Rampage

Rampage
Keyword Ability
Type	Triggered
Introduced	Legends
Last used	Time Spiral
Reminder Text	Rampage N (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +N/+N until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.)
Storm Scale	8
Statistics	17 cards 5.9% 5.9% 23.5% 29.4% 5.9% 5.9% 5.9% 5.9% 11.8%
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keyword:"Rampage"

Rampage is a keyword ability that gives an attacking creature a bonus to its power and toughness when it is blocked by more than one creature. Rampage first appeared in Legends; the last tournament-legal set with it was 5th Edition, until Craw Giant was reprinted as a timeshifted card in Time Spiral.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Rampage

A keyword ability that can make a creature better in combat. See rule 702.23, “Rampage.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 702.23. Rampage
  • 702.23a Rampage is a triggered ability. “Rampage N” means “Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +N/+N until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.” (See rule 509, “Declare Blockers Step.”)
  • 702.23b The rampage bonus is calculated only once per combat, when the triggered ability resolves. Adding or removing blockers later in combat won’t change the bonus.
  • 702.23c If a creature has multiple instances of rampage, each triggers separately.

Rulings

• If a creature with rampage is blocked by a single creature, the ability triggers but provides no bonus.
• The number of blocking creatures is determined when the ability resolves.

Examples

Example 1

Craw Giant
Creature — Giant
6/4
Trample
Rampage 2 (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.)

Example 2

Gang of Elk
Creature — Beast
5/4
Whenever Gang of Elk becomes blocked, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking it.

Cards that grant rampage

• Rapid Fire

New rampage

Rampage had issues of development since all the cards with it were costed and sized like it was a significant bonus in every combat, as opposed to one that never realistically activated. Double blocking happens when a defender can leverage multiple weaker creatures against larger creatures, but none of the rampage creatures were large enough to require it. As such, an ability with no chance of activating is a poor design. Later cards such as Gang of Elk and Beastmaster's Magemark use an updated, non-keyworded version of rampage ("new rampage", as quoted by Mark Rosewater) that activates against a single blocker and grows from there.

However, the variable stats during every combat added too much complexity, and while the cards were now more accurately costed, they had less raw power than those at the same cost, so the creature tended to lose races with their smaller size, given that defenders were discouraged from blocking. New rampage and rampage were both deprecated. After Beastmaster's Magemark, the design team went for a cleaner solution where instead of discouraging double blocking, the ability prevented it altogether, which already existed as stalking.

Cards with "new rampage"

• Berserk Murlodont (gives it to all Beasts)
• Cave Tiger
• Elvish Berserker
• Gang of Elk
• Pygmy Troll
• Rabid Elephant
• Rabid Wolverines
• Sparring Golem
• Spined Sliver (gives it to all Slivers)
• Viashino Weaponsmith

Cards that grant "new rampage"

• Beastmaster's Magemark
• Retaliation
• Barreling Attack

Trivia

• The silver-bordered set Unhinged contains two cards that have rampage or can gain it as an activated ability (Old Fogey and Greater Morphling). It also features a variant of rampage with "art rampage" (on Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made This Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental). (Whenever this creature becomes blocked by a creature, it gets +N/+N for each creature in the blocker’s art beyond the first.)