Deathtouch
Deathtouch is a static ability that causes any amount of damage dealt by the source to a creature to be lethal damage.
From the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Edge of Eternities)
- 702.2. Deathtouch
- 702.2a Deathtouch is a static ability.
- 702.2b A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.
- 702.2c Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage for the purposes of determining if a proposed combat damage assignment is valid, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c–d.
- 702.2d The deathtouch rules function no matter what zone an object with deathtouch deals damage from.
- 702.2e If an object changes zones before an effect causes it to deal damage, its last known information is used to determine whether it had deathtouch.
- 702.2f Multiple instances of deathtouch on the same object are redundant.
History
Deathtouch’s history began with creatures like Thicket Basilisk and Cockatrice in Limited Edition (Alpha) that had “basilisk” effects, a proto-deathtouch ability. The ability was officially keyworded as “Deathtouch” in 2007’s Future Sight and became a permanent ability with Magic 2010.
Deathtouch in Practice
Deathtouch emphasizes on combat attrition, wether the Deathtouch creature Attacks or Blocks, it translates into being an Attack detterrent and the other side of combat it ends up turning into an unblockable creature.
Practical uses of Deathtouch paired up with First Strike, or Trample perform really well.
