A. I know that normally when a player blocks an attacking creature with 2 or more creatures the attacking player decides which creature they are attacking or "going through" first, second, etc. But who gets to pick the order when the blocking creature gets to block 2+? E.g. Brave the Sands or Hundred-Handed One. Does the attacker get to choose the order of creatures attacking the blocking creature? Or does the blocking player choose what order the attacking creatures attack?
B. Also, are there State Based Action checks after each creature attacks? E.g. If I had a 9/9 creature blocking a Typhoid Rats and another 3/3 creature, and the Rats were the first attackers, would my 9/9 creature die from Deathtouch before dealing damage to the other 3/3 creature? Or would the 9/9 kill both creatures and THEN die from Deathtouch?
All attacks, and all blocks, are simultaneous. First Strike is an exception to this, but indeed, all First Strike damage is dealt simultaneously as well, regardless of whether it's attacking or blocking creatures that possess that ability, or both of course.
So...
Attackers are declared "all at once". Responses to this can happen, or not. Blockers, if any, are also declared "all at once". Then, assuming no other relevant responses happen at that stage, all combat damage happens "all at once", with the same caveat as above.
With multiple blockers per attacker, or multiple attackers per blocker, or indeed tramplers (et al), combat damage is still assigned as the attacker chooses, generally speaking. There are some exceptions to this. But even so, when the damage is actually dealt, it all happens at the same time. Disregarding First Strike...
A) the defending player will choose the order his creature deals damage to the attacker. So the player controlling Hundred-Handed one will say it deals damage in the order A B C D.
B) All combat damage (assuming no first/double strike) is done at the same time. so your 9/9 will kill both creatures regardless of the order of damage.
A. I know that normally when a player blocks an attacking creature with 2 or more creatures the attacking player decides which creature they are attacking or "going through" first, second, etc. But who gets to pick the order when the blocking creature gets to block 2+? E.g. Brave the Sands or Hundred-Handed One. Does the attacker get to choose the order of creatures attacking the blocking creature? Or does the blocking player choose what order the attacking creatures attack?
Each player announces both the damage assignment order (how the creature they own in combat is going to assign damage in relative order) and how that damage is then divided. So your Hundred-Handed One can order which creatures it will assign damage to, and then how much damage it will assign each. Note, however, that it must assign lethal damage before going on to the next creature in the order it blocked. So if you're blocking two Elvish Mystics and a Savage Knuckleblade, you can pick which one you choose to block first, second, and then third, and when distributing damage, must assign lethal to each before proceeding to the next creature. So the order would look like this:
Declare attackers step: Active player announces attacking creatures; triggered abilities go on the stack; priority goes to active player to cast spells/activate abilities
Declare blockers step: Non-active player announces blockers; active player declares damage assignment order; non-active player declares damage assignment order; triggered abilities go on the stack; priority goes to active player to cast spells/activate abilities
Combat damage step: Active player announces how damage is divied per damage assignment order; non-active player announces how damage is divied per damage assignment order; ALL combat damage is dealt simultaneously; triggered abilities go on the stack; priority goes to active player to cast spells/activate abilities
So, following the example above:
Declare attackers step: Your opponent announces that he is attacking with Savage Knuckleblade and two Elvish Mystics; no triggered abilities, no one casts spells/activates abilities
Combat damage step: Your opponent announces how damage is distributed, and since no creatures have trample, all damage goes to the Hundred-Handed One since he blocked all creatures; you announce how you distribute your damage: notably, you must deal at least 4 pts of damage to Elvish Mystic 1 (who is a 4/4 per Giant Growth), but you can deal 5 or all 6 if you choose; assume you deal 4 pts, then 1 pt to Elvish Mystic 2 (minimum for lethal), then the remaining 1 to the Savage Knuckleblade; state-based actions are checked and all creatures with lethal damage marked on them are destroyed and go to the graveyard (both Elvish Mystics and your Hundred-Handed One); no abilities trigger and no one chooses to cast spells/activate abilities
Did that help, or did I muddle the water more? lol
Daniel
**Clarification requested here, does the active player have to announce at this time which creature will deal damage to the Hundred-Handed One "first" as would be relevant if one of the creatures had trample or does that take place in the combat damage step? Couldn't find the answer in the CompRules.
