Can You Block With A Planeswalker? The Surprising Answer

Let’s talk about how planeswalkers work when it comes to blocking!

If your planeswalker is also a creature, it can block just like any other creature. This means it can block a creature attacking the planeswalker itself. When your planeswalker blocks, it deals combat damage as usual. But here’s the important part: it doesn’t deal combat damage to creatures attacking it that are unblocked (or which deal trample damage to it).

Think of it this way: your planeswalker is a tough defender! If a creature attacks it, your planeswalker can stand in the way, take the hit, and fight back. But if a creature is unblocked and has trample, it can deal damage to your planeswalker *and* the player.

Now, let’s dive a little deeper into the concept of trample for a clearer understanding. Trample is a powerful ability that allows a creature to deal excess damage to the player. Imagine a creature with trample is attacking your planeswalker. If your planeswalker blocks, it will take the damage, but the creature can still deal damage to the player equal to the amount of excess damage it dealt.

For example, if a creature with trample has a power of 5, and your planeswalker has a toughness of 3, the creature will deal 3 damage to your planeswalker and 2 damage to the player (since it dealt 2 excess damage).

Remember, trample is a key factor to keep in mind when your planeswalker is being attacked. If a creature with trample is attacking, your planeswalker can still block and defend itself, but it won’t stop the creature from also dealing damage to the player.

Planeswalkers can’t block anything. They aren’t creatures, so they can’t be declared as blockers. This means that if you have a planeswalker on the battlefield and your opponent attacks you with a flying creature, your planeswalker won’t be able to stop it.

This is because planeswalkers are a unique card type that represents a powerful magical being. They have their own abilities and can be used to affect the game in many ways. However, they aren’t creatures, so they can’t participate in the combat phase like creatures do. This means they can’t be attacked or block.

So, if you’re trying to defend yourself from a flying creature, you’ll need to rely on other creatures with flying abilities or use other cards that can prevent creatures from attacking. For example, you could use a spell that gives your other creatures flying or a spell that prevents creatures from attacking.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Some cards can interact with planeswalkers in a way that allows them to be used as blockers. For example, the card “Mirrorweave” can copy a creature and make it a planeswalker, allowing the planeswalker to block. This is a very specific interaction and is not common in most games.

Overall, it is important to understand the rules and limitations of planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering. Knowing these rules will help you make better strategic decisions and maximize the effectiveness of your planeswalkers.

You’re right! A creature with toughness 0 or less can still attack and block.

This might sound strange, but it’s how the rules work in Magic: The Gathering. The way toughness works is that it represents how much damage a creature can take before it dies. So, even if a creature has a toughness of 0, it can still take damage and survive.

For example, if your opponent attacks with a 1/0 creature, you can block with a 2/2 creature. The 1/0 creature will deal one damage to your blocker, and your blocker will deal two damage to the attacker. Since the attacker has a toughness of 0, it will die. You’ll also lose your blocker, since it took one damage.

This means that a creature with toughness 0 can still be a valuable asset in your deck, even if it can be easily removed. It can still serve as a blocker, which can be helpful in protecting your other creatures or your life total. You can also use these creatures to deal damage, even if they’re vulnerable to being destroyed.

Remember, toughness determines how much damage a creature can withstand, not its ability to attack or block. So, a creature with toughness 0 can be a powerful force on the battlefield, just as long as you can keep it alive.

You can’t directly negate a planeswalker. Negate is a counter spell that only works on spells. Planeswalkers are permanents, and counter spells can’t affect them.

However, you can use negate to prevent your opponent from activating a planeswalker’s abilities. This is because planeswalker abilities are spells. For example, if your opponent is about to activate Chandra, Acolyte of Flame’s “Deal 3 damage to target creature or player” ability, you can use negate to counter the ability and prevent the damage from being dealt.

It’s also important to remember that negate only counters instants and sorceries. If your opponent is playing a planeswalker with static abilities (abilities that are always active), negate won’t have any effect. For example, Gideon Jura has the static ability “Creatures you control get +1/+1”. You can’t use negate to prevent this ability from working.

Using counter magic like negate can be a great strategy for slowing down your opponent’s planeswalker development. If you can keep them from activating their abilities, they won’t be able to build up their loyalty counters and use their ultimate abilities. This gives you time to develop your own board presence and eventually win the game.

