Life Total Question

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Hi there,

I have a Question about Life Total treating.

Scenario:

My Life is at 3.
I have a Platinum Angel in play.
My Opponent attacks with a random 5/5 Creature.
It deals 5 Damage.

****
First Question: Am i now at -2 or at 0 Life?
****

After his combat phase he plays a disenchant on my Platinum Angel.
I respond to it, with the disenchant still on the stack, with a spell which
give me 1 Life.
The spells resolve.

Second Question (probably answered by the first answer already): Am i still
alive or not?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Sorry it's me again...

I know there is a paragraph in the Comprehensive Rules which states:

104.2. If a creature’s power or toughness, a mana cost, a player’s life
total, or an amount of damage would be less than 0, it’s treated as zero
for all purposes except changing that total. If a number can’t be
determined, it’s treated as zero.

But I'm confused about the wording "...it's treated as zero for all
purposes except changing that total..."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

"Oldtree" <thomas.warratz@t-online.de> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:c9s4ip$i4m$07$1@news.t-online.com...
> Sorry it's me again...
>
> I know there is a paragraph in the Comprehensive Rules which states:
>
> 104.2. If a creature’s power or toughness, a mana cost, a player’s life
> total, or an amount of damage would be less than 0, it’s treated as zero
> for all purposes except changing that total. If a number can’t be
> determined, it’s treated as zero.
>
> But I'm confused about the wording "...it's treated as zero for all
> purposes except changing that total..."
>

Ähmmm.....
I have to clearify things here i think. Oldtree and Thomas Warratz are the
same person. Normally i work with Outlook Express for EMails and Newsgroups.
But Outlook Express didn't allow me to answer my own thread, so I used
Morzilla EMail and Newsgroup Client to answer my thread. But obviously with
Morzilla, my allias was Oldtree and not Thomas Warratz.

Oh, and don't start to argue that Outlook Express is bad and I should use
other Clients. You may be correct, but the differences are marginal "for my
purposes". So Outlook Express is OK with me.

Greetings

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

On Sat, 5 Jun 2004 11:37:10 +0200, "Thomas Warratz"
<thomas.warratz@t-online.de> wrote:

>I have a Question about Life Total treating.
>
>Scenario:
>
>My Life is at 3.
>I have a Platinum Angel in play.
>My Opponent attacks with a random 5/5 Creature.
>It deals 5 Damage.
>
>****
>First Question: Am i now at -2 or at 0 Life?
>****

You are at -2, but if anything reads your life total (broken example:
draw cards equal to your life total) then they read 0.

Think creature power/toughness.
One of the new Fifth Dawn creatures is -1/-1, but can come into play
with up to five +1/+1 counters on it. Without any counters on it it
will be seen as 0/0, and with one +1/+1 counter on it it will still be
0/0.

Another example: 0/2 creature. Give it -3/+3 and it becomes 0/5. Then
give it +4/+0 and it becomes 1/5. Your life total behaves in the same
fasion.

>After his combat phase he plays a disenchant on my Platinum Angel.
>I respond to it, with the disenchant still on the stack, with a spell which
>give me 1 Life.
>The spells resolve.

If the spell alters your life total, it uses the “real value” of your
life. Thus, after your spell resolves you are at -1 life. But if a
spell reads (not alters) it, your life total hasn't changed - it's
still 0.

>Second Question (probably answered by the first answer already): Am i still
>alive or not?

You are at -1 life, and without Platinum Angel you loose the game.

You can also try to read Saturday School #80, last weeks poll was a
life total question (scroll to the bottom).
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/rh125

--
Regards
Simon Nejmann

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

On Sat, 5 Jun 2004, Simon Nejmann wrote:

> On Sat, 5 Jun 2004 11:37:10 +0200, "Thomas Warratz"
> <thomas.warratz@t-online.de> wrote:
>
> You are at -1 life, and without Platinum Angel you loose the game.

But not until state-based effects are checked ;-)

--

David "in a nitpicking mood" de Kloet

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Thomas Warratz <thomas.warratz@t-online.de> wrote:
>I have a Question about Life Total treating.

If it's less than zero, treat it as zero for any purpose other than -changing-
it.

>My Life is at 3.
>I have a Platinum Angel in play.
>My Opponent attacks with a random 5/5 Creature.
>It deals 5 Damage.
>
>****
>First Question: Am i now at -2 or at 0 Life?
>****

You are now at -2 life. This works like you being at 0 life, except for things
that CHANGE the total: if you gain 6 life, you go to 4. If you take 3 damage
instead, you go to -5. If something doubles your life total, it becomes -4.
Etc.

If something asks what "half your life" is, it gets the answer "0".

>After his combat phase he plays a disenchant on my Platinum Angel.
>I respond to it, with the disenchant still on the stack, with a spell which
>give me 1 Life.
>The spells resolve.

You will lose, because you end up at -1 life: -2 + 1 = -1.

>Second Question (probably answered by the first answer already): Am i still
>alive or not?

Nope. (Sorry.)

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from dbd@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Oldtree <thomas.warratz@t-online.de> wrote:
>I know there is a paragraph in the Comprehensive Rules which states:
>
>104.2. If a creature's power or toughness, a mana cost, a player's life
>total, or an amount of damage would be less than 0, it's treated as zero
>for all purposes except changing that total. If a number can't be
>determined, it's treated as zero.
>
>But I'm confused about the wording "...it's treated as zero for all
>purposes except changing that total..."

Anything that actually tries to change it - something that makes you gain
or lose life, or exchange life totals with another player, or double your
life total - sees it as the actual value.

Anything that just asks what it is (to be applied to something else) gets
the answer "0". So your Serra Avatar would be a 0/0, not a -2/-2, for example.

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from dbd@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Thomas Warratz sez:

<<
>Hi there,
>
>I have a Question about Life Total treating.
>
>Scenario:
>
>My Life is at 3.
>I have a Platinum Angel in play.
>My Opponent attacks with a random 5/5 Creature.
>It deals 5 Damage.
>
>****
>First Question: Am i now at -2 or at 0 Life?
>****
>
>>

You are at -2. Effects that reference life-totals receive 0, unless they also
change the life total.


<<
>After his combat phase he plays a disenchant on my Platinum Angel.
>I respond to it, with the disenchant still on the stack, with a spell which
>give me 1 Life.
>>

I'm assuming you played a spell that says "Gain 1 life."

<<
>The spells resolve.
>
>Second Question (probably answered by the first answer already): Am i still
>alive or not?
>>

You will die as a SBE. To live through this, you'd need to play a spell that
gained you 3 life.


----
"If President Bush is going to take credit for 'the invisble hand' [of
economics], then he's going to take the blame when 'the hand' gives him the
finger."
--From Fark.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

Thanks to all of you!

I think i got the message. So it's hard to come back from, let's say -40
life with an easy targetable Platinum Angel in play. Or at least it's
pretty dangerous.