15

Marauding Raptor has:

Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Marauding Raptor deals 2 damage to it. If a Dinosaur is dealt damage this way, Marauding Raptor gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Polyraptor has:

Enrage - Whenever Polyraptor is dealt damage, create a token that's a copy of Polyraptor.

When my opponent had Marauding Raptor in play, and played a Polyraptor, the Marauding Raptor deals two damage to the original, then when a token copy was made the Marauding Raptor dealt to that, which makes another copy, which is also dealt damage, etc...

My question is, does this mean the game breaks and is over, or does the arbitrary loop stop of its own accord at some point?

(Neither of us were able to destroy or exile a Polyraptor token in response to the damage, to stop the loop.)

1
  • I would think the Polyraptor would die if dmg>toughness...
    – Mox
    Mar 23, 2020 at 22:05

1 Answer 1

22

The game will end in a draw

If the loop cannot be ended by either player, instead the game ends in a draw.

721.4. If a loop contains only mandatory actions, the game is a draw. (See rules 104.4b and 104.4f.)

12
  • 10
    You don't need to change your answer, but if either player can end the loop, they can still choose not to do so, and the game would still end in a draw.
    – murgatroid99
    Mar 16, 2020 at 5:21
  • 1
    @murgatroid99 For clarity, you only mean if they could end a loop by some other action that's not involved in the loop; but if they can end the loop because the loop contained a "may", then that doesn't apply, right?
    – GendoIkari
    Mar 16, 2020 at 13:23
  • 1
    @NuclearWang 104.4b says "Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw." And 721.4 refers to "mandatory actions"... which wouldn't apply to an action with a "may", would it?
    – GendoIkari
    Mar 16, 2020 at 14:39
  • 1
    It seems like the player that did this would have the clear advantage here, given they have both an infinite-powered creature and an infinite army of Polyraptor clones to back it up. Surprising this wouldn't be an instant win for them. (Unlike a loop that goes between 2 players where neither has the upper hand.) I feel like this does kind of break the game... Mar 16, 2020 at 19:01
  • 6
    @DarrelHoffman Not really. The player would have a clear advantage if they had a way to interrupt the combo. Without it they just have a way to force a draw. I don't see this fundamentally different than saying "I would have won this game if I had a Murderous Rider to kill your lethal attacker." - sure, but you don't, so you don't have an advantage.
    – xLeitix
    Mar 16, 2020 at 22:07

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .