Squall, Gunblade Duelist is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
First strike As Squall enters, choose a number. Whenever one or more creatures attack one of your opponents, if any of those creatures have power or toughness equal to the chosen number, Squall deals damage equal to its power to defending player.
Complete guide
Squall, Gunblade Duelist is a precision-based commander that rewards you for tailoring your army to a specific number. By identifying a numerical theme in your deck, Squall can consistently blast your opponents just for the act of attacking. This Human Mercenary turns every combat phase into a potential flurry of direct damage.
Choosing Your Mark
As Squall enters the battlefield, you must choose a number. This choice is not a triggered ability, so it cannot be responded to. This number remains linked to that specific Squall as long as it stays on the battlefield. You should choose a number that matches the power or toughness of the creatures you plan to attack with most frequently, as this dictates when Squall will fire its ability.
Triggering the Duelist
The triggered ability checks the state of your attacking creatures at two specific moments. First, when you declare attackers, at least one creature must have power or toughness equal to the chosen number to put the ability on the stack. Second, the ability checks again upon resolution. If the creatures are pumped or weakened in response so that none of them match the number anymore, the ability will fail to resolve.
Calculating Damage
When the ability resolves, Squall deals damage equal to its current power to the player who was attacked. If Squall is removed from the battlefield before the ability resolves, the game uses 'Last Known Information' to determine its power. For example, if Squall was a 3/3 when it left the battlefield, it will still deal 3 damage to the defending player.
Common Pitfalls
Note that the ability only triggers once per opponent per combat, regardless of how many creatures match the chosen number. However, if you attack multiple opponents in a single combat, and each attack includes a matching creature, the ability will trigger once for each opponent attacked. Also, remember that Squall checks both power AND toughness, giving you two ways for a single creature to satisfy the condition.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumIf you chose '2' when Squall, Gunblade Duelist entered the battlefield, attacking with Solemn Simulacrum will trigger Squall's ability. This is because Solemn Simulacrum has both a power of 2 and a toughness of 2. Even if one value changes, as long as one remains 2, the ability triggers and resolves, dealing damage equal to Squall's power to your opponent.
Roaming ThroneIf Roaming Throne enters and you choose 'Human' or 'Mercenary', it will interact with Squall. If you attack with Roaming Throne while the chosen number for Squall is '4', Squall's ability triggers. Because Roaming Throne is the chosen type, its static ability causes Squall's trigger to occur an additional time, resulting in Squall dealing damage twice to the defending player.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Squall, Gunblade Duelist
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Squall's last ability checks the power and toughness of the attacking creatures at the moment it would trigger. If none of them have power or toughness equal to the chosen number, the ability won't trigger at all. If it does trigger, the ability will check the power and toughness of those creatures as it tries to resolve. If none of them have power or toughness equal to the chosen number, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. If any of those creatures have left the battlefield since the first time the ability checked their power and toughness, use their power and toughness as they last existed on the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If Squall isn't on the battlefield as its last ability resolves, use its power as it last existed on the battlefield to determine how much damage the ability deals.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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