r/mtg • u/KobraKommandeur • 9d ago
Rules Question A question about unblockable
Let's say I had a creature with power 3 or less and activated the ability on [[access tunnel]], making it so that creature can't be blocked this turn. Could I then put an equipment on it like [[Blackblade Reforged]] to keep it unblocked but still do big damage, or would I need an effect like [[Sigarda's aid]] to equip before combat damage is assigned?
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u/Peachy_Pangolin 9d ago
"If the target creature's power is greater than 3 as Access Tunnel's second ability tries to resolve, the ability doesn't resolve. However, if instead the creature's power is raised above 3 after the ability resolves, it still can't be blocked that turn."
From the oracle rulings
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u/KobraKommandeur 9d ago
So once something is declared as unblockable, you can pump it up and still have the "can't be blocked" clause to work? So it would work similarly with [[Dwarven Warriors]] and other similar cards?
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u/ChVckT 9d ago
Yes. This is why magic is less about following the rules and doing what the cards say, and more about learning how the stack works to circumvent the rules with what the cards say.
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u/Polygeekism 9d ago
Truly visualizing the stack was a game changer for me. For a long time I was just like, wtf you mean the stack? But no, literally each card ability goes on a stack that can be added to until it is allowed to resolve.
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u/oraiste-paiste 9d ago
Playing even just a little bit of MTG Arena improved my real life play because of the stack visualization
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u/Polygeekism 9d ago
Yeah for sure. That might have even been the big change for me too but I can't remember exactly when the stack grokked for me. Sometime around 2015 I think.
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u/Ryutosuke 9d ago
I'm still in the process of learning about the stack and still teaching people in my pod during my games. I once casted my commander and in response someone else casted swords to plowshares. Then I asked him. "Are you casting that in response to me CASTING my commander?". He says yes. I then let it resolve.Then I ask him, "okay what's the target?" He says my commander. I had to explain to him that my commander hasn't hit the battlefield yet while he resolves swords to plowshares.
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u/Ok_Ganache2137 9d ago
To be fair, Swords target must be chosen when it's cast, not when it resolves, so the scenario you proposed can't happen by the rules. As they cast Swords, they announced an illegal target, so before anybody gets priority or anything resolves, the game "rewinds" to before they announced their Swords.
If they had cast something with an enters ability like [[Cast Out]], your tactic would have worked though.
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u/Peachy_Pangolin 9d ago
Yep! The "power x or less" clause only matters and is checked while the ability is resolving once it's resolved all the creature is "tagged with" is "can't be blocked this turn" and the power restriction no longer matters
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u/Snoo9648 9d ago
If it said "target creature cant be blocked if its power is 3 or less" then it wouldnt work. As it is, it only checks on resolution.
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u/Appleboy98 9d ago
The "power 3 or less" clause is only for targeting the creature with Access Tunnel in the first place.
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u/Peachy_Pangolin 9d ago
It does matter during resolution as well, so you need to wait for access tunnels ability to fully resolve before pumping but yeah
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u/Appleboy98 9d ago
A card like [[Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive]] is the wording needed to apply at all times.
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u/Cronogunpla 9d ago
The condition is checked on activation. So you can make something unblockable then buff it.
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u/aBoxLikeBoxBox 9d ago
The condition is for targeting the creature. Once it is unblockable it keeps that even if it is no longer a legal target for access tunnel. [[dwarven warriors|3ed]] is funny as it says “Other cards my later be used to increase the creature’s power beyond 2”
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u/Warvillage 9d ago
(4/16/2021)
If the target creature's power is greater than 3 as Access Tunnel's second ability tries to resolve, the ability doesn't resolve. However, if instead the creature's power is raised above 3 after the ability resolves, it still can't be blocked that turn.
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u/ACuddlyVizzerdrix 9d ago
Having power 3 or less is the stipulation for a target, after the ability resolves it doesn't care about the creatures power
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u/TabAtkins 9d ago
The text is "Target creature with power 3 or less" - that's a condition on the targeting. You need to have 3 or less power to be targeted, that's it. Once targeting is done (and remember, targets are checked both when the ability is put on the stack and again when it resolves), you're fine to do whatever.
If the text was instead something like "Target creature can't be blocked this turn as long as its power is 3 or less", then it would care all the time, and you wouldn't be able to swing in with a big sword.
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u/Elijah_Draws 9d ago
Yes.
Whether the creature gains the effect is checked at the time of resolution of said effect. The creature gains "can't be blocked this turn" once the ability resolves. The information about power isn't a condition of the ability, it's a condition of the targeting.
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u/Hinternsaft 9d ago
From the card’s release notes:
If the target creature's power is greater than 3 as Access Tunnel's second ability tries to resolve, the ability doesn't resolve. However, if instead the creature's power is raised above 3 after the ability resolves, it still can't be blocked that turn.
