Magic the Gathering: Ask a Judge

[AzureAngel17]

I believe so. It's a damage effect, and those can be redirected. It's life-loss that you can't redirect.

And thanks for the ruling Judge-person! You've earned like six free hugs if I ever see you in person.

[phlip]

Can a Goblin Fireslinger's ping be redirected at a planewalker?

Yep. Any non-combat damage that would be dealt to an opponent's face can be redirected to a Planeswalker they control.

[Lord Hosk]

Shoot, he could have killed liliana and we could have won

[vxicepickxv]

Can a Goblin Fireslinger's ping be redirected at a planewalker?

Yep. Any non-combat damage that would be dealt to an opponent's face can be redirected to a Planeswalker they control.

There are restrictions to that(redirection effects won't get redirected if you can destroy the planeswalker before damage is assigned to it), but the keywords are opponent and not player.

You can't use Chandra to deal 1 damage to yourself and redirect it to a planeswalker you control.

[Lemegeton]

guys does likelink trigger if you attack a planeswalker directly and decrease the number of counters on it. i.e. does that count as combat damage and you gain life ?

[vxicepickxv]

guys does likelink trigger if you attack a planeswalker directly and decrease the number of counters on it. i.e. does that count as combat damage and you gain life ?

Lifelink isn't limited to combat damage.

Comprehensive rules
702.14b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes).

This means if you give Stuffy Doll lifelink, and you tap it to deal 1 damage to itself, you would gain 1 life, and the damage trigger would go on the stack, and you would gain 1 life from it dealing damage to your opponent.

If you have a creature with lifelink fight another creature, you gain life equal to your creature's power.

[Lemegeton]

guys does likelink trigger if you attack a planeswalker directly and decrease the number of counters on it. i.e. does that count as combat damage and you gain life ?

Lifelink isn't limited to combat damage.

Comprehensive rules
702.14b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes).

This means if you give Stuffy Doll lifelink, and you tap it to deal 1 damage to itself, you would gain 1 life, and the damage trigger would go on the stack, and you would gain 1 life from it dealing damage to your opponent.

If you have a creature with lifelink fight another creature, you gain life equal to your creature's power.

thanks but i know how lifelink works but i was asking specifically about the case where a creature with lifelink attacks a planeswalker. i was playing a game earlier and opponent said i dont gain life as removing counters from a planeawalker does not trigger lifelink
was he wrong??

[vxicepickxv]

guys does likelink trigger if you attack a planeswalker directly and decrease the number of counters on it. i.e. does that count as combat damage and you gain life ?

Lifelink isn't limited to combat damage.

Comprehensive rules
702.14b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes).

This means if you give Stuffy Doll lifelink, and you tap it to deal 1 damage to itself, you would gain 1 life, and the damage trigger would go on the stack, and you would gain 1 life from it dealing damage to your opponent.

If you have a creature with lifelink fight another creature, you gain life equal to your creature's power.

thanks but i know how lifelink works but i was asking specifically about the case where a creature with lifelink attacks a planeswalker. i was playing a game earlier and opponent said i dont gain life as removing counters from a planeawalker does not trigger lifelink
was he wrong??

Okay, this rule will help

119.1. Objects can deal damage to creatures, planeswalkers, and players. This is generally detrimental to the object or player that receives that damage. An object that deals damage is the source of that damage.

A creature with lifelink deals damage to a planeswalker, which is damaged in the form of removing loyalty counters. It still counts as damage.

[vxicepickxv]

Now for a question that's related to something that's not actually related to any card interaction questions.

During the RTR release last week, one of the players was pitted against 3 opponents in a row that were intentionally slow playing after they lost their first game. While there is nothing that could be done for the event that happened in the past, what could be done in the future to reduce or eliminate the possibility of that happening again?

[SilPho]

I will also point out that creatures with Infect and Wither that deal damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters also work "correctly" with Lifelink. You do still gain life.

As for slow play, you can remind players that deliberately playing slowly is not just "Slow Play", it is "Stalling", which is considered to be cheating and as such can result in disqualification. This is, of course, quite rare.

Playing slowly is always a tricky issue, a judge that suspects a player of playing slowly will often ask them to "play a little faster, please" and in most cases that's the end of it. Generally the only way someone is going to be disqualified is if they actually admit "Yeah, I was playing slowly because I'm one game up and need the clock to run out".

Best thing to do, if you actually think there's an issue, is to talk things over with the person running the event. They are there to make sure everyone has a fair and fun time.

[DuelLadyS]

So, my opponent has Painful Quandry on the field. I play a card, and they respond with Dash Hopes. How excactly does that resolve?

