Deal Damage

Shift in Green removal Cards

Hey, Mark! Quick one- I've been noticing a lot of "bite" cards in green (i.e. Hunter's Talent) the last few years, and not as many fight cards. At first, I thought this was "too much", but I quickly realized the hoop for green removal is already pretty daunting, and maybe this is just the direction you're going in.
Am I reading this right?

We have been increasing the number of “bite” spells (deal damage equal to power) to help with green removal in limited.

Fight / Bite Green Limited Spells Deal Damage Hunter's Talent

Non-Player Damage Template

Adding Battles as a permanent that can be dealt damage means that very few damage spells that aren’t “any target” can interact with them, and new spells that R&D doesn’t what to hit players won’t either since they don’t want to call out “target creature, planeswalker or battle”. Would we ever see “deal damage to any non-player target” as a way to make these effects compatible without having to call out battle ms or other future damage able permanents?

That’s most likely to happen in sets with Battles. I’m not sure we’re changing the template in all sets until Battles show up at such a rate that it makes sense to change it.

Battles Creatures Deal Damage Game Design Permanents Planeswalkers Spells Templating

Mana Value Higher Than Draco

If/When: A legal card with higher mana value than Draco

If. We make cards like Erratic Explosion that deal damage to players equal to a card’s mana value, so we want to be careful how expensive we make it.

Deal Damage Draco Erratic Explosion If/When Mana Value

Using Devotion Differently

Would you consider using devotion as a benefit and penalty of some sort? I.e. deal damage to a creature equal to your devotion, you lose half your devotion in life?

We tend to focus on a resource being positive or negative. If we push too much in different directions, it makes tension that restricts how much people use the resource.

Creatures Deal Damage

White's Combat Mechanics

Can White Fight creatures that are attacking or blocking?

No, it can deal damage to attackers/blockers though.

Attacking Blocking Creatures Deal Damage Fight / Bite Mechanics White

New Permanent Dynamics

When creating a new permanent type (such as the Battles in MOM), how much do cards like Lightning Bolt (i.e. deal damage to any target) factor into them? Just a thing I noticed as Planeswalkers and Battles (the highest profile new permanent types as I recall) have backwards compatibility with that specific wording.

It depends if damaging them is relevant.

Battles Deal Damage Lightning Bolt Planeswalkers

Crime Commiting Criteria

Was damage/destroy/discard every considered as the criteria for committing a crime?

The ability passed off from vision design was whenever you target, destroy or deal damage to an opponent or their “stuff”. (Discard almost always targets the player.) The reason we went down to just target was the other two got muddy in the rules.For example, let’s say I cast Mutilate (-X/-X to all creatures where X is the number of swamps I have) with a battlefield filled with creatures that have toughness less than X. . Did Mutate destroy the creatures? It did not. It merely lowered their toughness to 0. The game destroyed the creatures as a state based effect. There was enough non-intuitive answers like that, that we removed destroyed and damaged from committing crimes.

Creatures Deal Damage Destroy Discard Mutate Mutilate Rules Vision Design

Reprint Flavor Words Potential

Could a reprinted card get a description ability? Like if you reprint Borborygmos Enraged could his second ability where you discard a land to deal damage get the description of “throw rocks” or something like that?

In theory, flavor words can be added or removed, as they have no actual mechanical relevance.

Borborygmos Enraged Card Printing Deal Damage Discard Flavor Words Lands Reprints

Damage to Permanents

Does deal damage to target permanent make sense or is possible within the rules? There aren't many applications but in theory if a land gets damage and is later that turn animated it can have lethal damage. Same is true for enchantments that become creatures. I ask because it would allow cards that deal damage to battle in sets without battles. Other uses are wither or infect damage against e.g. Theros gods that aren't creatures yet.

The issue is weighing the general usefulness of it with the confusion it might cause.

Battles Creatures Deal Damage Enchantments God Infect Lands Permanents Rules Theros Wither

Green Sacrifice Limits

Color pie question: Could green get Fling-type effects, i.e. sacrificing a creature to deal damage to another target creature equal to the sacrificed creature's power? (Or toughness?)

