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Rules AnswersCombat & Damage

Does trample damage carry over to the player if a blocking creature has indestructible?

Short answer
Yes. You only need to assign lethal damage to an indestructible blocker, then excess tramples through to the player.

Trample lets an attacking creature assign its combat damage divided between blockers and the defending player, as long as each blocker is assigned at least lethal damage first (CR 702.19b). Lethal damage is defined as damage equal to or greater than a creature's toughness, accounting for any damage already marked on it (CR 702.19c).

Indestructible means a creature cannot be destroyed by damage or by effects that say 'destroy' (CR 702.12b). Crucially, damage is still marked on indestructible creatures — it just doesn't cause them to be destroyed. The rules explicitly state that when calculating lethal damage for trample purposes, you treat damage as lethal if it would be lethal were the creature not indestructible (CR 702.19c).

So if an indestructible creature has 4 toughness and your trampler has 7 power, you assign 4 damage to the blocker (lethal by toughness) and the remaining 3 carries over to the player. The blocker survives because it's indestructible, but the player still takes 3 damage.

Example: Your 7/7 trampler attacks and is blocked by a 4/4 indestructible Angel. You assign 4 damage to the Angel (meeting the lethal-damage threshold) and 3 damage to the opponent. The Angel survives unharmed due to indestructibility, and your opponent takes 3 damage.

This interaction is intentional by design — indestructible blockers do not make trample useless; you still only need to 'satisfy' lethal damage, not actually kill the blocker.

HIGH confidence CR 702.19b CR 702.19c CR 702.12b
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Unofficial fan resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Answers are AI-generated estimates grounded in the Comprehensive Rules and are not a substitute for an official judge. Verify anything match-critical.