Assigning damage

Adding up Might gives each side a number of damage to assign. Where that damage may go is limited by two rules before any keyword gets involved.

First, a unit must have lethal damage assigned to it in full before any damage is assigned to a different unit.¹Rule 465.2.c.3. Units must have lethal damage assigned to them in full before damage is assigned to a different Unit.Example: If a player has 5 damage to distribute among four 3 Might units, they may not choose to assign 2 damage to one of the units and 1 damage to each of the remaining 3. They must assign at least 3 damage to one, and the remaining 2 to another. Open in the rules browser With 5 damage and four 3 Might units in front of you, you may not put 2 on one of them and 1 on each of the others. One of them gets at least 3 first.

Second, a unit may not be assigned more than the minimum that makes its damage lethal, unless no other units remain to be assigned damage.²Rule 465.2.c.4. Units cannot have more damage assigned to them than the minimum required to constitute lethal damage unless no further units remain to have damage assigned to them.Example: If a player has 5 damage to distribute among four 3 Might units and those units each have 1 damage already marked on them, that player may not assign more than 2 damage to any of those units. Open in the rules browser Damage already marked on a unit counts toward that minimum, so a 3 Might unit that already has 1 damage can be assigned no more than 2.

Between them, damage goes out one unit at a time, each unit getting exactly its lethal amount, until the damage runs short or every unit has lethal damage. Which unit gets its lethal damage first is the assigning player's choice, unless an ability or effect changes the order³Rule 465.2.c.2. Abilities or effects may influence the order in which damage is assigned. Reminder: Lethal Damage is non-zero damage equaling or exceeding the Might of a Unit. Open in the rules browser.

If damage is left over once every unit has lethal damage, that is the case the second rule allows: the rest also goes on units that already have lethal damage. Combat damage is assigned only among the other player's units⁴Rule 465.2.c. Starting with the Attacker, each player assigns an amount of damage equal to their summed Might among the other's Units. Open in the rules browser, so none of it reaches a player, a battlefield or anyone's score.

Tank

Tank is a keyword that changes the order. A unit with Tank must be assigned lethal damage before any other unit with the same controller that does not have Tank.⁵Rule 815.1.b. It is functionally short for "I must be assigned lethal damage before any other unit with the same controller as me that does not have [Tank] during the Combat Damage step." Open in the rules browser A player must obey requirements like that one if able.⁶Rule 465.2.c.6. A player must obey all requirements and restrictions on damage assignment if able.Example: A player is assigning damage to the following units: a unit with Tank ("I must be assigned combat damage first."); a unit with Backline ("I must be assigned combat damage last."); and another unit without any abilities. That player must assign combat damage first to the unit with Tank, then to the unit with no abilities, then to the unit with Backline. Open in the rules browser

Tank asks for lethal damage first, not for all of the damage. Players must still assign lethal damage to one unit before moving to the next⁷Rule 815.1.c.1. Players must still assign lethal damage to a unit before moving to the next when assigning their damage. Open in the rules browser, so once the Tank has its lethal damage, the rest moves on. If one player has two or more units with Tank in the combat, damage may go to any of them first, but units without Tank cannot be assigned any until every unit with Tank has lethal damage assigned.⁸Rule 815.1.c.2. If more than one unit with Tank is present with the same controller in Combat, damage may be assigned to any of them. Units without Tank are invalid assignments until all units with Tank have lethal damage assigned to them. Open in the rules browser

Backline, a keyword for later, is the mirror image: a unit with it must be assigned lethal damage after its controller's units that do not have it.⁹Rule 826.3. It is functionally short for “I must be assigned lethal damage after any other unit with the same controller as me that does not have [Backline] during the Combat Damage step.” Open in the rules browser

Without Tank, you could have assigned 2 to Kindling Volunteer, its lethal amount, and the last 1 to Stone Sentinel. With Tank, all 3 must go to Stone Sentinel first, and none is left for the Volunteer.