[quote from="Galiant2010 »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/581345-one-creature-blocking-many-creatures-question?comment=1"]
**Clarification requested here, does the active player have to announce at this time which creature will deal damage to the Hundred-Handed One "first" as would be relevant if one of the creatures had trample or does that take place in the combat damage step? Couldn't find the answer in the CompRules.
The attacking player gets to choose.
(emphasis mine)
702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s)
blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining
damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or
planeswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into
account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being
assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change
the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. The attacking creature’s controller need not assign
lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the
player or planeswalker it’s attacking.
Example: A 2/2 creature that can block an additional creature blocks two attackers: a
1/1 with no abilities and a 3/3 with trample. The active player could assign 1 damage
from the first attacker and 1 damage from the second to the blocking creature, and 2
damage to the defending player from the creature with trample.
**Clarification requested here, does the active player have to announce at this time which creature will deal damage to the Hundred-Handed One "first" as would be relevant if one of the creatures had trample or does that take place in the combat damage step? Couldn't find the answer in the CompRules.
509.2 and 509.3. Yes, the active player declares damage assignment order first, then the blocking player does so.
I have another question then, and lets just use random numbers here. Lets say that I have an 8/8 that can block two creatures and my opponent has two 7/7 creatures, only one with Trample and assuming no other spells or abilities are played. If the attacker picks their damage order, they would want to use the vanilla 7/7 first and then the one with trample right? Because then 6 damage would get through with Trample? And if they assigned damage with the Trample creature first and then the vanilla no damage would get through? And both situations would happen regardless of the order I, as the blocker, chose to deal damage?
I am getting the feeling that damage dealt is not truly 100% simultaneous, but rather there is just no State Based Action check between the creatures dealing damage so that it appears simultaneous?
On a different note, say I use a Roar of Challenge on...lets say a Corpsejack Menace. The opposing player has ten 2/2 creatures able to block. If I am correct, the Corpsejack is dealing 4 damage to each of them, and they are dealing 20 damage to it, ultimately killing everything. Is that correct?
On a different note, say I use a Roar of Challenge on...lets say a Corpsejack Menace. The opposing player has ten 2/2 creatures able to block. If I am correct, the Corpsejack is dealing 4 damage to each of them, and they are dealing 20 damage to it, ultimately killing everything. Is that correct?
As far as I can see on that, only two of the 2/2 creatures would die as Corpsejack Menace only has 4 damage to deal, but it would be Indestructable, so at the end of that turn there would be 8 2/2 creatures and the Corpsejack left alive.
On a different note, say I use a Roar of Challenge on...lets say a Corpsejack Menace. The opposing player has ten 2/2 creatures able to block. If I am correct, the Corpsejack is dealing 4 damage to each of them, and they are dealing 20 damage to it, ultimately killing everything. Is that correct?
As far as I can see on that, only two of the 2/2 creatures would die as Corpsejack Menace only has 4 damage to deal, but it would be Indestructable, so at the end of that turn there would be 8 2/2 creatures and the Corpsejack left alive.
Dang that's right, I forgot to factor in the Indestructible. But still, so only 2 of the 10 would die. Is the 4 damage split between the two 2/2's or do both of the 2/2's take 4 damage each?
Your 4/4 only has 4 damage to do during the combat damage step. So if you want to kill 2 you will do 2 to each (you can opt to have only one die by dealing 3 or 4 to it).
509.2 and 509.3. Yes, the active player declares damage assignment order first, then the blocking player does so.
So I was reading through this section of the CompRules when my confusion came up. The example provided for 509.2 is where you have one attacking creature being blocked by multiple creatures, specifically that the one creature divies its damage up among the multiple blockers. Let's look at that example:
Vastwood Gorger is blocked by Llanowar Elves, Runeclaw Bear, and Serra Angel. Vastwood Gorger’s controller announces the Vastwood Gorger’s damage assignment order as Serra Angel, then Llanowar Elves, then Runeclaw Bear.
