to swing at nothing but air.

An attacker with trample, though, will continue on as normal, dealing all of its damage to you.

[Zioniu]

its more like, the target of the damage was changed to the creature and is no longer aimed at the player. Then the creature vanishes before your creature gets in his swing.

[Vinifera7]

I like this speaker. He's not annoying to listen to like some of them.

[ThisNameIsBanned]

Its just a strange change that doesnt really make anything better, nor make it "simpler" at all (as its in fact more complicated with blocking orders, etc.).

The last major point is that a lot of cards become a lot worser, which isnt that unimportant too.

[ThisNameIsBanned]

So far i licked the dmg stack rulez better, as it was easier to understand the concept if you must understand the Stack with spells/abilities anyway. With the changes you have to learn 2 Systems, the normal Stack AND Combat and so peops might ask why spells dont resolve "Instantly" , and so you counterspell the other as a "special" rule (like all spells are like the old Interrupts).

[ThisNameIsBanned]

The Gang block leads to massive "stalls" as you no longer can attack with your fattie and actual kill something, so the rulez really give the Defender an Edge and cut a lot of the attacker (so its more important for an attacker to have a dmg stack + sacrifice, than for the defensive player, which most likely is tapped down anyway for playing the creature etc.)

[Drecon84]

Except for the ordering blockers part everything about this is actually very intuitive. After the prerelease I probably won't even notice it anymore.

[Drecon84]

As I said, "except for the ordering blockers part". My words, literally. No reason to make fun of me, just because I agree with you...

[bladesvids]

sigh... dont like this change.. bye bye mog fanatic

[PlowThrough8]

Nor Do I Thats Why Nantuko Husk Is Now A Common Vampire Aristocrat And Arcbound Ravager Isnt Gonna Do Shit Either And Lifelink Only Stacks Once But You Do Gain The Life Immediately. And Fleeting Image Makes Alot Of Sense That It Doesnt Die Thats Why Its A Fleeting Image

[suklaalevy1]

A Mogg Fanatic walks into a bar . . .

and no one cares, because he just isn't cool anymore.

[TDAWizard]

so combat damage no longer enters the stack?

[davidesle]

yep