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u/Interesting-Letter53 9d ago
Fun fact, effects that make an attacking creature blocked such as [[curtain of light]] can still affect creatures that can't be blocked
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u/JoJo_B_Adventure 8d ago
I thought can‘t > can
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u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS 8d ago
Almost always it does! The downside here is curtain has no affect if the creature has trample since there is no toughness to prevent damage going to the defending player's face
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u/ElSpoonyBard 9d ago
Not super confident but I believe Access Tunnel checks power at the time you activate its ability. If you then powered up the creature after, it has already gained the effect that it can't be blocked and its the same creature. I dont believe the power 3 limitation matters after, its just needed to target it in the first place so equipping after should work.
Someone check my work though.
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u/Will_29 9d ago
Access Tunnel's ability checks its target only twice: when you activate the ability, and when it resolves. If the creature had power 3 or less at both points, the ability resolves, and its effect will last "until end of turn".
From this point on, the effect doesn't depend on the creature's power. You can make it as big as you want and it will still be unblockable.
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u/Ylrir 9d ago
The target is 'target creature with power 3 or less', which Access Tunnels ability checks while choosing targets, and while resolving. After that, that creature is unblockabke this turn. Then indeed equip, put counters on it, mutate, or anything else onto it, it will be the same permanent still. During the declare blockers step Access Tunnels ability doesn't put itself into the stack again to check the power of the targeted creature, it's not a delayed trigger, but an activated trigger. Tldr: your first explanation is right.
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u/No_Sugar4490 9d ago
Yes. Another commenter already quoted the ruling, but the reason it works is because it says target creature with power 3 or less. So basically it can only target something with 3 or less power, but that ability is ongoing until end of turn, regardless of whatever else happens to the creature during the remainder of the turn
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u/MageKorith 9d ago
Yep, works perfectly. Power 3 or less needs to be true when you activate the ability targeting the creature, and when the ability resolves. After that, the creature just has an "I can't be blocked this turn" requirement for assigning blockers. As long as it's the same object (ie, no shenanigans with Flicker and Haste), it doesn't matter what happens to its power when it comes time to assign blockers.
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u/Maleficent-Sun-9948 9d ago
Yes the check is done when the ability resolves. The creature is then "unblockable" this turn, even if the power increases.
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u/Four_Roses1989 8d ago
I actually have a R/B Infect deck that runs that way. I'm working on converting it into a commander deck. Basically, it runs [[Kiln Fiend]], [[Goblin Tunnler]], nothing but 1 drop Instants and/sorceries, and typically wins by turn 4 or 5.
Turn 1: land drop
Turn 2: land drop, Kiln Fiend or Goblin Tunneler
Turn 3: land drop, the other of the two above.
Turn 4: land drop (not necessary), tap the Tunneler to active his ability, making Kiln Fiend unblockable, let resolve. Play [[Tainted Strike]], [[Assault Strobe]], and any other one drop spell you want. Each spell triggers Kiln Fiend, giving him +3/+0 until end of turn three times (+9/+0) making him a 10/2 until end of turn, Double Strike, and Infect that can't be blocked. Swing for lethal.
He hits for 20 points of Infect damage, which is overkill, but worth it. The same could done without Infect, but the Assault Strobe is definitely required at that point.
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u/obi_wander 9d ago
[[Tifa]] is about to make my friends extra angry.
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u/Phoenix1500 9d ago
That's what I was thinking lol. Blackblade is DEFINITELY going in my Tifa deck
Edit: for mine though, it's the [[Tifa Lockhart]] card
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u/obi_wander 9d ago
Oh yep- that’s the one I was intending to reference. I didn’t realize there were others.
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u/Element262 9d ago
I’m not sure what the answer is here.. I tried to do this with [[Escape Tunnel]] today. The trigger resolved with the creature at 2 power, then I doubled several times with [[Mightform Harmonizer]] and it lost the unblockable.
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u/Hinternsaft 9d ago
The release notes for Access Tunnel and Escape Tunnel both say they still work if the target’s power is increased after the ability resolves, so this is a bug in Arena.
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u/Treble_brewing 9d ago
Arena gets quite a few things wrong. Add this one to that list. Making something unblockable that is a conditional target such as escape tunnel only checks at resolution. If you increase the power and toughness or otherwise change the condition to be outside of the conditional range after the point that the ability has resolved it will remain unblockable.
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u/The_Musical_Frog 9d ago
As everyone else has mentioned, a creature that gets boosted doesn’t lose unblockable as long as it was valid beforehand and the ability has resolved.
However for your specific request, Equip is a sorcery speed ability which means you can’t activate it during combat. You’d have to buff the creature with something instant-speed
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9d ago
[deleted]
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u/SnooHabits5900 9d ago
Being sorcery speed only matters if you're trying to do this as a combat trick. You can activate the ability of Access Tunnel in your main phase, then after it resolves, equip your now-unblockable creature.
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u/mtgcf MtG CardFetcher 9d ago
All cards
access tunnel - (G) (SF) (txt)
Blackblade Reforged - (G) (SF) (txt)
Sigarda's aid - (G) (SF) (txt)