Damage

Damage represents impairment or destruction that a creature, battle, planeswalker, or player may suffer from a certain source. It is measured by a number on the same scale as Power/Toughness, life, defense and loyalty, since those are the values damage typically interacts with. Sufficient damage usually causes creatures and planeswalkers to die, battles to be defeated, and players to lose the game; this is called lethal damage in the case of creatures.
==Description==
While most damage is caused by the combat between creatures, or creatures attacking players, there are also many cards which can deal direct damage to creatures, battles, planeswalker and/or players. These cards are usually red, e.g. <c>Lightning Bolt</c>.
When damage is dealt, one of several results normally occurs depending on what is being damaged. Various effects can also change or add to these default consequences of damage.
*Damage dealt to creatures is considered "marked" on them until the end of each turn - simply meaning that someone must remember how much damage has been dealt to each creature over a turn. An amount of damage greater than or equal to the toughness of a creature is considered lethal damage and causes the creature to be put into the graveyard. On the other hand if a creature does not leave the battlefield before end of turn, all marked damage is removed from it. This makes creature damage temporary by default.
*Damage dealt to a Battle causes that many defense counters to be removed from it. A battle with no defense counters is defeated and exiled.
*Damage dealt to a Planeswalker causes that many loyalty counters to be removed from it. A planeswalker with no loyalty counters dies immediately, much like creatures with lethal damage. Unlike creatures, planeswalker damage is effectively "permanent", since counters are not restored automatically, although damage doesn't prevent them from regaining the counters later.
*Damage dealt to a player causes them to lose that much life. A player with 0 or less life loses the game.
The consequences of damage - typically being destroyed or losing the game - are not considered a direct result of damage. They are separate events that occur right afterward. However, as state-based actions these consequences are still very fast, not allowing players to take actions between the damage being dealt and the consequences occurring.
Damage does not have attributes like color or type or any abilities. However, sources of damage may have these attributes, which may be important in determining the consequences of damage.
===Process and related mechanics===
The amount of damage dealt or taken can be changed by abilities and effects. Prevention effects reduce the amount of damage dealt before it is translated into results, and other effects may increase it. Redirection effects can also change what will take the damage, including those that apply excess damage to a different recipient.
Once the recipient and amount of damage is determined, the results of the damage are applied. Each type of recipient of damage has a baseline result, but Wither, Infect, and Lifelink abilities on a damage source directly change the game rules about what the damage will do. Many kinds of replacement effects can further modify the results of damage.
After the damage is applied, further consequences often include destruction or game loss. Deathtouch on a damage source redefines lethal damage to cause destruction much more easily. However, these consequences can be prevented by effects such as Indestructible, Regenerate, or "you can't lose the game", possibly making the damage "irrelevant" without actually preventing it. Two cards specifically call out "lethal damage" and modify its application in their rules text: <c>Ogre Enforcer</c> only registers lethal damage when it occurs from one source, and <c>Zilortha, Strength Incarnate</c> makes damage use power rather than toughness to determine lethality for all its controllers' creatures.
Many triggered abilities trigger from damage after the immediate results are dealt with, including Poisonous. Many other abilities trigger from the effects of damage, such as life gain or loss. And many further abilities trigger from the follow-up consequences of the effects of damage, particularly creature death.
==Rules==
==See also==
*Combat damage
*Direct damage
*Unpreventable damage
==References==