Fight
| Fight | |
|---|---|
| Keyword Action | |
| Introduced | Innistrad |
| Last used | Evergreen |
| Reminder Text | No official reminder text |
| Statistics |
53 cards  11.3%  54.7%  15.1%  5.7%  1.9%  1.9%  1.9%  3.8%  3.8% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| keyword:"Fight" | |
Fight is a keyword action introduced in Innistrad. The word appears in a phrase like "[Cardname] fights target creature." and it means that both creatures deal damage equal to their Power to each other.[1][2] Cards using fight appear primary in green and secondary in red.[3] They carry the flavor of an altercation.
Description
Fight is similar to the mechanic originally introduced with the Land Arena, though slightly altered. A few old cards (including Arena) with the same functionality received updated Oracle wording using the new terminology. Cards with similar, but not identical, functionality do not use the word "fight".
Rules
Rulings
- The damage is dealt simultaneously, and it is dealt by the creatures themselves, so abilities like deathtouch, lifelink, and infect will work as normal.
- Damage dealt while fighting is not combat damage, so abilities like first strike won't have any effect.
- Fighting itself does not cause the creatures to become tapped.[1]
- Only creatures can fight.
- No more than two creatures can fight.
- If a creature somehow fights itself, it will deal damage to itself equal to its power twice simultaneously.
Example
Example
Blood Feud 
Sorcery
Target creature fights another target creature. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Fighting cards before the keyword action
- Arena from a special book promotion and Time Spiral
- Triangle of War from Visions
- Contested Cliffs from Onslaught
- Magus of the Arena from Planar Chaos
- Rivals' Duel from Morningtide
Some cards have abilities similar, but not identical, to fight and have not received errata:
- Cyclops Gladiator from Magic 2011
- Durkwood Tracker from Time Spiral
- Gargantuan Gorilla from Alliances
- Karplusan Yeti from Ice Age
- Predatory Urge from Zendikar
- Stalking Yeti from Coldsnap
- Tahngarth, Talruum Hero from Planeshift
- Tracker from The Dark
- Vein Drinker from Shards of Alara
One-sided fight
Green needed answers to creatures, but R&D wanted to make sure the solution to creatures involves creatures. Fight was the first step in that direction. The next step, as first seen in Oath of the Gatewatch, was one-sided fighting for green.[4][5]
References
- ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (August 28, 2011). "Innistrad Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 8, 2015). "Evergreen Eggs & Ham". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 5, 2017). "Mechanical Color Pie 2017". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 08, 2016). "Nissa's Judgment is green, but it doesn't let the targeted creature fight back?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 30, 2016). "What's all this noise I keep hearing about fight and "deals damage equal to its power"?". Blogatog. Tumblr.