Green can get spells that deal damage to a creature based on the power of target creature you control (what we nickname “bite” in R&D). Requiring the sacrificing of a creature is much more red.

Color Pie Creatures Deal Damage Fight / Bite Green Red Sacrifice Spells

Blue and Tim Effects

"Do you think blue putting -1/-1 counters on your opponents' stuff would be okay it it only used them to shrink but not to kill? (Probably by checking the toughness)The rule of thumb is we’re willing to let a color use -1/-1 counters wherever it can deal damage to a creature, so my gut is we wouldn’t do that." Is blue not allowed to have Tim effects anymore?

Blue hasn’t had Tim effects for over twenty years. (And yes, Time Spiral had a few throwbacks that were out of color pie.)

Blue Color Pie Colors Creatures Deal Damage Rules Time Spiral

Blue's -1/-1 Counters

Do you think blue putting -1/-1 counters on your opponents' stuff would be okay it it only used them to shrink but not to kill? (Probably by checking the toughness)

The rule of thumb is we’re willing to let a color use -1/-1 counters wherever it can deal damage to a creature, so my gut is we wouldn’t do that.

Blue Colors Creatures Deal Damage Rules

Creature Ability Color

Would a creature that tapped to deal damage to the number of creatures you control be red white or mono red?

Probably red/white.

Boros (R/W) Colors Creatures Deal Damage Red White

Red's Battle Interaction

Hi Mark, I have a question and I'm not sure if you have already answered this or not and if so, my apologies. Anyways, can Red interact/destroy opposing Battles? If not, what are the other colors beside Green that can interact or destroy opposing battles and why?

Red can deal damage to any target, which includes battles, and black can remove counters from permanents.

Battles Black Colors Deal Damage Destroy Green Permanents Red

Direct Damage Terminology

Similar to recent answered q, Will there be future terminology to determine what something can or cannot deal direct damage/ target? It seems something that’s battle-specific gets niche very quickly and may not stand the rest of time until we know there’s going to be way more and viable for play. I do love battles I just worry about their nicheness.

Things that deal damage to any target can hit battles.

Battles Deal Damage

Definition of Fight

"Creatures are mostly the one thing that can fight battles." - Great! I hope to see some creatures that can fight battles the next time you print battles. (Although I'm not sure how a battle would deal damage back; maybe bite instead of fight?)

I meant fight in the vernacular and not fight in the evergreen keyword action sense.

Battles Card Printing Creatures Deal Damage Evergreen Fight / Bite Keyword Actions

Mechanic Usage Explained

Hi Mark, Why didn't Etali just say "infect"?Is it because you didn't want to put infect in a premier set or because you guys didn't want it to deal damage to creatures in -1/-1 counters?

We didn’t say infect because it wasn’t infect.Also, we tend not to use non-evergreen, non-deciduous mechanics on one card in premier sets.

Creatures Deal Damage Infect Mechanics Premier Sets Premier Sets

Monowhite Damage Capability

What color(s) could deal damage to any target equal to the number of creatures you control? Mono red? Or would it need to be red white? Maybe red black?

We now let monowhite do that.

Black Colors Creatures Deal Damage Red White

Design of Poison Cards

Are direct poison cards safe design? I always felt that part of the balancing with poison was something needed to deal damage, there were a few old direct poison cards but none seemed good. With several new ones in ONE someone poisoning out the entire table without ever attacking doesn't seem impossible, or even unlikely in conjunction with proliferate or spell copying.

Is that actually happening?

Attacking Deal Damage Poison Proliferate

White Tap Effects

White use to get tap effects especially tapping blockers, due to old rules making tapped blockers not deal damage. Given that White has other ways to deal with combat damage( First Strike/Double Strike, prevention, redirection, indestructable) has any though been given to retiring White tap effects or moving them to another color?

No, white tapping is an important tool for white, especially in limited.

Colors Deal Damage Double Strike First Strike Limited Rules Tap / Untap White