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I just want to make sure I understand the rules of life. Say my opponents are on 30, which means 15 life for every player. I play fireball for 15 targeting one of them. Does his life hit 0, then immediately get reset to 15/2 = 7?

I know that in practice it doesn't work this way, but not sure I understand why, or how exactly does it work. Consider the ruling for Eternity Vessel for example.

In a Two-Headed Giant game, Eternity Vessel enters the battlefield with a number of charge counters on it equal to its controller's share of the team's life total. (A player's share is considered to be the team's life total divided by two, rounded up.) When its landfall ability resolves, it affects its controller's share of the team's life total, and the team's life total is adjusted by the amount of life the player gains or loses as a result of this ability. Suppose Eternity Vessel has 15 charge counters on it when its landfall ability resolves, and its controller's team has 11 life. That player's share of the life total is 6, which becomes 15, for a net gain of 9 life. The team's life total becomes 20 (11 + 9).

[[Fireball]] [[Eternity Vessel]]

flag	asked Nov 25 at 23:04 ripper234♦♦ 5,885●7●25

Avish · Accepted Answer · 2009-11-26 08:53:59Z UTC

Life in a two-headed giant game are shared between both "heads", and damage dealt to either of them subtracts from this shared pool. It's only when a card refers to a player's life total that the rules kick in, saying that a single "head" has a life total that's equal to half the shared life total, rounded up.

For example, if a single "head"'s life total changes, that player is assumed to have gained or lost the appropriate amount of life (this is true always, not just in two-headed giant):

117.5. If an effect sets a player’s life total to a specific number, the player gains or loses the necessary amount of life to end up with the new total.

But in two-headed giant, life lost by any of the players on a team is applied to the team's shared life total:

806.9. Damage, loss of life, and gaining life happen to each player individually. The result is applied to the team’s shared life total.

806.9a If an effect needs to know the value of an individual player’s life total, that effect uses the team’s life total divided by two, rounded up, instead.

806.9b If an effect would set the life total of each player on a team to a number, the result is the sum of all the numbers.

806.9c If an effect would set a single player’s life total to a number, that player’s individual life total becomes that number. The team’s life total is adjusted by the amount of life that player gained or lost.

So when you hit for e.g. 15 damage, you deal that 15 damage to a single player on the opposing team. This is important for effects that trigger when a player is dealt damage or loses life (such as Bloodchief Ascension). However, the actual amount of life lost is subtracted from the opposing team's shared life pool. A single player's life total exists in 2HG only as a calculated value for the purpose of having a specific number to use in an effect, and is not a continually tracked resource.

Notice also that these rules yield the precise behavior described in the ruling for Eternity Vessel; so this is not a card-specific errata but rather a clarification of how the rules apply to the card.

What happens in a two-headed game if I fireball for 15

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