Double Strike

Keywords · beginner

A creature with double strike deals combat damage twice -- once in the first-strike damage step, and again in the regular combat damage step.

How it works

• Behaves like first strike for the first damage step.
• Then deals damage again alongside non-first-strike creatures in the regular step.
• A 3/3 double strike attacking a 3/3 vanilla blocker: first strike step kills the blocker; regular step deals 3 to the player or planeswalker.
• A 1/1 double strike with deathtouch trample is a famous "kills anything, then tramples" voltron piece.

Common interactions

• Double strike + lifelink: gain double the life from a single attack.
• Double strike + +1/+1 buffs: every +1/+1 effectively becomes +2/+1 in damage output.
• Removal between strikes: an opponent can kill the double-striker after the first strike step but before the regular step. Good window for instant-speed removal.

Rule reference

[702.4]