If you're anything like me, sometimes, you just get so sick of all the table politics. You've probably played against that sweet little Ms. Bumbleflower player who charms and manipulates the table into complacency until she becomes a 15/19 flier all of a sudden. Or perhaps you've even lost a game or two to a well-timed deal made across the table, cleverly orchestrated by that friend who insists they're totally harmless as they lull the entire pod into their ever-growing schemes.

Well, if this all sounds familiar, then sometimes all we can do is to go big, like Craterhoof Behemoth big, and charge headfirst, flattening anyone and anything that dares to talk their way out of taking the L they deserve.

In today's Mechanics Overview Segment, allow me to introduce you to the hallmark of beefy, aggressive mechanics: Trample. If Flying is the art of going over your problems, Trample is the art of going through them. And so, without further ado, get ready to embrace your inner Rancor and join me on this crash course on one of MTG's oldest, greatest, and occasionally misunderstood mechanics.

What Is Trample?

This creature can deal excess combat damage to a player, planeswalker or battle it's attacking.

Trample is an ability that fundamentally changes how you assign combat damage. Typically, if your opponent blocks with a single 1/1, your 7/7 attacker is forced to deal all 7 damage to that 1/1, and your opponent takes zero damage. With Trample, however, you only have to assign lethal damage (in this case, 1 point) to the blocker, and then the rest of the damage is assigned to the defending player or Planeswalker.

The History of Trample

Trample creatures have actually been around since Alpha (1993). But then, somewhere around Sixth Edition (1999), Wizards of the Coast thought, "Hey, maybe we should remove Trample from the Core Sets. It's confusing to new players." Then they replaced Trample with an ability that let creatures deal damage to players as though they weren't blocked (this is how we got stuff like Thorn Elemental, Pride of Lions, and Lone Wolf).

But guess what? The new ability was arguably just as confusing, if not more so, because the wording was all weird. We just wanted Trample! And so, by the time Ninth Edition (2005) came around, Wizards reversed course and said, "Okay, we're bringing it back. Everyone misses Trample." And so it returned as an evergreen mechanic in every Core Set to follow, delighting Timmys the world over.

Is Trample Confusing? Sometimes.

Yes, as Trample enthusiasts, I know we're not supposed to like following the rules. But hey, with this mechanic in particular, we all need a quick brush-up from time to time:

1. Assign Damage to Blocking Creatures First: A creature with Trample has to assign at least lethal damage to anything blocking it before assigning the rest of its damage. (Lethal damage = enough to destroy that creature. For instance, if it's a 2/2, lethal damage is 2 unless it has something like damage prevention, Indestructible, or dare I say it, a Shield Counter.)
2. Excess Damage Can Then Go To The Defending Player, Planeswalker, Or Battle: If your creature is attacking a Planeswalker or a Battle, leftover damage can still be dealt to that target after blockers. So if you happen to be running amok with Thrasta, Tempest's Roar's exclusive Trample Over Planeswalkers ability, you can assign enough damage to kill your opponent's blocking creatures, then their Planeswalker, and still pitch any remaining damage at their face if you have more to spare.
3. Trample Has No Effect When Your Creature Is Blocking: This has actually come up enough times that I feel the need to reiterate it here. I'm sorry, but you can't ever Trample over your opponent's attacking creature when you're the one blocking. By this, I mean you can't just say, "Oh, I block your 2/2 with my 6/6 trampler and deal 4 to you." It, unfortunately doesn't work that way. Trample is purely an attacking ability.
4. Protection & Indestructible: These abilities typically don't stop you from assigning leftover damage. With Protection being the most common disconnect, here's a quick example: If you swing with a 8/8 Terra Stomper into someone's 2/2 with Protection from Green, what happens? Well, you will still have to assign 2 damage to that little 2/2, even though it's protected and won't die. But hey, guess what? The leftover 6 unassigned damage can still go to their face when the dust settles!
5. Deathtouch + Trample: Ah, this is what I assume is one of ajudge's favorite questions to get asked. And yes, because Deathtouch sets lethal damage to just one, your Crystalline Giant with a +1/+1 Counter, Deathtouch Counter, and Trample Counter, can essentially tickle each blocker (up to 3 blockers, regardless of their respective stat lines, in this case) and still have a single point of damage to push up upstairs.

6. "Can I Choose Not To Trample Damage My Opponent?": Technically, yes. You must assign lethal damage to the blockers first, but if you want to dump your entire creature's power into an already-blocked creature (because you're feeling particular generous?), that's allowed. You're never forced to damage your opponent. But let's be honest, that's rarely the plan.

7. "What If The Blocking Creature Leaves Combat Before Damage?": If your creature is blocked and, say, your opponent bounces their blocking creature back to their hand before the combat damage step, your creature is still considered blocked. However, with Trample, if there's no longer a blocking creature there, congratulations, you can assign all that glorious damage right to your opponent.

Let The Good Times Roll (Or Trample)

Magic's best mechanics tell a story. Flying creatures soar above the battlefield, Deathtouch creatures are poisonous assassins, and Trample creatures are, to put it simply, too big to care. When your Aggressive Mammoth and friends barrels past a gathering of helpless 1/1 Soldiers, you just feel the weight, the momentum, and the inevitability. It can be pretty cathartic, especially after three turns of your opponent flashing you their classic smug Mother of Runes grin.

Trample has thus far survived thirty?plus years, multiple rule rewrites, and even a brief exile from core sets because it just nails that perfect intersection of simple payoff and rules?layer depth. New players today continue to grasp the Timmy dream of going big or going home while veterans, to this day, continue to spend their Friday nights debating how Torbran, Thane of Red Fell bonus works with Trample. (Just putting this since the Gatherer page was nice enough to explain this interaction in depth: "If damage dealt by a source you control is being divided or assigned among multiple permanents an opponent controls or among an opponent and one or more permanents they control, divide the original amount before adding 2. For example, if you attack with a 5/5 Red creature with Trample and your opponent blocks with a 2/2 creature, you can assign 2 damage to the blocker and 3 damage to the defending player. These amounts are then modified to 4 and 5, respectively.")

In any case, that's all I've got in the tank this time around. As always, happy brewing and may you gather the strength to finally let the rest of the table know that you're done with all the cunning wordplay and Trample onward! Until next time.