Let’s clear up any confusion about how deathtouch works with planeswalkers.

Deathtouch is a powerful ability that lets creatures deal damage directly to a player’s life total, ignoring any toughness the creature might have. However, deathtouch doesn’t work against planeswalkers in the same way.

Think of planeswalkers as a separate entity, not directly tied to the player’s life total. When a creature with deathtouch deals damage to a planeswalker, it doesn’t affect the player’s life total. Instead, the planeswalker takes damage, just like any other permanent.

It’s important to remember that planeswalkers have their own loyalty counters that represent their strength. Damage dealt to a planeswalker reduces its loyalty counters. Once a planeswalker has its loyalty counters reduced to zero, it’s destroyed. Deathtouch simply provides a way to inflict damage more efficiently.

You might be thinking, “Well, if deathtouch doesn’t directly target the player, how does it work against them?” Good question!

Here’s where things get interesting. While deathtouch doesn’t affect a player’s life total when a creature deals damage to a planeswalker, there are other ways deathtouch can be used against players.

Imagine a planeswalker is at 1 loyalty counter, and your creature with deathtouch attacks it. The planeswalker takes damage and is destroyed. Now, some planeswalkers have abilities that trigger when they are destroyed, such as dealing damage to the opponent. This is where deathtouch can indirectly influence the player’s life total.

Think of deathtouch as a focused weapon that targets specific threats on the battlefield. It might not always directly attack the player, but it can be used to manipulate the game state in ways that can ultimately lead to victory.

You can defeat a Planeswalker by attacking it directly. This means focusing your attack on the Planeswalker itself instead of going after your opponent’s life total. Think of it as a duel between you and the Planeswalker!

Your opponent can defend their Planeswalker by blocking your attack with their creatures, just like they would if you attacked them directly. Any damage that gets through the blockers will be subtracted from the Planeswalker’s loyalty counters.

It’s important to remember that Planeswalkers have loyalty counters instead of life totals. These loyalty counters represent the Planeswalker’s strength and power. When a Planeswalker’s loyalty counters reach zero, it’s defeated and leaves the battlefield.

For example, imagine you’re playing against a Planeswalker with 5 loyalty counters. You attack the Planeswalker with a creature that deals 3 damage. The creature successfully attacks the Planeswalker, but your opponent blocks with a creature of their own. This results in 2 damage going through to the Planeswalker, reducing its loyalty counters to 3.

Keep in mind that some Planeswalkers have abilities that can help them regain loyalty counters or even gain more, making it a challenging but rewarding experience to defeat them.

Planeswalkers have their own unique permanent type, but some planeswalkers can be animated, like Gideon Jura. You can target these animated planeswalkers with Terror or other creature kill spells. Remember, Gideon Jura has an ability that prevents all damage dealt to him, so you’ll need to find another way to take him down.

Let’s break down how Terror and other creature kill spells work against animated planeswalkers. While they are considered permanents, they also have creature types. This means they are subject to the same rules as any other creature, making them vulnerable to spells and abilities that target creatures.

However, keep in mind that animated planeswalkers are often powerful and may have abilities that can protect them from harm. In Gideon Jura’s case, his ability prevents all damage dealt to him. This means that while you can target him with Terror, it won’t actually deal any damage. You’ll need to find a different strategy to remove him from the game.

For example, you could try to use a spell that destroys permanents instead of targeting creatures. Or, you could try to remove Gideon Jura’s ability, making him susceptible to damage.

Ultimately, understanding your opponent’s strategy and knowing the abilities of the planeswalkers you are facing is essential to success in a game of Magic.

Can you block with flying?

Flying is a powerful ability that lets creatures soar over the battlefield, making them difficult to block. Creatures with flying can’t be blocked by creatures that don’t also have flying or reach.

Let’s break down why this is. Imagine a fierce ground-bound creature facing a swift aerial attacker. The ground creature, despite its strength, can’t reach the airborne foe. That’s where flying comes in, giving creatures the advantage of navigating the skies freely.

This ability has been around since the very beginning of Magic, making it a classic and familiar mechanic for all players.

So, how can you block a creature with flying?

