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[[Bloodchief Ascension]]

In a two-headed giant game, suppose we attack the opposing giant with a 2/2 creature, dealing 2 damage to them. Bloodchief Ascension gets a counter at end of turn if "an opponent lost 2 or more life that turn". So, did any one of our opponents lose 2 life, or is the calculation for how much life was lost carried out according to the shared life total rules, which would mean each of our opponents lost 1 life, and no counter is added?

Zendikar FAQ doesn't say anything about this, but it does say that the card checks for life lost, not the total difference of life (so for example if a single opponent lost 2 life and then gained 4 the ability would still trigger). This makes me suspect that the ability does activate: the attacked opponent lost 2 life, but they came out of the shared life pool. Anyway, I'd like a definitive answer, backed by the rules.

flag	asked Nov 25 at 23:27 Avish♦♦ 3,003●2●11

Avish · Accepted Answer · 2009-11-26 07:45:36Z UTC

Aha! The comprehensive rules say this about Two-Headed Giant games:

806.7f As the combat damage step begins, the active team announces how each attacking creature will assign its combat damage. If an attacking creature would assign combat damage to the defending team, the active team chooses only one of the defending players for that creature to assign its combat damage to. Then the defending team announces how each blocking creature will assign its combat damage. See rule 510.1.

And --

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.

So in this case, combat damage is assigned to a single player on the opposing team, then life is subtracted from the shared pool. At end of turn, Bloodchief Ascension's ability triggers because the player chosen at the combat damage step had indeed lost 2 or more life. Yay!

How does Bloodchief Ascension work in Two-Headed Giant?

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