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I was playing MtG Duels and was up against an opponent who had me down to 2 life. They had a Perilous Myr so when it died would deal damage to me - sufficient to kill me. I had a Juggernaut down so was forced to attack, so decided to just attack with everything to see what the rule was (or the game thought the rule was). I had sufficient damage to kill them regardless of what they blocked. I was pretty sure it would be a draw (dying/damage at the same time) or loss (their Myr's death would kill me before my attackers did damage) but despite their block and the Myr dying, I was granted the win.

Was this a game bug and am I misunderstanding the stack? I thought all combat damage was dealt at the same time.

Thanks in advance!

NOTE: Despite being the computer version of the game, I felt people here much more able to help me with the rules (not game) question. If this is misposted please let me know.

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    Remember there is a difference between combat damage and damage from spells and abilities.
    – Waterseas
    Commented Nov 30, 2015 at 22:57
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    Regarding your footnote: Rules questions are definitely on topic here. (It is nice to mention that you stumbled upon this situation while playing the digital version, on the off chance that you actually found a bug.)
    – Rainbolt
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 22:43

1 Answer 1

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All combat damage is dealt simultaneously. But the damage from Perilous Myr's trigger isn't combat damage, it is an unrelated triggered ability. All combat damage was dealt, which resulted in the Myr dying and your opponent being at 0 health. This also resulted in the Myr's ability triggering, but that trigger never even makes it to the stack, because state-based actions are checked before triggered abilities are added to the stack. When they are checked, your opponent loses for having 0 health.

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    I don't think the Perilous Myr will even see the graveyard, since the round of state-based actions that processes lethal damage will be the same one that causes the opponent to lose the game.
    – Hao Ye
    Commented Nov 30, 2015 at 23:52
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    Well, it would be put into the graveyard at the same time that the opponent would lose (all SBAs in a single round are processed simultaneously), but the trigger because no player receives priority before the game ends.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 0:05
  • @murgatroid99 I'm not entirely sure what it means for the myr to be put in the graveyard at the same time as the game ending. I guess it would be more precise to say that there is instance when it is in the graveyard while the game is still active.
    – Hao Ye
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 0:40
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    It definitely isn't worth worrying about for the OP, but I guess a time when this distinction would matter is in a multiplayer game if an opponent has something that says "whenever a creature dies" - I think that ability would see the Myr die and trigger?
    – Cascabel
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 0:41
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    @DrunkCynic I'm confused what you're trying to add - it sounds like you're simply reiterating the existing answer? The point about multiplayer games isn't that the Myr's trigger happens - it doesn't - it's that other abilities from other players' permanents could potentially trigger off the Myr dying.
    – Cascabel
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 4:43

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