Magic the Gathering: Can my opponent cast unsummon on a creature I have declared as an attacker?

Question

I declare a creature as an attacker and tap him. My opponent casts unsummon on that creature. Can he do this? Or, more to the point, will the creature go back to my hand without dealing damage or will he return to my hand and still get through for damage?

Answer 1

Yes, your opponent can do that. He can play Unsummon with the damage on the stack, and by the time the game checks to deal damage, the source that deals the damage is no longer there, so no damage is dealt.

…Seems unfair, doesn’t it? Welcome to the wonderful world of blue.

Answer 2

He can cast unsummon on your attacker and it will not deal any damage.  What will happen is that you declare attackers.  he will respond to your attacker being declared and then your creature will not be there when the combat step actually begins.  Of course, he can also unsummon his own creature to save it from dying.  After the combat step and before the damage resolution step, he can unsummon his own creature and the damage will do nothing and fizzle, therefore stop the attack and save his own creature.

Answer 3

Your opponent can do that.

Your creature will be removed from combat before you will get to the combat damage step.

306.4. A creature or planeswalker is removed from combat if it leaves play (such as by being destroyed or removed from the game); if its controller changes; if it stops being a creature or planeswalker, respectively; or if an effect removes it from combat. A creature is also removed from combat if it regenerates (see rule 419.6b). A creature that’s removed from combat stops being an attacking, blocking, blocked, and/or unblocked creature. A planeswalker that’s removed from combat stops being attacked.

Answer 4

It all depends on the timing.  

Scenario 1:

If he does it after you declare attack phase, your creature is returned to your hand and never attacked.  

Scenario 2:

If you tap your attackers, and you then he returns one, it attacked but did not deal damage.  If there were other effects that happen when the creature is tapped (such as Goblin Medic dealing damage when tapped), thos affects will still happen, as they are on the stack.

Scenario 3:

You attack, he declares blockers, but damage is not on the stack.  He Unsummons your creature.  Your creature deals no damage, and his blocking creatures take none. This is useful a lot of times, as you may do other things to pump up your creature (Giant Growth, abilities, etc) and then he can remove it...

Scenario 4:

You attack, he declares blockers, and damage is on the stack.  He Unsummons your creature.  Your creature deals damage, and his blocking creatures take it as assigned.  The equivalent thought here is that you pointed a gun and pulled the trigger.  While the bullet is on the way, the gun disappeared.  Doesn't matter, the bullet is still on the way...

Hope this helps!