How Combat Works in MTG — Attacking, Blocking, and Damage

Combat in Magic is broken into five steps: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat. Knowing these steps helps you understand when you and your opponent can cast spells or activate abilities, because each step gives both players a chance to respond before moving on.

During the declare attackers step, the active player chooses which of their untapped creatures will attack and who they attack. Attacking usually taps the creatures unless they have vigilance. A creature with summoning sickness can't attack, and a creature must be untapped to be declared as an attacker. Once attackers are locked in, your opponent gets to react before deciding how to block.

In the declare blockers step, the defending player assigns blockers. Each of their untapped creatures can block one attacker, and a single attacker can even be blocked by multiple creatures. Any attacking creature that ends up unblocked will deal its damage straight to the defending player. Blocking is the main way to protect your life total without losing life yourself.

Then comes the combat damage step. Each creature deals damage equal to its power. An unblocked attacker hits the player; a blocked attacker and its blocker hit each other. A creature is destroyed if it takes damage equal to or greater than its toughness during the turn. When several creatures block one attacker, the attacking player chooses how to split that attacker's damage among them, as long as each blocker assigned damage gets at least enough to be lethal before moving to the next.

First strike changes the timing of damage. A creature with first strike deals its combat damage in a separate, earlier damage step before creatures without it. This means a first striker can sometimes kill its blocker (or attacker) before that creature ever gets to deal damage back, which makes even a small first-strike creature surprisingly dangerous in combat.

Trample lets excess damage spill over to the player. If a creature with trample is blocked, the attacking player must assign at least enough damage to destroy the blockers, and any remaining damage goes to the defending player. For example, a 5/5 with trample blocked by a 2/2 deals 2 to the blocker and 3 to the player. These two keywords are among the first you'll meet, and understanding them gives you an early edge in combat math.