(Written for Keeper.)
Here we go--the absolute basics of how the turns in Magic work. Allons-y!
Each player's turn is divided into a number of steps--don't worry about the exact number or what they all are yet. Each turn, the game proceeds from the first step to the second, to the third, and so on until the last step happens, and then the turn is over and it's the first step of the next player's turn--the process starts all over again, and this continues until the game ends. (If you're wondering about "phases", they're just groups of one or more related steps lumped together under a single term to make it easier to refer to all of them as a whole--if each of the Star Wars movies was a step, "the prequel trilogy" and "the original trilogy" would be phases.)
So, what happens during each step?
As each step begins, the game performs any and all actions that are associated with that step. (For example, drawing a card for your turn is the action associated with the "Draw step".) These are called "turn-based actions"--some steps have them, some steps don't, but they all work the same way--they happen as soon as the step they're associated with begins, before any player can do anything.
Then, after those actions have happened, players get a chance to do things--mostly casting spells and using abilities; the details of how that works aren't particularly important right now. The game may only allow players to do certain things during certain steps, but otherwise this part is the same for every step.
Once all players are completely finished doing things, everything's resolved, and nobody wants to do anything else, each player's mana pool empties and the step ends. Again, this part is the same for every step.
All clear so far? (Feel free to break in with quotes to ask for clarification if anything isn't making sense.)
Okay, so with that out of the way, we focus in on what happens during combat. The combat phase (see above for a description of phases) consists of five steps. They are, in order: Beginning of Combat, Declare Attackers, Declare Blockers, Combat Damage, and End of Combat.
The turn-based actions associated with each are as follows:
- Beginning of Combat:Some stuff that doesn't matter except in multiplayer.
- Declare Attackers:The player whose turn it is declares which creatures they're attacking with (and if need be what they're attacking).
- Declare Blockers:The player being attacked declares which creatures they're blocking with, and what each of those creatures are blocking.If a creature is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacking player decides which blocking creatures it's more important for them to kill.
If a creature is blocking multiple creatures, the defending player decides which attacking creatures it's more important for them to kill. - Combat Damage:Combat damage is assigned and dealt.
- End of Combat: Nothing.
Okay, so let's put it all together by going though a sample combat. It's Angie's turn, and she controls three creatures: Glory Seeker, Trained Armodon, and Craw Wurm. Her opponent is Nolan, who controls a tapped Sky Ruin Drake, a Giant Octopus, and a 1/1 token.
The game moves to combat phase of Angie's turn--we start the Beginning of Combat step. There's no turn-based actions to do, so the game asks if players want to do things. Nolan wants to do something--he casts Twiddle on Angie's Craw Wurm. Craw Wurm is tapped. Anything else? No? Okay, the Beginning of Combat step is over.
The Declare Attackers step starts; Angie needs to declare attackers. She decides to attack with Glory Seeker and Trained Armodon. Once that's done, the game asks if players want to do anything. Nolan does--he casts another Twiddle to untap his Sky Ruin Drake. Sky Ruin Drake is untapped. Anybody want to do anything else? No? Okay, the Declare Attackers step is over.
The Declare Blockers step starts; Nolan needs to declare blockers. Nolan has his Giant Octopus block the Glory Seeker and his Sky Ruin Drake and 1/1 token block the Trained Armodon. Angie needs to decide whether it's more important for her to kill the Drake or token--she chooses the Drake. Turn-based actions are done, so does anyone want to do anything? Angie does--she casts Giant Growth on the Trained Armodon. Nolan wants to do something in response to that--Counterspell! Giant Growth is countered. Anybody want to do anything else? Angie does! She casts Inspired Charge--her creatures get +2/+1. Anybody want to do anything else? No? The Declare Blockers step is over.
The Combat Damage step begins. Both players assign combat damage. Glory Seeker assigns 4 damage to Giant Octopus, and is assigned 3 in return. Trained Armodon assigns 5 damage to Sky Ruin Drake. (It can't assign any to the token because the Armodon only has 5 power, and Angie decided in the last step it was more important to kill the Drake.) Sky Ruin Drake assigns 2 to the Armodon and the token assigns 1 to it. All the assigned damage is dealt. The turn-based action is over; Glory Seeker, Giant Octopus, and Sky Ruin Drake all die. The token and Trained Armodon survive. Does anybody want to do anything else? No? Okay, the Combat Damage step is over.
End of combat step begins. Does anyone want to do anything? No? Okay, combat is over.
Does that description help at all? If not, let me know and hopefully I can help straighten things out.
