Q: Hello, Sheldon -

Yesterday I played Desolation Angel with kicker cost and my opponent played Desertion on it. In my opinion, the only lands that are destroyed are his, since the angel with kicker is countered and a Desolation Angel without kicker comes into play on his side. He and some others disagreed with me - so what's the ruling on this one?

Sincerely,
Quinten Cauwelier

A: Quinten,

You're right. Desertion counters the original Desolation Angel spell. It then puts the Angel into play on the opponent's side. Its triggered ability goes on the stack. There was no opportunity for the kicker to be paid, so only his lands are destroyed.

- Sheldon

Q: We ran into a situation today while playing some of the Urza's Legacy preconstructed decks. During my attack phase, I attacked with a Treetop Village and several other creatures. My opponent blocked the Treetop Village with a Phyrexian Defiler. After damage was put on the stack, but before it resolved, my opponent sacrificed the Phyrexian Defiler to kill off one of my other attackers. The question is: Since the blocker is now gone and the Treetop Village has trample, will the damage trample through, even though all the damage has been assigned to the Defiler?

Keep up the good work with the rules column.

Steve

A: Thanks, Steve. I try.

Trample doesn't change the dealing of damage, it changes the assignment of it (502.9). Damage is dealt as it is originally assigned. In order for it to"trample over," the creature would have to be removed before damage went on the stack (because it could then be assigned to the player).

- Sheldon