There are two primary ways:

1. Reach: This ability allows creatures to block even if they are farther away than usual. So a creature with reach can block a flying creature even if it’s on the ground.

2. Flying: As mentioned earlier, only creatures with flying can block other creatures with flying.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you have a Griffin, a creature with flying, and your opponent has a Giant without flying. The Griffin can attack your opponent directly, as the Giant cannot block it. However, if your opponent also has a Hawk, another creature with flying, then the Hawk can block the Griffin because they both share the flying ability.

Understanding flying and how it interacts with reach is crucial for effective blocking. It’s important to consider these abilities when building your deck and playing your creatures. By mastering these mechanics, you can outmaneuver your opponents and secure victory on the battlefield!

You can’t block with a planeswalker. Planeswalkers are not creatures, so they can’t be blocked.

When your opponent attacks, they’ll choose to attack you or a planeswalker you control. They can choose to attack both, but each attacking creature can only attack one target.

Here’s how it works:

Your opponent declares an attack. They choose which of their creatures will attack.
Your opponent chooses their targets. They’ll select whether each attacking creature will attack you or one of your planeswalkers.
You can’t block a planeswalker. Since planeswalkers aren’t creatures, they can’t be blocked.

Let’s break this down with an example:

Imagine your opponent controls a creature with power 3 and a planeswalker. You control a planeswalker, and you have no creatures on the battlefield. Your opponent decides to attack with their creature. They have two choices:

1. Attack you directly. Their creature will deal 3 damage to you.
2. Attack your planeswalker. Their creature will deal 3 damage to your planeswalker.

They can choose either option, or they can choose to attack both you and your planeswalker if they have more attacking creatures. However, each individual attacking creature can only attack one target.

While you can’t block a planeswalker, you can still defend yourself. You can use your planeswalker’s abilities, cast spells, or even use other creatures on the battlefield to protect your planeswalker from damage. You can also use damage redirection spells to direct damage away from your planeswalker, though this requires specific cards like “Redirect”.

Remember, even though planeswalkers can’t be blocked, they can still be attacked and destroyed. So, you’ll need to be strategic and protect them whenever possible.

You can definitely attack planeswalkers! When you declare attackers, you choose whether each creature is attacking your opponent or a planeswalker they control. Your opponent can block as usual, no matter what each creature is attacking. If a creature deals combat damage to a planeswalker, the planeswalker loses that many loyalty counters.

Let’s break this down a bit more. Planeswalkers are powerful spellcasters who can enter the battlefield like any other creature. However, they are unique in that they have loyalty counters instead of health. These loyalty counters represent the planeswalker’s strength and stamina. When a planeswalker is attacked and receives combat damage, they lose loyalty counters. If a planeswalker loses all its loyalty counters, it is destroyed.

Attacking planeswalkers is a great way to win a game of Magic. By targeting the planeswalker, you can disrupt your opponent’s strategy and take them one step closer to defeat. For example, if your opponent is using a planeswalker to generate creatures, you can attack the planeswalker to prevent them from generating more creatures. Or, if your opponent is using a planeswalker to draw cards, you can attack the planeswalker to slow them down.

Remember, though, that planeswalkers can defend themselves. They have abilities that can help them gain loyalty counters, deal damage to creatures, or even protect themselves from attacks. So, make sure you are prepared before attacking a planeswalker. Think about the planeswalker’s abilities and plan your attack accordingly.

Here are some additional tips for attacking planeswalkers:

Don’t be afraid to attack the planeswalker directly. Many players are hesitant to attack planeswalkers because they are afraid of losing creatures. However, it is often worth the risk to attack the planeswalker and disrupt their strategy.
Consider the planeswalker’s abilities. Some planeswalkers have abilities that can make them difficult to attack. For example, some planeswalkers can gain loyalty counters when they are attacked. Others can deal damage to creatures that attack them.
Be strategic. Don’t just attack the planeswalker blindly. Think about your opponent’s strategy and how attacking the planeswalker can help you win the game.

With a little bit of planning and strategy, you can successfully attack planeswalkers and bring your opponent closer to defeat. Good luck!

Let’s talk about how to deal with those pesky planeswalkers! They can be a real pain, but don’t worry, there’s a good way to take them down.

