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.) |
| Statistics |
13 cards  30.8%  23.1%  7.7%  7.7%  7.7%  7.7%  15.4% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| 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
New rampage
Rampage was viewed as a poor example of design, since players rarely use multiple creatures to block a single attacker if that creature doesn't have trample. Before the release of Ice Age, the only card that gave trample to a creature that did not have it naturally was Berserk, making it difficult to use rampagers well, since many of them do not have trample. Today, cards such as Gang of Elk and Beastmaster's Magemark use an updated, non-keyworded version of rampage (as "new rampage" quoted by Mark Rosewater) that activates against a single blocker and grows from there.
However, the variable stats during blocking was seen as undesirable under the new design paradigm, and the creatures tended to lose races with their smaller size, given that blocking was unfavorable. New rampage and rampage were both deprecated. After Beastmaster's Magemark, design went for a clean solution where instead of discouraging double blocking, prevent 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"
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.)