A Magic The Gathering Damage Question.?

Question

Now I already know the answer to this question, but for the sake of a friend who will not believe me, and won't read the Basic or Comprehensive Rulings to save his life. I am spoon feeding him the answer via you guys. So help me out here.

If you play a spell or ability that states you deal 'Damage' (ie Giant Hammer "Giant Hammer Deals 3 Damage To Target Creature", the damage is done to that creatures Toughness lowering it. Not to the creatures Power.

Example: My opponent attacks with a 5/5 creature with Trample, and I have 3 creatures each with the "{T} This Creature Deals 1 Damage To Target Attacking or Blocking Creature". I can't tap the 3 creatures to deal 3 damage to the 5/5 and have only 2 "Spill Over" since damage is only done to a creatures Toughness correct?

Sorry for the length, I hope everyone understands this is just a basic damage question. Thanks.

Answer 1

Dealing damage to a creature will have no effect on the damage it deals (unless the creature dies before it deals damage, of course). Even if Doran, the Siege Tower is in play, dealing damage to a creature does not affect how much damage it deals (unless the creature dies before it deals damage, again) because damage does not technically lower your toughness. Cards with Wither or that give -X/-X, on the other hand, work wonderfully

Your friend is kinda stubborn, it seems. Even the more basic rule books explain this rather well. No offense, of course. He's just stubborn in his ways.

Answer 2

it will lower the toughness for 1 turn then you can deliver the final blow!

Answer 3

it does lower the toughness

Answer 4

You got it right. Altough technically, damage doesn't 'lower' the thoughness.

When damage dealt to a creature is equal or greater than that creature's toughness, then the creature is destroyed.

It has nothing to do with his power. You can deal 4 points of damage to an unblocked spectral force and it still will deal 8 damage.

Creatures with wither, they do lower the thougness of a creature (by the -1/-1 counters).

Answer 5

it only lowers toughness for one turn unless otherwise stated examples are this creature deals damage in the form of counters.

so then the creatures toughness would always be lowered until its either destroyed or the counters are removed.

Answer 6

In your first paragraph, it temporarely lowers the creatures toughness. If you cannot reduce  the creature the creature's toughness to 0 by the end of your turn, the damage done to it  resets. If you do manage to bring a creature to 0 toughness (via damage) and your opponent (friend) cannot find a way to bump the creatures toughness, or save the creature via bouncing, remove from game, etc, then state based effects kick in (sbe's) and see the creature is at 0 toughness and the creature dies.

In your second paragraph, as long as the 3 creatures were not sick, you could tap them to deal 3 (1 each) damamge to the 5/5 trampler, if the player controlling the 5/5 didnt have a response, it would be a 5/5 with 3 damage done to it and still attacking for 5 damage.

Now you could gang block the 5/5 trampler, wait for the opponent to pass on priority (not do nothing to that situation), blocks are declared, and locked in, then tap 2 of them doing 2 damage to it, then combat damage resolves, the 5/5 has to do lethal damage to all creatures blocking it to have trample damage go through, so it assigns 1 damage to each and normally then he could assign 2 trample damage to you for trample to kick over to you;  however, you have dinked it 2 times in response to the block and those creatures would deal their 1 damage back to the creature, so you do 2 damage to it, its stills attacking as 5/5 with 3 damage, you block with all three of the 1/1's, all  doing a point of damage each to it, killing it and no trample spills over, because it dies, sbes check it to make sure its dead and dead creatures can't trample. (You would have to block first  with all 3 and then tap 2 to dink it in response to the block).

Answer 7

Daniel is almost correct.  If you block with the 3 1/1 creatures, and then tap 2 of them to deal the 4th and 5th points of damage, you will still take 2 trample damage.  The reason is because all damage is put on assigned, then put on the stacj, then resolved at the same time.

Answer 8

Here's a full breakdown:

1) The 5/5 attacks

2) You tap you three creature, activating their ability

3) The 5/5 takes 1 damage 3 times, or three damage.  It survives, as it has taken 3 damage, where it would die at 5 damage.

4) You declare no blockers

5) The 5/5 deals damage to you.  Since no spell or effect has lowered the power, while the ability in steps 2 and 3 have injured it, the 5/5 deals 6 damage.  

As a side note, if you had played a burn card beforehand, like Shock, the 5/5 would have died in the 3rd step, preventing the damage IIRC.