Can You Trample Over Creatures with Protection?
In Magic: The Gathering, creatures with trample can deal excess damage to the defending player or Planeswalker even if the blocking creature’s toughness is greater than the attacking creature’s power. But what happens when the blocking creature has protection? Can you still trample over it? Let’s dive into the rules and explore the answer to this question.
The Rule: Protection Prevents Assigning Damage
According to the official Magic: The Gathering rules, protection from a color (or colors) prevents a permanent from being dealt damage by spells or abilities from the same color(s). In the case of creatures, this means that protection from a color prevents a creature from being dealt damage by spells or abilities from the same color(s).
But What About Trample?
Now, you might be wondering, "What about trample? Can I still trample over a creature with protection?" The answer is yes. Trample is a separate keyword ability that allows a creature to deal excess damage to the defending player or Planeswalker, regardless of the blocking creature’s toughness. Protection only prevents the creature from being dealt damage by spells or abilities, but it doesn’t prevent trample.
Example Scenarios
Here are some example scenarios to illustrate this:
| Blocking Creature | Power | Toughness | Protection | Can I Trample Over It? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goblin Raider | 2 | 2 | Red | Yes, I can trample over it |
| Elephant | 5 | 5 | White | No, I cannot trample over it |
| Kraken | 6 | 6 | Blue | Yes, I can trample over it |
| Angel of Mercy | 4 | 4 | White | No, I cannot trample over it |
As you can see, the presence of protection doesn’t affect whether or not you can trample over the creature. In the case of the Goblin Raider, I can still trample over it even though it has protection from red, because trample is a separate keyword ability that allows me to deal excess damage.
Important Point
It’s important to note that trample only cares about the defending player’s or Planeswalker’s life total, not the life total of the creature being blocked. So even if the creature being blocked has protection, you can still trample over it and deal damage to the defending player or Planeswalker.
Conclusion
In conclusion, creatures with trample can indeed trample over creatures with protection. The protection only prevents the creature from being dealt damage by spells or abilities, but it doesn’t prevent trample. So if you have a creature with trample and you’re facing a blocking creature with protection, don’t worry – you can still trample over it and deal excess damage.
Tips and Tricks
Here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind when dealing with trample and protection:
- Always check the protection from color(s) of the creature being blocked. If it has protection, you can’t deal damage to it with spells or abilities from the same color(s).
- Remember that trample is a separate keyword ability that allows a creature to deal excess damage. It’s not affected by protection.
- Trample only cares about the defending player’s or Planeswalker’s life total, not the life total of the creature being blocked.
- Use trample to your advantage when facing blocking creatures with protection. You can still deal excess damage to the defending player or Planeswalker even if the blocking creature is protected.