Spite and Lethal
4/9/7
Discuss in the Conquest thread!
Both of these new mechanics share a common theme of damage, though from opposite ends of the experience. On the one hand, there’s lethal, which is a name for damage that destroys a creature. And on the other, the ability word Spite, which triggers abilities once a permanent has been destroyed or sacrificed. Why are these mechanics in Conquest? I hope to satisfy this question now.
Lethal damage has already existed in the game, but only rarely has it been seen on a card. The rules state the definition of lethal damage under State-based effects:
420.5c. A creature with lethal damage, but greater than 0 toughness, is destroyed. Lethal damage is an amount of damage greater than or equal to a creature’s toughness. Regeneration can replace this event.
So lethal damage has always been seen as an event coming from one direction, that is to say, if at any time a creature is dealt an amount of damage and that amount is equal to the creature’s toughness, the damage is qualified as lethal. Conquest would revise this rule to say that that is one way in which damage could be constituted as lethal. The first sentence of the rule is the one I find most important – it explains what lethal damage results in. What Conquest does is present a few cards that modify the quality of damage they deal. So now, no matter how much damage Scheming Cohorts deals to a creature, the state-based effect of lethal damage would destroy that creature.
Here’s a fun fact about lethal damage. If Scheming Cohorts attacks and is blocked by two 3/3 creatures, and an effect were to give Scheming Cohorts +2/+2 and trample, the attacker could assign 1 damage to each of the blockers and the remaining 1 damage to defending player. This is because trample requires the attacking player to assign lethal damage to blocking creatures, and then damage can be assigned to defending player.
Is there a difference between this effect and the effects of Stinkweed Imp, Cruel Deceiver, Plague Fiend, or Voracious Cobra? No, but if you look into the
“Basillisk” creatures in Magic, you’ll find a wide swath of different triggers and conditions. Of all those creatures, only these four could really be errata’d to
deal lethal damage. Except, when worded as it is in Conquest, the damage quality is a condition modifier and won’t go on the stack like these cards, which
all have triggered abilities. I’m not sure if that matters, but it is a functional change.
The other mechanic, Spite, may appear puzzling at first glance. It is an ability that triggers off very specific events. The sacrifice trigger is pretty straight
forward, a card is sacrificed only if the spell or ability says “sacrifice” on it. “Destroy” has many nuances in Magic. Spells and abilities that say “destroy,”
destroy a creature. Lethal damage destroys a creature. Having toughness of 0 or less does not. It simply puts the creature into its owner’s graveyard as a
state-based effect. The “Legend Rule” likewise does not destroy the permanents, but instead puts them into their owners’ graveyards.
This is the reason why Spite doesn’t simply trigger when the permanent is put into a graveyard from play like the Kamigawa dragons. It helps avoid issues
that limited the mechanic. If Spinery, Haunted Mine could trigger off the Legend Rule it would be broken. If a single Voidling activation could set off all your
smaller Spite cards, the mana costs and scope of their abilities would need to be further tweaked. It’s cleaner to specify “Sacrifice or Destroy” as the trigger
for these reasons.
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**EXTRA**
As a bonus I thought I’d include all the “Basillisk” cards I looked at when I thought about lethal damage. The original intent was to make a Keyword called
Lethal, but in seeing all the different triggers, conditions, and timing of “Basillisks” already created, I decided to go in a more intuitive and natural direction.
First some creatures that destroy the creature whenever damage is dealt. This is very close to lethal damage.
1.) Whenever ~ becomes blocked by a CHARACTERISTIC creature, destroy that creature.
Zombie Boa, 4B, Creature - Zombie Snake, 3/3 – CHOSEN COLOR
2.) Whenever ~ becomes blocked by a creature, destroy that creature.
Evil Eye of Urborg, 4B, Creature – Eye, 6/3
Sylvan Basilisk, 3GG, Creature – Basilisk, 2/4
3.) Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature.
Stinkweed Imp, 2B, Creature – Imp, 1/2
Cruel Deceiver, 1B, Creature – Spirit, 2/1
Plague Fiend, 1B, Creature – Insect, 1/1
Voracious Cobra, 2RG, Creature – Snake, 2/2
4.) Sacrifice ~: The next time damage would be dealt to target creature this turn, destroy that creature instead.
Kill-Suit Cultist, R, Creature - Goblin Berserker, 1/1
5.) When ~ blocks, at end of combat, destroy it and all creatures it blocked this turn.
Defiant Vanguard, 2W, Creature - Human Rebel, 2/2
6.) Whenever ~ blocks a creature, destroy that creature and ~.
Loyal Sentry, W, Creature – Soldier, 1/1
Alaborn Zealot, W, Creature – Soldier, 1/1
7.) Destroy/Sacrifice ~ and target creature it's blocking/blocked by.
Wall of Vipers, 2B, Creature – Wall, 2/4
Urborg Panther, 2B, Creature - Nightstalker Cat, 2/2
Wall of Corpses, 1B, Creature – Wall, 0/2
8.) COST: Destroy target creature blocking or blocked by ~.
Cromat, WUBRG, Legendary Creature, 5/5
Next are the creatures who even stop Regeneration. These cards bury the other creature.
9.) Whenever ~ becomes blocked by a CHARACTERISTIC creature, destroy that creature. It can't be regenerated.
Phyrexian Reaper, 4B, Creature – Zombie, 3/3 – GREEN
Phyrexian Slayer, 3B, Creature – Minion, 2/2 – WHITE
10.) Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature. The creature can't be regenerated.
Mephitic Ooze, 4B, Creature – Ooze, 0/5
Dripping Dead, 4BB, Creature – Zombie, 4/1
Phage the Untouchable, 3BBBB, Legendary Creature – Minion, 4/4
Toxin Sliver, 3B, Creature – Sliver, 3/3
Grotesque Hybrid, 4B, Creature – Zombie, 3/3
Last, these are the classic Basillisks. These creatures set up a delayed trigger, that goes off at end of combat.
11.) Whenever ~ becomes blocked by a CHARACTERISTIC creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
Battering Ram, 2, Artifact Creature, 1/1 - WALL
12.) Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a CHARACTERISTIC creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
Gorgon Recluse, 3BB, Creature – Gorgon, 2/4 - NONBLACK
Deathgazer, 3B, Creature – Lizard, 2/2 - NONBLACK
Dread Specter, 3B, Creature – Specter, 2/2 - NONBLACK
Abomination, 3BB, Creature – Abomination, 2/6 – GREEN AND WHITE
Infernal Medusa, 3BB, Creature – Medusa, 2/4 – NON-WALL
Cockatrice, 3GG, Creature – Cockatrice, 2/4 – NON-WALL
Thicket Basilisk, 3GG, Creature – Basilisk, 2/4 – NON-WALL
Rock Basilisk, 4RG, Creature – Basilisk, 4/5 – NON-WALL
13.) Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
Tangle Asp, 1G, Creature – Snake, 1/2
Venomous Dragonfly, 3G, Creature – Insect, 1/1
Kjeldoran Frostbeast, 3GW, Creature – Frostbeast, 2/4
14.) Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
Ohran Viper, 1GG, Snow Creature – Snake, 1/3
Simic Basilisk, 4GG, Creature - Basilisk Mutant, 0/0
Sosuke, Son of Seshiro, 2GG, Legendary Creature - Snake Warrior, 3/4
Serpentine Basilisk, 2GG, Creature – Basilisk, 2/3
Stone-Tongue Basilisk, 4GGG, Creature – Basilisk, 4/5
Lowland Basilisk, 2G, Creature – Basilisk, 1/3