Can Planeswalkers Be Destroyed? A Comprehensive Guide
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The short answer is yes, planeswalkers can absolutely be destroyed in Magic: The Gathering, despite their seemingly powerful nature. However, their destruction doesn’t work exactly like destroying a creature. Planeswalkers are a unique card type with their own set of rules and interactions. This article will delve deep into how planeswalkers are destroyed, offering a complete guide and answering common questions.
Understanding Planeswalker Destruction
Unlike creatures, planeswalkers don’t have a toughness stat that depletes from combat damage. Instead, they possess loyalty counters, which are the key to their survival. When a planeswalker takes damage, they lose an equivalent number of loyalty counters. If a planeswalker reaches zero loyalty counters, it is put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action, effectively “destroying” it, even though it’s not technically destroyed by a spell or effect.
How Planeswalkers Take Damage
Damage to a planeswalker can be dealt in two primary ways:
- Attacking with Creatures: When declaring attackers, a player can choose to redirect their creatures’ attacks to an opponent’s planeswalker rather than the opponent themselves. Damage dealt by those creatures will then remove loyalty counters from the targeted planeswalker.
- Spells and Abilities: Certain spells and abilities can directly target planeswalkers and deal damage, removing the corresponding loyalty counters.
Indestructibility and Planeswalkers
While the ability indestructible prevents a permanent from being destroyed by damage and “destroy” effects, it doesn’t prevent a planeswalker from going to the graveyard when their loyalty reaches zero. Indestructible simply means that damage won’t destroy it outright. However, if a planeswalker with indestructible takes damage, it will lose loyalty counters and will still be put into the graveyard when it has no loyalty counters.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Planeswalker Destruction
1. Can you destroy a planeswalker with “Destroy target permanent” effects?
Yes, absolutely. Planeswalkers are considered permanents after they’ve entered the battlefield. Any spell or ability that can target any permanent, like the effect of Argentum Armor, can also target a planeswalker.
2. Can direct damage spells target planeswalkers?
Many direct damage spells can target planeswalkers. Spells like Lightning Bolt, however, can only target players or creatures. Look for cards that explicitly say they can target planeswalkers (or any target). Cards like Abrade are versatile in targeting either creatures or planeswalkers.
3. If a planeswalker takes deathtouch damage, is it destroyed?
No, deathtouch doesn’t directly destroy planeswalkers. Deathtouch only applies to creatures. Deathtouch causes 1 point of damage of the source with deathtouch to kill any creature it deals damage to (unless that creature is indestructible). Planeswalkers are not creatures so deathtouch will cause damage but not death by lethal damage. A card like Vraska, Swarm’s Eminence adds an additional ability to deal with Planeswalkers when creatures with Deathtouch damage them.
4. Does trample damage go through a planeswalker?
Trample doesn’t technically go “through” a planeswalker in the same way it goes through a blocking creature, but the damage to the planeswalker is calculated differently than the player. When a creature with trample attacks a planeswalker, the controller must assign lethal damage to the planeswalker first, and then any excess damage is lost. It does not carry over to the player.
5. Can a planeswalker be destroyed by “sacrifice” effects?
Yes, planeswalkers can be sacrificed like any other permanent. This bypasses indestructibility, as sacrificing a permanent is not the same as destroying it. Indestructible doesn’t prevent you from being forced to sacrifice the permanent.
6. Do board wipes like Wrath of God affect planeswalkers?
No, board wipes like Wrath of God only destroy creatures, not planeswalkers. You’d need a different type of effect to remove a planeswalker en masse.
7. If a planeswalker has zero loyalty, is it destroyed?
Yes, a planeswalker with zero loyalty is put into its owner’s graveyard. This is a state-based action that occurs immediately and does not use the stack, so it cannot be responded to.
8. Can you attack a planeswalker with multiple creatures at once?
Yes, you can attack a planeswalker with any number of your creatures during your combat phase. Each creature deals its damage and will remove loyalty counters, one for each point of damage dealt.
9. Can you have two identical planeswalkers in play?
No, you cannot have two cards with the exact same name in play. However, you can have multiple planeswalkers in play as long as their names are different. There’s no limit to the total number of planeswalkers you can have as long as they have unique names.
10. What happens to compleated planeswalkers?
Compleated planeswalkers are essentially considered dead in the storyline. In the game, this is reflected in a change to how they function as cards and are generally considered a negative effect on the cards themselves. This means when they enter the battlefield they enter with less loyalty counters.
11. What is the compleated planeswalker rule?
The compleated planeswalker rule adjusts the number of loyalty counters when the planeswalker enters the battlefield if you paid life for Phyrexian mana symbols in its casting cost. Each Phyrexian mana symbol paid with life reduces the starting loyalty counters by two. They will have less loyalty when entering the field.
12. Can an indestructible planeswalker lose loyalty?
Yes, giving a planeswalker indestructible will not stop it from losing loyalty when it takes damage. Indestructibility only prevents destruction from damage or destroy effects.
13. Why did planeswalkers lose their former power?
In the Magic: The Gathering storyline, planeswalkers underwent an event called The Mending. This change meant that they lost their invulnerability, immortality, and many of their additional magical powers.
14. Can crawl space protect planeswalkers?
No, Crawl space will not protect planeswalkers. Your opponents can still attack planeswalkers you control with any number of creatures each combat.
15. How do you destroy a planeswalker with an ability that also deals damage?
If a card’s ability both deals damage and has a “destroy” effect and the effect targets a creature or planeswalker, it can function to destroy a planeswalker. These effects are very specific but very powerful as a result.
Conclusion
Planeswalkers, while powerful, are not invincible. They can be removed through various methods, and understanding how they are destroyed is essential to effectively playing Magic: The Gathering. By managing your opponent’s creatures, using the right spells, and targeting their planeswalkers correctly, you can gain a significant advantage in the game. Remember, while indestructible and deathtouch are important abilities, they don’t work the same against planeswalkers as they do against creatures.