You Look Upon the TarrasqueHow it works & interactions with other cards

Choosing Your Path

As you cast You Look Upon the Tarrasque, you must choose one of its two modes. The first mode, Run and Hide, acts as a 'Fog' effect that protects both you and your creatures from combat damage for the entire turn. The second mode, Gather Your Courage, turns one of your creatures into a massive, indestructible threat that forces every eligible enemy creature to block it.

Resolving the Forced Block

When using the Gather Your Courage mode, the target creature gains +5/+5 and indestructible. The second part of this effect creates a requirement for your opponents' creatures. During the declare blockers step, each creature your opponents control must be assigned to block the target creature if it is able to do so. If a creature is tapped or affected by a restriction that says it 'can't block,' it won't be forced to block. However, if there are no such restrictions, they must all swarm your targeted creature.

Timing and Combat Damage

Because this is an instant, you can cast it during the declare attackers step to force a specific outcome. If you choose Run and Hide, it prevents combat damage even if that damage would be dealt by creatures with trample. If you choose Gather Your Courage, your creature remains indestructible until the cleanup step, allowing it to survive the swarm of blockers and any additional damage spells cast later in the turn.

Strategic Considerations

Common mistakes involve forgetting that Gather Your Courage only forces blocks if the creature is 'able' to block. If the opponent has creatures with flying and your target creature doesn't have reach or flying, those creatures cannot block it and are not forced to do so. Additionally, remember that Run and Hide only prevents combat damage; it does not prevent damage from spells or abilities.

Interaction examples

Drawing Upon Greater Power

Return of the Wildspeaker

First, cast You Look Upon the Tarrasque choosing 'Gather Your Courage' to target a non-Human creature, giving it +5/+5. While that boost is on the stack or active, cast Return of the Wildspeaker choosing the first mode. Because your creature's power is now 5 points higher, you will draw five additional cards compared to the creature's base power.

The Indestructible Token Army

Second Harvest

If you have a powerful creature token, you can cast You Look Upon the Tarrasque to make it a massive +5/+5 indestructible threat. If you then cast Second Harvest, the new token created will be a copy of the original creature, but it will not have the +5/+5 or indestructible status, as those are temporary layer 7 and layer 6 effects rather than copiable values of the permanent.

Surviving the Alpha Strike

When your opponent attacks with all their creatures, cast You Look Upon the Tarrasque choosing 'Run and Hide.' Even if you do not block, the damage dealt to you by the attacking creatures is reduced to zero. This allows you to keep your creatures alive to counter-attack on your following turn.