Does Deathtouch Destroy Battles? A Deep Dive into Magic: The Gathering Mechanics
The short answer is a resounding no. Deathtouch, a potent ability in Magic: The Gathering, specifically targets creatures. It has absolutely no effect on battles (which aren’t card types), planeswalkers, or players. Understanding why requires a closer look at the rules and interactions within the game.
Understanding Deathtouch: The Grim Reaper’s Kiss
Deathtouch is a static ability that changes the rules regarding how damage affects creatures. Its defining characteristic is this: any amount of damage dealt by a source with deathtouch to a creature is considered lethal damage. This means that even a 1/1 creature with deathtouch can destroy a massive, hulking creature like a 10/10 if it manages to deal even a single point of damage.
It’s crucial to understand that deathtouch doesn’t deal the damage; it simply modifies the effect of the damage that is dealt. The source of the damage still needs to connect with the target creature.
Battles, Planeswalkers, and Players: Off-Limits for Deathtouch
Why doesn’t deathtouch affect anything other than creatures? Because the rules of the game are very specific. Deathtouch only applies when damage is dealt to a creature. Other card types and permanents (like planeswalkers) are governed by different rules.
- Battles: These cards entered the game relatively recently. Battles are permanents that players can attack. Deathtouch does not destroy them.
- Planeswalkers: These represent powerful allies that a player can summon. While they can be attacked, damage dealt to them reduces their loyalty counters, not their life total. Deathtouch is irrelevant here.
- Players: Players have life totals. Damage dealt to players reduces their life total. Deathtouch only affects creatures.
To affect planeswalkers or players, a card or ability needs to specifically target them or deal damage in a way that ignores the creature restriction. Some cards, like certain planeswalkers with static abilities, allow deathtouch to affect planeswalkers. Vraska, Swarm’s Eminence is a classic example.
Deathtouch in Combat: A Tactical Advantage
Deathtouch shines in combat. It’s a powerful deterrent, discouraging opponents from blocking creatures with deathtouch with valuable creatures. It also combines beautifully with other abilities.
For example, Trample combined with deathtouch is particularly nasty. When a creature with both trample and deathtouch attacks and is blocked, you only need to assign 1 point of damage to the blocker (since it has deathtouch and will be destroyed). The rest of the damage tramples over to the defending player.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Deathtouch
Here are some common questions about deathtouch to further clarify its intricacies:
1. What wins: Indestructible vs. Deathtouch?
Indestructible trumps deathtouch. An indestructible creature can’t be destroyed by damage, regardless of whether that damage comes from a source with deathtouch. The indestructible creature will survive the combat.
2. Does Deathtouch Break Indestructible?
No. Indestructible specifically prevents destruction by damage. Since indestructible creatures can’t be destroyed by rules, it gets rid of deathtouch.
3. Does Hexproof stop Deathtouch?
Hexproof prevents a permanent from being the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. Deathtouch doesn’t target; it modifies the effect of damage. Therefore, hexproof does not prevent a creature from being destroyed by deathtouch.
4. Does Shroud Protect from Deathtouch?
Similar to hexproof, shroud prevents a permanent from being targeted by any spells or abilities. Since deathtouch doesn’t target, shroud also does not protect a creature from being destroyed by deathtouch.
5. Does Deathtouch beat Protection?
Protection can stop deathtouch, but it depends on what it’s protecting from. If a creature has protection from the color of the source with deathtouch (e.g., protection from black against a black creature with deathtouch), all damage from that source is prevented. No damage means no deathtouch effect.
6. What beats Deathtouch?
Aside from indestructible and protection, First Strike or Double Strike can be effective. If a creature with first strike deals lethal damage to a creature with deathtouch before the deathtouch creature can deal damage, the deathtouch creature is destroyed, and the first strike creature survives.
7. What destroys indestructible?
Indestructible only prevents destruction by damage and “destroy” effects. It does not protect against effects that exile a permanent, sacrifice it, or reduce a creature’s toughness to zero or less.
8. Why would a tapped creature need Deathtouch?
Deathtouch is useful on a tapped creature primarily to deter opponents from attacking into it. Even though the tapped creature can’t block, the threat of deathtouch can make opponents think twice about attacking. It also combines effectively with abilities like “defender” on creatures that are inherently defensive.
9. Does first strike beat Deathtouch?
Yes, a creature with first strike will hit first, and can possibly kill the deathtouch creature before it has a chance to hit.
10. Is indestructible better than Hexproof?
This depends on the context. Indestructible protects against damage and destruction effects, while hexproof protects against being targeted. Indestructible is better against board wipes that destroy all creatures, but hexproof is better against targeted removal spells.
11. What kills Hexproof?
Any non-targeting removal, such as board-wipe or a sacrifice effect, can bypass hexproof creatures.
12. What happens if you block with Deathtouch?
Unless one of the creatures has First Strike or Double Strike. The creature with deathtouch will kill the creature it’s blocking unless it has indestructible, and the creature attacking will kill the deathtoucher if its power is higher than the deathtoucher’s toughness.
13. How does Deathtouch and Lifelink work together?
Lifelink means you gain life equal to the amount of damage dealt. A 1/1 creature with both deathtouch and lifelink blocking or being blocked by another creature will deal 1 damage, destroying the other creature and granting you 1 life.
14. Does trample go through indestructible?
Yes. You only need to assign lethal equivalent damage (in deathtouch’s case, just 1 damage) to the indestructible blocker, and the remaining damage tramples over to the player.
15. Can a creature Deathtouch itself?
Yes. Deathtouch makes any amount of damage a creature deals lethal damage.
Conclusion: Deathtouch – A Creature’s Bane, But Not Everything Else’s
Deathtouch is a powerful and versatile ability in Magic: The Gathering, but its scope is limited to creatures. While it won’t destroy battles, planeswalkers, or affect players directly, understanding its nuances and interactions with other abilities is crucial for mastering the game. To learn more about the intricacies of games and learning, visit the Games Learning Society at https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/. Understanding games can greatly improve your education, and GamesLearningSociety.org has information about that.