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The Combat Phase

A complete walkthrough of every step in MTG combat — from beginning of combat to end of combat, with CR citations.

Combat Phase Overview

The combat phase is one of the five phases of a turn in Magic: The Gathering, occurring after the first main phase and before the second main phase CR 506.1. It is the only phase during which creatures can attack and deal combat damage. Even if the active player controls no creatures or chooses not to attack, the combat phase still occurs unless a spell or ability skips it entirely.

The combat phase is divided into five steps, each with its own rules and priority windows:

1 Beginning of Combat
→
2 Declare Attackers
→
3 Declare Blockers
→
4 Combat Damage
→
5 End of Combat

Each step begins with any applicable turn-based actions, then triggered abilities go on the stack, and then the active player gets priority. Both players must pass priority in succession before the game advances to the next step CR 506.2. If no creatures attack, the declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped entirely CR 506.4.

Step 1: Beginning of Combat

The beginning of combat step is the first step of the combat phase CR 507.1. No turn-based actions occur during this step. Any abilities that trigger "at the beginning of combat" go on the stack, and then the active player receives priority.

This step is critically important because it is the last chance for either player to cast instants or activate abilities before attackers are declared. Common plays during this window include:

Common mistake: Many players try to tap a creature "before attacks" during the main phase. In competitive play, the active player must explicitly pass through beginning of combat. If a player says "go to combat" or "combat?", the defending player can respond in this step before attackers are declared.

Step 2: Declare Attackers

During the declare attackers step, the active player declares which creatures will attack and which player or planeswalker each one is attacking CR 508.1. This is a turn-based action that does not use the stack and cannot be responded to. All attackers are declared simultaneously.

Tapping

Declaring a creature as an attacker causes it to tap, unless it has vigilance CR 508.1d. A creature that is already tapped cannot be declared as an attacker. This is a fundamental rule: tapping is part of the cost of attacking, not a triggered ability.

Restrictions and Requirements

Some effects create attacking restrictions ("can't attack" or "can't attack unless...") and requirements ("attacks if able" or "attacks each combat if able") CR 508.1d. When declaring attackers, the active player must satisfy as many requirements as possible without violating any restrictions. If satisfying all requirements is impossible, the player fulfills as many as they can.

Example: You control a creature with "attacks each combat if able" and another creature without any requirement. Your opponent controls a Ghostly Prison ("Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 for each"). If you have only 2 mana available, you must pay it and attack with the creature that has the requirement. You are not forced to also attack with the other creature.

After Declaration

Once attackers are legally declared, any "whenever [this creature] attacks" triggered abilities go on the stack. Then the active player receives priority. Both players may cast instants and activate abilities before moving to the declare blockers step. This is the window where combat tricks like pump spells on attackers are commonly played.

Step 3: Declare Blockers

If any creatures were declared as attackers, the defending player now declares blockers CR 509.1. Like declaring attackers, this is a turn-based action — all blockers are declared simultaneously, and the declaration itself cannot be responded to.

How Blocking Works

Each blocking creature must be assigned to block exactly one attacking creature, unless it has an ability that says otherwise. An untapped creature can block regardless of whether it has summoning sickness, since blocking does not require tapping CR 509.1b. A tapped creature cannot block.

Multiple Blockers

Multiple creatures can block the same attacker. When this happens, the attacking player chooses a damage assignment order for those blockers immediately after blockers are declared CR 509.2. This order determines how the attacker will assign its combat damage later: the attacker must assign lethal damage to the first creature in the order before assigning any to the second, and so on.

Example: Your 5/5 is blocked by a 2/2 and a 3/3. You choose the damage assignment order: 3/3 first, then 2/2. During the combat damage step, you must assign at least 3 damage to the 3/3 before assigning any damage to the 2/2. You could assign 3 to the 3/3 and 2 to the 2/2, killing both.

After Declaration

Once blockers are declared and damage assignment order is chosen, any "whenever [this creature] blocks" or "whenever [this creature] becomes blocked" triggered abilities go on the stack. Both players then receive priority. This is another key window for combat tricks — pump spells on blockers, removal on attackers, or bounce effects are all common here.

Importantly, once a creature is declared as a blocker, removing it from combat does not cause the attacker to become unblocked. An attacker that was blocked remains blocked even if all its blockers are destroyed before the combat damage step CR 509.1h. The attacker simply deals no combat damage (unless it has trample).

Step 4: Combat Damage

In the combat damage step, creatures assign and deal combat damage simultaneously as a turn-based action CR 510.1. This does not use the stack. Each attacking creature that was not blocked assigns its full power in damage to the defending player (or planeswalker it attacked). Each blocked attacker assigns damage to the creatures blocking it, following the damage assignment order. Each blocking creature assigns its damage to the creature it is blocking.

How Damage Assignment Works

When an attacker is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacking player must assign at least lethal damage to the first creature in the damage assignment order before any can be assigned to the next CR 510.1c. "Lethal damage" is damage equal to the blocker's toughness minus any damage already marked on it. If the attacker does not have enough power to kill the first blocker, all its damage must be assigned there.

First Strike and Double Strike

When any attacking or blocking creature has first strike or double strike, the combat damage step is split into two sub-steps CR 510.4:

  1. First combat damage step: Only creatures with first strike or double strike assign and deal damage. After damage is dealt, state-based actions are checked (creatures with lethal damage are destroyed), and then both players get priority.
  2. Second (regular) combat damage step: All surviving creatures without first strike assign and deal damage, plus creatures with double strike deal damage again. State-based actions are checked, and both players get priority.
Example: Your 2/2 first striker blocks their 3/3. In the first combat damage step, your creature deals 2 damage to theirs. State-based actions check: the 3/3 has 2 damage, but 3 toughness, so it survives. In the regular combat damage step, the 3/3 deals 3 damage to your 2/2, destroying it. Your 2/2 does not deal damage again (it only has first strike, not double strike).

