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Smite the Deathless
Instant
common
Smite the Deathless deals 3 damage to target creature. That creature loses indestructible until end of turn. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
Card Kingdom
CardmarketSemantic Tags
A spell that deals direct damage to creatures or players.
Specifically removes creatures — destroy, exile, damage, or -X/-X.
A keyword ability that causes damage dealt by an object to be especially effective. See rule 702.2, “Deathtouch.”
Has or grants deathtouch — kills anything it damages, effective deterrent and combat removal.
Answers an opponent's threat by destroying, exiling, bouncing, or otherwise removing a permanent or spell.
Format Legality
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Printings (3)
| Set | Rarity | TCGplayer | Card Kingdom | Cardmarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hobbit Eternal#202 | common | · | · | · |
| The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth#599 | common | · | · | · |
| The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth#148 | common | · | · | · |
Related Rules
First, if an effect that’s causing damage to be dealt states that excess damage that would be dealt to a permanent is dealt to another permanent or player instead, the damage event is modified accordingly. If the first permanent is a creature, the excess damage is the amount of damage in excess of what would be lethal damage, taking into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other sources that would be dealt at the same time. (See rule 120.6.) Any amount of damage greater than 1 is excess damage if the source dealing that damage to a creature has deathtouch. (See rule 702.2.) If the first permanent is a planeswalker, the excess damage is the amount of damage in excess of that planeswalker’s loyalty, taking into account damage from other sources that would be dealt at the same time. If the first permanent is a battle, the excess damage is the amount of damage in excess of that battle’s defense, taking into account damage from other sources that would be dealt at the same time. If the first permanent has multiple card types from among the list of creature, planeswalker, and battle, the excess damage is the greatest of the calculated amounts for each of the card types it has.
A keyword counter on a permanent or on a card in a zone other than the battlefield causes that object to gain that keyword. The keywords that a keyword counter can be are flying, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, decayed, exalted, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, shadow, trample, and vigilance, as well as any variants of those keywords. See rule 613.1f.
The only ways a permanent can be destroyed are as a result of an effect that uses the word “destroy” or as a result of the state-based actions that check for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g) or damage from a source with deathtouch (see rule 704.5h). If a permanent is put into its owner’s graveyard for any other reason, it hasn’t been “destroyed.”
Deathtouch
Deathtouch is a static ability.
Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage for the purposes of determining if excess damage is being dealt.
The deathtouch rules function no matter what zone an object with deathtouch deals damage from.
If an object changes zones before an effect causes it to deal damage, its last known information is used to determine whether it had deathtouch.
Rulings
You can target a creature that doesn't have indestructible with Smite the Deathless. It will still be exiled if it would die this turn.
If Smite the Deathless doesn't deal damage to the target creature (perhaps because that damage was prevented), the additional effects will still apply. It will still lose indestructible, and it will be exiled instead of dying that turn.
The damaged creature will be exiled if it would die for any reason that turn, not just if it dies due to damage from Smite the Deathless.