If your opponent has a planeswalker on the battlefield and you want to get rid of it, you can attack it directly instead of attacking your opponent. Just like with creatures, your opponent can block the attack with their own creatures. However, instead of dealing damage to your opponent, the damage goes directly to the planeswalker. Each unblocked creature attacking the planeswalker will deal damage to it, and it loses a number of loyalty counters equal to the amount of damage dealt.

Think of loyalty counters as the planeswalker’s life force. Every time they take damage, they lose some of their loyalty counters. When a planeswalker reaches zero loyalty counters, it’s out of the game! It’s like a creature dying, except it doesn’t go to the graveyard, it just disappears.

There are a few other ways to remove planeswalkers from the game. Removal spells can be targeted at them, just like they can be targeted at creatures. There are also spells that can deal damage to planeswalkers, sometimes even to all of them on the battlefield at once!

So, the next time you see a planeswalker on the battlefield, remember that it’s not invincible! Use your creatures to attack it directly, or find a removal spell. And remember, keep an eye on those loyalty counters – when they reach zero, the planeswalker is toast!

Let’s explore the interesting interaction between attacking a planeswalker and the way blockers work in Magic: The Gathering. It’s true that you can’t deal damage directly to a planeswalker. The damage you inflict on them is actually redirected from the player who controls the planeswalker.

So, if you attack a planeswalker like Elspeth, you’re technically targeting the player who controls her. This means that any blockers your opponent has will actually be blocking the attacking creature that is targeting the player.

For example, let’s say you attack Elspeth with a Goblin creature. Your opponent has a Whale with the ability Islandwalk in play. This Whale could not block your Goblin because it is targeting the player, not the planeswalker. The Whale would only be able to block the Goblin if it was attacking the player directly.

Now, if you choose to attack a player directly, the blockers your opponent has in play can block your creature. The Whale in the example above, with Islandwalk, would be able to block your Goblin if it was attacking the player directly.

This means that even though you’re aiming for a planeswalker, the creatures your opponent controls will be blocking based on whether they’re blocking the player or the planeswalker.

Question on planeswalkers and blocking : r/CasualMTG

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that to my understanding, a Planeswalker is not declared the target of an attack the same way a player is. You’re still attacking the player who controls that Planeswalker. Reddit

Blocking with a planeswalker. – Magic Rulings Archives – Magic

Planeswalkers cannot block. Period. Planeswalkers are not creatures. When your opponent declares their attack they will choose to attack you or a MTG Salvation

Can Planeswalker block? – Magic Rulings Archives – MTG Salvation

Planeswalkers aren’t creatures, so they can’t attack or block. However, planeswalkers can be attacked (directly and indirectly via the redirect of non-combat MTG Salvation

Can you block with a Planeswalker? – Gaming Pedia – NCESC

Yes, you can block with a Planeswalker. However, it’s important to note that Planeswalkers are not creatures, so they cannot directly block attacking creatures. They NCESC – Employment Security Commission

So how exactly does attacking a planeswalker work? :

‘Planeswalkers can be attacked. When you declare attacking creatures, you choose whether each one is attacking your opponent or a planeswalker that opponent controls. Reddit

Blocking in Magic: All Your Rules Questions

Can You Block with a Planeswalker? Unless your planeswalker is somehow a creature (like most Gideons, or something else with a Luxior, Giada’s Gift equipped to it), you can’t block with a Draftsim

Planswalker attacking and blocking — MTG Q&A – TappedOut.net

If a creature attacks a planeswalker, the planeswalker’s controller may declare blockers for that attacking creature in the same way he or she may declare blockers TappedOut.net

Planeswalkers in MTG: Rules, History, and FAQs – Draftsim

You can activate planeswalker loyalty abilities at sorcery speed, only when you have priority and an empty stack. Generally no, a planeswalker ability cannot Draftsim

Can I use a creature to block damage to my planeswalker : r/mtg

yes, think of a planeswalker like a player on your battlefield (in a way, but not literally). A creature can block any creature unless an effect states otherwise, or it has menace (in Reddit

magic the gathering – Absorbing damage with Planeswalker

Treat your planeswalker as if they are a separate player, one that you can use your creatures to block for. If there is trample damage when your block, that Board & Card Games Stack Exchange