Tactical AdvantageHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Tactical Advantage is an instant that targets a specific creature you control. To be a legal target, that creature must currently be in combat and have one of two statuses: it must be a blocking creature (one you assigned to stop an attacker) or a blocked creature (one you attacked with that an opponent has assigned a blocker to). If the spell resolves, the creature gains +2/+2 until the end of the current turn.

Step-by-Step Resolution

First, you wait until the Declare Blockers step has begun and blockers have been chosen. You cast Tactical Advantage by paying one white mana and choosing a legal target. When the spell resolves, the +2/+2 bonus is applied immediately. This bonus lasts through the Combat Damage step and all the way until the Cleanup step at the end of the turn, potentially saving your creature from damage-based removal later in the turn.

Common Mistakes

The most frequent error is trying to cast this spell too early. You cannot target a creature with Tactical Advantage during the Declare Attackers step before your opponent has chosen blockers, as the creature is not yet 'blocked.' Similarly, you cannot use this to buff an unblocked creature to deal extra damage to a player; if no one blocks your attacker, it never becomes a 'blocked creature.'

When to Play It

Timing is everything. Typically, you want to cast this after blockers are declared but before combat damage is dealt. This allows you to surprise an opponent who thought their creature was strong enough to trade with yours. Because it is an instant, you can also use it reactively to save a creature from a damage-based spell after it has finished its combat duties, as long as the turn hasn't ended.

Interaction examples

Surviving Removal After Combat

Swords to Plowshares

If you use Tactical Advantage on your blocking creature, it gets +2/+2. If your opponent then tries to use Swords to Plowshares on that same creature later in the turn, you will gain 2 additional life because the power-boosting effect of Tactical Advantage persists until the end of the turn.

Responding to Exile

Path to Exile

If you attack and your creature is blocked, you can cast Tactical Advantage to buff it. If your opponent responds by casting Path to Exile, your creature will be exiled before Tactical Advantage resolves. Tactical Advantage will then fizzle (be removed from the stack with no effect) because its only target is no longer on the battlefield.