


What Happens If A Creature Has First Strike And Double Strike?įirst strike and double strike are redundant. Creatures with double strike deal damage during both combat damage steps, making it the more powerful keyword. Yes! Creatures with first strike deal damage before normal creatures, but they still only deal damage once. Is Double Strike Better Than First Strike? Now that we’ve gone over the basics of double strike, let’s take a look at how it interacts with other parts of MTG. With so many mechanics, just about every aspect of this game is more complicated than it seems. Double strike gives you a lot of extra power in combat, but there’s more to know about it than just dealing damage. A Thieving Otter equipped with a Fireshrieker, for instance, would draw you two cards in total. Any buffs to their power are twice as effective, and any triggered abilities that rely on dealing combat damage to players will happen twice. Your double strikers can also make quick work of your opponents’ life totals. You can destroy other creatures before the second damage step, removing them from combat before they get a chance to threaten your creatures. MTG Wikiĭealing combat damage before other creatures is a huge advantage. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike or double strike as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike.Īfter that step… the phase gets a second combat damage step. They happen back-to-back, and creatures with double strike deal damage during both steps. When one of these creatures is either attacking or blocking, there will be two combat damage steps instead of one. They are:Įach of these steps are fairly self-explanatory, but something changes when a creature has first strike or double strike. In the combat phase, there are normally five steps that the game follows. Let’s take a closer look at when these creatures deal damage. If a creature has double strike, it deals its damage twice during combat.


You might be able to win in other ways, but most decks will rely on creatures to close out the game.
