Challenge

Question 1

So… What does this card do?

Accepted Answer

Most spells and abilities that deal damage just say “Deal 3" or similar. Unyielding Spirit stops damage from all such spells and abilities. Other cards, though, specify a source of the damage. ● Damage dealt by spells is damage that a spell instructs you to deal without specifying that some other object deals it. ● Damage dealt by abilities is damage that an ability instructs you to deal without specifying that some other object deals it. (All damage dealt by abilities is also dealt by the object that's the source of the ability.) If a spell or ability instructs a particular object to deal damage, including the card the ability is on, then that object is dealing the damage, not the spell or ability. So Unyielding Spirit does stop damage from Void Seeker, Stormbringer, or Yasuo, Remorseless, but does not stop damage from Challenge, Last Breath, or Carnivorous Snapvine.

Question 2

What does it mean to “kill a unit with a spell?" It seems like Hidden Blade counts, but what about a spell that deals damage? A spell that causes a unit to deal damage? A spell that causes a unit to die in some other way, like Stupefy on a unit that has 1 more Might than it has damage currently marked on it?

Accepted Answer

This is unclear under existing rules, so the updated rules will clarify. “When you kill a unit with a spell" triggers immediately after a spell you control resolves if either of the following is true: 1. That spell instructs you to kill a unit during its resolution, and that unit is put into the trash this way. 2. A spell instructs you to deal damage to a unit during its resolution, and that unit is put into the trash during the cleanup immediately following that spell's resolution. This includes “direct kill" spells you control like Hidden Blade. It also includes damage spells like Void Seeker, provided they mark lethal damage on the unit that immediately causes it to die. In all cases, the unit has to actually die—if that death is replaced by a card like Unlicensed Armory, then you didn't kill a unit with a spell. Notably, the following do not count as you killing a unit with a spell: ● You are instructed to kill a unit by a spell another player controls, even if the spell instructs you to kill the unit (e.g., another player's Cull the Weak). ● Another player is instructed to kill a unit by a spell you control (e.g., your Cull the Weak, if you don't kill any of your own units with it). ● You play a spell like Challenge that causes a unit to deal lethal damage to another unit. ● You use a spell to mark damage on a unit and the unit dies later in the turn, even if that damage later became lethal damage for any reason. ● You use a spell to directly or indirectly lower the Might of a unit, causing damage it's already taken to become lethal damage. For example: ○ You use a spell like Stupefy to lower the Might of a unit that has already taken damage, causing that damage to become lethal damage. ○ You use a spell like Charm to move a unit with damage on it away from Trifarian War Camp, indirectly lowering its Might and causing that damage to become lethal damage. ○ You use a spell like Rebuke to return Lee Sin, Centered to its owner's hand, indirectly lowering the Might of a buffed unit at the same battlefield that has damage on it, causing that damage to become lethal damage. ● You do anything else with a spell that causes a unit to die in any other way than the two methods listed above, or at any time other than during or immediately after the spell's resolution. ● You do any of the above, but the unit doesn't actually die.

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So… What does this card do?

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