Does Vigor save my Blizzard Specter from Master of Cruelties?

Asked by Ecmdrw5 5 years ago

My opponent is attacking with Master of Cruelties. I have Vigor and a Blizzard Specter on the board. I'm blocking with Blizzard Specter. Because of Vigor and his prevent damage and add +1/+1 for each damage prevented, my Blizzard Specter should live and get (1) +1/+1 correct?

FancyTuesday says... Accepted answer #1

Correct. Deathtouch is a static ability that says:

702.2b A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.

702.2c Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage for the purposes of determining if a proposed combat damage assignment is valid, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c–d.

The important takeaway here is that creatures with deathtouch must deal damage for deathtouch to take effect, it's not enough to simply block or be blocked by the creature as you see with "basalisk" style creatures like Cockatrice. Preventing the damage prevents deathtouch from having an effect.

June 26, 2018 11:47 a.m. Edited.