How does Melee work with multiple combats?
Asked by htffan951852 8 years ago
How does the new ability Melee work if you go through multiple combats in a single turn? Adriana, Captain of the Guard is one card that has this new ability, and it says that these creatures gain +1/+1 until the end of the turn, and for each opponent they are attacking this combat. So if you go to combat and attack two opponents, and then use a card to let you go to your combat phase a second time and attack two opponents, will your creatures gain a total of +4/+4?
htffan951852 says... #2
That is what I thought. Thank you Epochalypitik. I don't see why people dislike Adriana, Captain of the Guard as a commander then in edh. I mean in a 4 player game, she would be one of the biggest threats it seems. I mean there are a lot of cards that let you take extra combat phases, some of which lets you use it repetitively. And your in Red/White so your most likely going to have a army of tokens. She's really deadly if she isn't taken care of. So why do people hate this card?
August 24, 2016 8:12 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
If your question has been answered please select an answer to remove this from the unanswered queue.
While the rules Q&A is not the place for strategy discussion, I will go a bit into why people dislike her.
Red and White are traditionally considered the weakest colors for EDH. White is a fine support color and red has some merit as a tertiary or sometimes secondary color, but the combination doesn't offer much.
Melee obliges you to attack each opponent each combat. Even if the attack is in itself unwise or unprofitable you feel obliged to attack each opponent for the buffs to your other creatures. People don't like being forced into aggression.
For 5 CMC Red White commanders you already have Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran, Anya, Merciless Angel, Basandra, Battle Seraph, and Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. For various reasons Adriana, Captain of the Guard can be considered weaker than these other commanders that don't see much play already.
August 24, 2016 8:37 a.m.
I entirely agree with Gidgetimer here... on top of that, I personally feel that EDH is a format where you get to play all the awesome synergies and mechanics that you couldn't in other, faster-paced formats. For me, an EDH deck needs to be either centered around the commander or it's abilities, or needs to be unique in general in order to be interesting over a longer period of time (which is commonly what EDH decks are built for). Adriana seems to offer none of the above and is more of a "do more of the generic attacking thing" commander, which doesn't appeal to me personally.
Also, keep in mind that with a decreasing player count, your Melee bonus will also decrease, meaning your opponents might wall in in order for you to do the work killing everyone else, eventually beating you with no opportunity to fight back, as you only get +1/+1 each combat now.
Also, if you directly compare the interaction you described to Finest Hour + Rafiq of the Many (which also transfers the Exalted bonusses over to the second combat step), I'd consider the latter to be extraordinarily stronger, both for the reason that it's not limited to the amount of players you're facing, only by the amount of Exalted permanents you control (so your deck's growing stronger, not weaker, over time), as well as you having access to three very potent commander colors.
August 24, 2016 9:15 a.m.
htffan951852 says... #5
I see your point Gidgetimer, but I must disagree with you when you say that those other 5 cmc white-red cards are better. Yes you have to force your opponents into aggression to make the most out of Adriana, Captain of the Guard you could also just throw a 1/1 goblin at them and still get melee for all of your team. Yes if you have less people in your group to play commander, then she is the worse out of all of them, but as long as you have 2 other people to play with, she is much better than most of them when it comes to a combat style deck.The fact that she grants melee to your team makes it so that she out classess Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran, and if you three opponents she becomes stronger and better than Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, and Anya, Merciless Angel only becomes stronger once you or one of your opponents lose half there life or more, which could take a while depending on what your up against. Leaving only Basandra, Battle Seraph as the only other better 5 costing white-red commander card.You do make a good remark though BlueScope, if it's a one on one match then she is terrible, and I do agree with you there.Yes she isn't the strongest on her own, but white-red is a strong enough color combo to swarm the field with ease, and you only have to attack your opponents with one creature each to gain a large increase from melee. So I could just send one goblin token at one guy, and swing the team at the rest and they still all get +2/+2, or more depending on how many people you are playing with. So while I agree that she isn't the stronger choice in commander in white-red, I really don't think that this card is as terrible as people are making it out to be.
August 24, 2016 4:57 p.m.
No, to some point, every commander has something to offer, and working with ones that aren't completely busted can be fun and rewarding as well (at least, that's my personal opinion). I was merely going to explain why that may be the popular opinion regarding that specific commander, but everyone prefers different things, and really - whichever commander you find to be enjoyable is great for you! After all, you can show others in a match which is the better, or more fun deck :)
August 24, 2016 5:11 p.m.
MoonChild426 says... #7
I have a question concerning melee, here is the explanation for melee
"Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each opponent you attacked with a creature this combat. If a creature has multiple instances of melee, each triggers separately"
So i was wondering if a creature has melee and adrianna give em melee, does that mean it gets +2/+2 for each opponent you Attack ?
September 8, 2016 9:18 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
Yes. The rule you found just means that each instance of the melee ability gets counted. If your creature has two instances of melee (one natively and one from Adrianna), each one will trigger.
September 8, 2016 1:47 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
Also, it's a good idea to start a new thread once the original question gets beyond a couple days old. Otherwise, people will only notice your post if they're still subscribed to the original thread.
September 8, 2016 1:49 p.m.
MoonChild426 says... #10
Thx epochalyptik ! I wrote on this one so people that already participated to the conversation would see the notification and this way get an answer faster than waiting for someone to take a look at the post
September 8, 2016 3:36 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
The community is generally pretty quick when it comes to the Q&A. Either way, starting a new thread means your question will remain visible at least until it gets answered (and usually for a few days after).
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Each melee ability will apply a bonus based on the number of opponents you're attacking in the current combat. However, the buffs don't expire until the end of the turn, so a creature with melee can continually stack buffs if you find a way to add additional combat phases to your turn.
In your example, yes. A creature with melee would get +2/+2 from your first declare attackers step and an additional +2/+2 during your second declare attackers step.
August 23, 2016 10:53 p.m.