Kill ShotHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Kill Shot is an instant that costs two generic and one white mana. It has one specific condition: the target must be an attacking creature. As long as a creature is currently in the state of attacking, this spell can remove it from the battlefield regardless of its power, toughness, or whether it has already dealt damage.

How It Resolves

When you cast Kill Shot, you must choose a legal target that is currently an attacking creature. Once the spell resolves, the game checks if the target is still an attacking creature; if it is, the creature is destroyed and put into its owner's graveyard. If the creature has indestructible or is removed from combat before Kill Shot resolves, the spell will fail to destroy it.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is trying to cast Kill Shot after the combat phase has ended. A creature is only 'attacking' from the moment it is declared as an attacker until the end of combat step concludes. You cannot use Kill Shot to destroy a creature during your own turn unless that creature has somehow been forced to attack, nor can you use it on a creature that is simply tapped but not attacking.

When to Play It

The best time to play Kill Shot is usually during the declare blockers step or the combat damage step. Waiting until after blockers are declared allows you to see if your opponent uses any combat tricks. However, if you need to prevent damage entirely, you must cast it during the declare attackers step before damage is calculated.

Interaction examples

Basic Defense

Your opponent attacks with a powerful creature. During the declare attackers step, you cast Kill Shot targeting that creature. Since it is currently attacking, the spell resolves and destroys the creature before it can deal any combat damage to you.

Phasing Out Defense

Teferi's Protection

You cast Kill Shot on an opponent's creature. In response, the opponent casts Teferi's Protection. Because Teferi's Protection causes all their permanents to phase out, the creature no longer exists for the purposes of the game. Kill Shot will then fizzle (be removed from the stack) because its target is no longer present.

Post-Combat Flexibility

Generous Gift

If your opponent attacks and you use Kill Shot to destroy their creature, you have successfully defended. However, if they have a non-creature threat like a Planeswalker, Kill Shot cannot target it. In that scenario, you would need to use Generous Gift instead, as Kill Shot is strictly limited to attacking creatures.