[SilPho]

You cast your spell, the triggered ability from Painful Quandry goes onto the stack. The opponent casts Dash Hopes and then that trigger goes onto the stack. The stack now looks like this:

Dash Hopes trigger
Dash Hopes
Painful Quandry trigger
Original spell

Dash Hopes trigger gives everyone the chance to pay 5 life (starting with the active player), if any one of the players takes this option they will lose 5 life and Dash Hopes will be countered. If nobody pays any life then Dash Hopes will not be countered.

If Dash Hopes was not countered it will now resolve and counter the original. Either way the Painful Quandry trigger will need to be dealt with. You will have the choice of discarding a card or paying 5 life (possibly another 5 life if you countered Dash Hopes yourself).

And then if the original spell is still around, that will resolve.

So, the path will be one of these two:

Dash Hopes trigger --> Dash Hopes counters spell --> Painful Quandry trigger
Dash Hopes trigger --> Painful Quandry trigger --> Original spell

[DuelLadyS]

So, basically, Painful Quandry goes off even if the spell that triggered it leaves the stack.

Well, my fiance's going to be a happy man.

[SilPho]

Didn't realise that was the main part of your question, but yes Sorry for the bad news

[DuelLadyS]

Didn't realise that was the main part of your question, but yes Sorry for the bad news

Oh, I don't mind- I have enchantment removal & lifegain options. It's everyone else who's got bad news.

[CompletelyUnsure]

Here's a quandary that's been bugging me for a while, it's about double strike. If I give a creature with double strike another double strike from a separate source, and attack, how does that shake out? Would it be two first strikes, then two normal hits? Or is it one first strike then three normal hits?

[Kapol]

You'd only get one first strike and a normal hit. First strike, if I'm not mistaken, is basically it's own phase. So it goes first strike, damage, normal, damage. You don't get more then one double strike per creature.

[SilPho]

Kapol is right.

At the beginning of the Combat Damage Step, the game checks to see if any attacking or blocking creature has First Strike or Double Strike. If any of them do, another Combat Damage Step will occur after this one. Creatures can only ever deal damage in one of those combat steps, unless they have Double Strike during the second step.

Only cards like Savage Beating can grant you more mileage from your double strike creatures.

[AzureAngel17]

A couple of fun little cards from Innistrad have their own twist on extra damage in the combat phase: Ashmouth Hound and Somberwald Vigilante both have effects that deal damage in the Declare Blockers step, so if you can give one of them Double Strike (and/or deathtouch for extra evil-laughter inducing joy), they can really inflict some pain on your opponents.

(I have a soft spot for Virgil. I pulled a foil copy of him in the first booster pack I ever bought.)

[Kapol]

Double strike wouldn't give either of their effects two hits if that's what you're implying. Just so that's clear.

[AzureAngel17]

Sorry, no, I wasn't implying that. With those two, giving them double strike works just like with other creatures, however you also get in with a point of damage in the declare blockers step, making it almost like a triple strike, since they can get in a stab before an opponent's double strike or first strike blockers deal their own combat damage. Then if you've somehow given Virgil double strike, he can trade with a 3/3, though chances are you're losing out in that since you probably spent a card to give him the double strike!

[Kapol]

I understand that. I was just pointing it out for someone who might be reading and have gotten confused by the wording.

[AzureAngel17]

Aye Cap'n K. I went ahead and edited my reply there to make that clearer too. Sorry for any confusion! I'm fresh off of an Innistrad booster box and still oogling over all of the cards I've never gotten to play (like the hound). :p

Edit: I have no idea why I called you that, I'm having a weird night.

[vxicepickxv]

A couple of fun little cards from Innistrad have their own twist on extra damage in the combat phase: Ashmouth Hound and Somberwald Vigilante both have effects that deal damage in the Declare Blockers step, so if you can give one of them Double Strike (and/or deathtouch for extra evil-laughter inducing joy), they can really inflict some pain on your opponents.

(I have a soft spot for Virgil. I pulled a foil copy of him in the first booster pack I ever bought.)

You could just soulbond them with Nightshade Peddler, or use deadly allure. If you go the soulbond route, use Revenge of the Hunted to make your opponent cry.

[Dubious_wolf]

Alright so EDH question
And then a question which has prolly been asked before so please don't flame me.
Ok so in edh. Commanderdamge is a separate tracker which counts the amount of commander damage you've taken. it still hits your life total and isn't a separate pool. If this is the case. Does [mtg_card=Elderscale Wurm] Prevent damage thus preventing you from taking more commander damage? Or do you still get pinged for commander combat damage, but not reduced below 7 life?

And the second question, I swing with a creature who has 20/20 with trample, my opponent blocks with a 3/3 creature who has protection against (creature, color,etc.) does the trample stop at that creature or does it deal 3 damage to said creature and then my 20/20 continue through to his life total?