If a creature with first strike or double strike is removed from combat before the first combat damage step (for example, by a triggered ability), it never deals its first-strike damage. If no creatures with first strike or double strike are in combat, there is only a single combat damage step as normal.

Step 5: End of Combat

The end of combat step is the final step of the combat phase CR 511.1. Any abilities that trigger "at end of combat" go on the stack. Both players receive priority. This step exists primarily as a window for triggered abilities and for effects that last "until end of combat" to still be active.

Once the end of combat step finishes and both players pass priority with an empty stack, all creatures and planeswalkers are removed from combat CR 511.3. Effects that last "until end of combat" expire. The game then moves to the second main phase.

Key distinction: "Until end of combat" effects last through the end of combat step. "This turn" effects last until the cleanup step. These are different durations. A creature exiled "until end of combat" returns at the end of the end of combat step, not during the damage step.

Trample and Blocking

Trample is a static ability that modifies how an attacking creature assigns combat damage when it is blocked CR 702.19. Normally, a blocked creature assigns all its damage to the creatures blocking it (even if its power exceeds their total toughness). With trample, after the attacker assigns lethal damage to each blocker in damage assignment order, any remaining damage can be assigned to the defending player or planeswalker.

Example: Your 7/7 with trample is blocked by a 2/3. You must assign at least 3 damage to the blocker (its toughness). The remaining 4 damage can be assigned to the defending player. You could also choose to assign more than lethal damage to the blocker (say, 5 to the blocker and 2 to the player), but there is rarely a reason to do so.

Trample has an important interaction with creatures being removed from combat. If all blockers of a trampling creature are removed before the combat damage step, the trampling creature is still considered blocked, but since there are no blockers requiring lethal damage, all of its damage is assigned to the defending player. This differs from a non-trample creature, which would deal no damage if its blockers are gone.

Trample also interacts meaningfully with deathtouch: if an attacking creature has both trample and deathtouch, it only needs to assign 1 damage to each blocker (since 1 damage from a source with deathtouch is considered lethal), and the rest tramples through to the defending player CR 702.2b.

Deathtouch in Combat

Deathtouch is a static ability that means any amount of damage dealt by a source with deathtouch to a creature is enough to destroy it CR 702.2. State-based actions handle this: after combat damage is dealt, any creature that has been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch is destroyed, regardless of how much damage was dealt.

This has several practical implications in combat:

Deathtouch only matters for damage dealt by the source with deathtouch. If a 1/1 with deathtouch and a 2/2 without deathtouch both block the same attacker, only the damage from the deathtouch creature carries the deathtouch effect.

Flying, Reach, Menace, and Evasion

Evasion abilities are keyword abilities that restrict which creatures can block an attacker. These restrictions are checked during the declare blockers step CR 509.1b.

Flying

A creature with flying can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach CR 702.9. This is one of the most common evasion abilities in Magic. A creature with flying can still block non-flying creatures normally — the restriction only applies to blocking a flyer.

Reach

Reach is the counterpart to flying. A creature with reach can block creatures with flying CR 702.17. Reach itself does not grant flying or any other evasion; it simply allows the creature to be a legal blocker for flyers. A creature with both flying and reach functions the same as a creature with just flying (the reach is redundant).

Menace

A creature with menace cannot be blocked except by two or more creatures CR 702.110. A single creature can never legally block an attacker with menace, regardless of its power or toughness. This makes menace particularly effective in limited board states where the defending player has few creatures available.

Other Evasion Keywords

Multiple evasion abilities stack. A creature with both flying and menace can only be blocked by two or more creatures that each have flying or reach.

Common Combat Mistakes

These are the most frequent rules errors players make during combat, ranging from casual play misconceptions to mistakes that come up even in competitive events:

  1. Removing a blocker does not make the attacker unblocked. If you block a 5/5 with a 1/1 and the 1/1 is destroyed before damage, the 5/5 is still "blocked" and deals no combat damage to the defending player (unless it has trample) CR 509.1h.
  2. Tapped creatures cannot block. Unlike attacking (where tapping is the cost), blocking requires the creature to be untapped. You cannot tap a creature to block.
  3. Summoning sickness does not prevent blocking. A creature that just entered the battlefield can block, even though it cannot attack or use activated abilities with the tap symbol CR 302.6.
  4. Combat damage no longer uses the stack. As of the Magic 2010 rules update, combat damage is assigned and dealt simultaneously as a turn-based action. You cannot assign damage and then sacrifice the creature before damage resolves — it all happens at once.
  5. You choose damage assignment order, not exact amounts, when blockers are declared. The exact damage numbers are assigned in the combat damage step, not during the declare blockers step. The blocker declaration step only determines the order.
  6. Planeswalkers are attacked, not dealt "redirected" damage. You declare an attack against a planeswalker specifically during the declare attackers step. You do not redirect combat damage from a player to a planeswalker.
  7. Vigilance means the creature does not tap when attacking. It does not give any additional abilities. A creature with vigilance still follows all other combat rules normally.
  8. A creature can only attack the turn it enters the battlefield if it has haste. Summoning sickness prevents attacking (and using tap/untap abilities), but not blocking or using other activated abilities CR 302.6.

Related Guides

Combat interacts closely with several other rules areas. These guides cover related topics in depth:

⚖ Understanding the Stack 🛡 Protection Explained

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