Might and damage

When the Combat Showdown closes with units from both sides still at the battlefield, attackers and defenders resolve combat damage there, using their current Might.¹Rule 465.2. 1. When the Showdown closes, Attackers and Defenders resolve Combat Damage at the Battlefield that was attacked, using their current Might. Open in the rules browser Might is the combat statistic you met on your first unit: it sets how much a unit contributes to combat, and when damage kills it.²Rule 143.2. Might: The combat statistic of a Unit. Used to determine a Unit's contribution to Combat, as well as when it is Killed by damaging effects. Open in the rules browser

Adding up, assigning, dealing

Each side adds up the Might of its units: all the attacking units³Rule 465.2.a. Sum the Might of all Attacking Units. Open in the rules browser together, and all the defending units⁴Rule 465.2.b. Sum the Might of all Defending Units. Open in the rules browser together. Then, starting with the Attacker, each player assigns damage equal to their side's total among the other player's units.⁵Rule 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

Assigning damage is deciding where it goes, and it is not the same as dealing it.⁶Rule 465.2.c.1. Assigning Damage is not Dealing Damage. Open in the rules browser Nothing is marked while players assign; damage is dealt once assignment is complete.⁷Rule 417.1.a. Assigning Damage during the Combat Damage Step is not Dealing Damage, but will cause Damage to be Dealt when assignment is complete. Open in the rules browser When all of it is assigned, it is dealt simultaneously.⁸Rule 465.2.c.1.a. When all Damage is assigned, it will be Dealt simultaneously. These actions are not synonymous. Open in the rules browser So assigning first gives the Attacker no head start. Each unit is dealt damage equal to the amount assigned to it⁹Rule 465.2.d. Deal Damage to each unit equal to the amount assigned to it. Open in the rules browser, all at the same moment, and a unit on either side that is about to be killed still counted toward its side's total.

Dealing damage to a unit means marking that damage on it¹⁰Rule 417.1.b. To Deal Damage to Units, mark the specified amount of Damage on the Unit. Open in the rules browser, and you can keep track with coins, dice or other markers, or by memory.¹¹Rule 143.3.a. When spells, abilities, or other game effects deal damage, Units mark that damage on them temporarily. This can be tracked with coins, dice, or other markers, or by memory. Open in the rules browser How the damage may be split has requirements of its own, and a player must obey them if able.¹²Rule 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 The next lesson is about those.

Lethal damage

Lethal damage for a unit is a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that unit's Might.¹³Rule 142.4.b. Lethal Damage for a Unit is a non-zero amount greater than or equal to that Unit’s Might.Example: A unit has 5 [M] and 3 damage marked on it. Frigid Touch is played targeting that unit. When it resolves, the unit’s Might becomes 3, and it will have lethal damage marked on it.Example: A unit has 0 [M]. In order to have lethal damage marked on it, it must have at least 1 damage marked on it. Open in the rules browser A 3 Might unit with 3 damage marked on it has lethal damage, and so does one with 5. A 0 Might unit still needs at least 1.

A unit with lethal damage is not removed on the spot. Lethal damage is the amount of marked damage that will cause a unit to die in a cleanup.¹⁴Rule 142.4.a. Lethal Damage is the amount of marked Damage that will cause a unit to die in a cleanup. Open in the rules browser Killing is a permanent going from the board to the trash¹⁵Rule 428.1. Killing is the action of a Permanent going to the trash from the board. Open in the rules browser. A unit is one kind of permanent¹⁶Rule 133.4.a.2. Unit and Gear are permanent types. Open in the rules browser, and a card's owner is the player who brought it into the game, as part of their deck for instance.¹⁷Rule 127.1. For gameplay purposes, a card's Owner is the player who brought it into the game, either as their Champion Legend, one of their Battlefields, as part of their Main Deck or Rune Deck, or Created during the process of play. The legal owner of a card doesn't matter during gameplay.Example: Bo didn't bring a deck, so Alice loans him a deck. During the game, Bo is considered the owner of those cards, even though legally they belong to Alice. Open in the rules browser In a cleanup, every unit with lethal damage marked on it is killed and placed in its owner's trash.¹⁸Rule 323.5. 3b. All Units that have LethalDamage marked on themare killed and placed in their owners' Trash. See rule 142.4. For more information on lethal damage. Open in the rules browser

In combat that cleanup is not far away. Once damage is dealt, combat proceeds straight to its Resolution Step¹⁹Rule 465.3. 2. Skip the FEPR process and cancel any outstanding tasks. Proceed to the Resolution Step. Open in the rules browser, the last step of combat, and that step invokes a Combat Special Cleanup²⁰Rule 466.1.a. Invoke a Combat Special Cleanup. Open in the rules browser, the Combat Cleanup where the killing happens. The last lesson of this track goes through it step by step.