Aggravated AssaultHow it works & interactions with other cards

Unpacking the Ability

Aggravated Assault features a single activated ability that costs five mana. When you activate it, you untap all creatures you control and create a new combat phase followed by a new main phase immediately after your current one. Crucially, this ability can only be activated as a sorcery, meaning the stack must be empty and it must be one of your main phases.

The Step-by-Step Resolution

First, you must ensure you are in a main phase. You pay the cost of three generic and two red mana to put the ability on the stack. Once it resolves, all creatures you control are untapped. Then, the game engine schedules an extra combat phase and an extra main phase to happen once the current phase ends. Note that the untap happens immediately upon resolution, not at the start of the extra combat.

Strategic Timing and Common Pitfalls

A common mistake is trying to activate this during the combat phase; because it is limited to sorcery speed, you cannot use it to 'save' a creature or untap a blocker after attackers are declared. Typically, you will activate this during your post-combat main phase. If you have ten mana available, you can activate the ability twice in the same main phase, resulting in two additional combat phases and two additional main phases.

When to Play Aggravated Assault

This card shines when you have creatures with high power or those that produce mana when they attack. It is most effective when you have a board state that can survive multiple rounds of blocking or when you have reached a mana threshold that allows for infinite combat loops. In Commander, it is often a finisher that ends the game on the turn it is played.

Interaction examples

Incremental Burn

Impact Tremors

While Impact Tremors triggers when creatures enter the battlefield, Aggravated Assault allows you to keep the pressure on with the creatures you already have. If you play a creature while Impact Tremors is out, you deal damage. Then, use Aggravated Assault to untap that creature and attack multiple times, forcing your opponent to choose between taking combat damage or losing their blockers while their life total is already pressured by the enchantment.

Recursive Aggression

Underworld Breach

If Aggravated Assault is destroyed or discarded, Underworld Breach allows you to cast it from your graveyard using its escape cost. Once back on the field, you can use your remaining mana to activate Aggravated Assault. This combination ensures that even if your opponent removes your extra combat engine, you can bring it back for a final, lethal push during your main phase.

Solo Combat Loop

If you control a creature that can produce at least five mana when it attacks or taps, you can create infinite combat phases. You attack, then in your post-combat main phase, you use the five mana to activate Aggravated Assault. The creature untaps, a new combat is created, and you repeat the process until your opponents are defeated.