III Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a flying counter on it. You don’t need to take other effects into account that might increase or decrease the damage that would be dealt to the other creature into account. Until your next turn, all damage that would be dealt to creatures you control is dealt to that creature instead. So remember, when dealing with lethal damage, just look at the creature’s toughness and the damage that’s been dealt to it this turn. You can choose to assign more to the defending creature if you want, but it’s not required. You only need to assign two damage to the 2/2, and you can assign the remaining three damage to the defending player. You get the same situation if the 2/2 had a damage prevention shield around it instead. What matters is that the creature was assigned what would be lethal damage, so I’m allowed to start assigning damage to the defending player. The only exceptions to this are first strike and double strike. During the damage step in most Magic games, all creatures deal damage at the same time. The damage that I assigned to the 2/2 will be prevented, but that doesn’t matter. Double strike allows a creature to deal damage twice in a single attack step by having it deal damage during the first strike phase and the regular damage phase. Things like protection, indestructibility, and damage prevention effects don’t matter when it comes to assigning lethal damage, you just look at the creature’s current toughness and damage that’s currently marked on the creature.įor example, if I attack with a 5/5 green trampler and you block with a 2/2 creature with protection from green, my trampler can assign two damage to the 2/2 (since two damage would be lethal damage), and I can assign three damage to the defending player. You don’t take anything else into account. For instance, if you Shock a 4/4, then it’s a 4/4 with two damage marked on it, so two more damage would be lethal for it.Īnd that’s it. Usually, this just means looking at the creature’s toughness, but you also take damage that’s already been dealt and currently marked on the creature into account. Lethal damage is the amount of damage it would take to destroy the creature. So in Magic term, what does “lethal damage” actually mean? When Recruiter of the Guard enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a creature card with toughness 2 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library. It’s a term you might hear if the attacking creature has trample or when multiple creatures are blocking the same attacking creature. Conspiracy - Take the Crown (R) Creature - Human Soldier. “Lethal Damage” is a term you often hear in combat.