So in the example I provided, if I, the attacking player, chose the damage assignment order for the Savage Knuckleblade, I would choose Hundred-Handed One because there's only one blocker. The example doesn't demonstrate or give latitude for multiple attackers being blocked by one blocker and having to declare the order in which each of my attackers deals damage to the one Hundred-Handed One. Then you get to 510.1c which states that "If exactly one creature is blocking [an attacking creature], it assigns all its combat damage to that creature." So each of my creatures have been assigned to deal all their damage to their one blocking creature but not necessarily in any particular order. Since this is only relevant in the event a creature has trample, let's look at the trample rulings:
702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. The attacking creature’s controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking. Example: A 2/2 creature that can block an additional creature blocks two attackers: a 1/1 with no abilities and a 3/3 with trample. The active player could assign 1 damage from the first attacker and 1 damage from the second to the blocking creature, and 2 damage to the defending player from the creature with trample.
The example provided is a little wishy-washy on its verbage, so it's hard to tell if the damage is divied in that order because of the damage assignment order or because of the combat damage assignment. I mean, it makes sense to me that it would be during the damage assignment order portion, but I can't find anything that explicitly deals with one blocker and multiple attackers.
I have another question then, and lets just use random numbers here. Lets say that I have an 8/8 that can block two creatures and my opponent has two 7/7 creatures, only one with Trample and assuming no other spells or abilities are played. If the attacker picks their damage order, they would want to use the vanilla 7/7 first and then the one with trample right? Because then 6 damage would get through with Trample? And if they assigned damage with the Trample creature first and then the vanilla no damage would get through? And both situations would happen regardless of the order I, as the blocker, chose to deal damage?
Yes, that's how the attacking player would want to divy up the damage to be most effective. Vanilla first, trample second. The question I've been posing is when is that order determined when it's one blocker and multiple attackers. If it's determined during the declare blockers stage, then technically, your opponent can respond with something (Deflecting Palm is a pertinent example of a good response). If it's during the combat damage step, then the opponent does not get a chance to respond.
I am getting the feeling that damage dealt is not truly 100% simultaneous, but rather there is just no State Based Action check between the creatures dealing damage so that it appears simultaneous?
We use the terms "first" and "second to help us delineate conceptually the order in which things take place, but think about it this way. You have to choose in what order damage is dealt, but where the damage is dealt is contingent upon lethal damage being dealt. So, in your example, the vanilla 7/7 deals all 7 to the creature and the trample 7/7 deals 1 damage to the creature and 6 damage to you. All this damage is chosen before the damage is actually dealt because we understand the rules of lethal damage. The defending player then chooses that the 7 damage is going to the trample 7/7 and 1 damage to the vanilla 7/7. Still no damage has been dealt. After all the assignments are made, if everything is legal, the damage is all dealt at once: 8 to your creature, 6 to you, 7 to your trample 7/7 and 1 to your vanilla 7/7. So yes, it is simultaneous, but there's a structured ordering system that makes it appear to not be simultaneous.
Yes, that's how the attacking player would want to divy up the damage to be most effective. Vanilla first, trample second. The question I've been posing is when is that order determined when it's one blocker and multiple attackers. If it's determined during the declare blockers stage, then technically, your opponent can respond with something (Deflecting Palm is a pertinent example of a good response). If it's during the combat damage step, then the opponent does not get a chance to respond.
Technically there isn't an "order" here at all. During the combat damage step, the attacker chooses how to assign his damage and then the damage is dealt. Since one of his creatures has trample, as long as lethal is assigned to the blocker, then he can deal any extra damage from that creature to you. In your example, during the combat damage step, the 7/7 with trample can see that the other 7/7 will be doing 7 damage to the 8/8 defender, so he can choose to split it as 1 to the creature and 6 to you (since 1 from the trampler plus the 7 from the other creature would be lethal). There isn't a "this creature deals damage first, then this creature deals damage" ordering at all, it's "Oh hey, I can see that the other creature is going to assign 7 damage so I only need to add 1 more to be lethal then I can do my trample thing!"
In any event, those decisions are all made during the combat damage step, immediately before the damage is actually dealt, and there is not an opportunity to respond between when the damage is assigned and when the damage is dealt. So again using your example of Deflecting Palm, there wouldn't ever be a chance to gain an advantage with it. If you were to cast it before the combat damage step, then the attacker could simply choose to deal all of the damage from both creatures to the blocker and none of it to you, and deflecting palm wouldn't get a chance to prevent / deal any damage. If you cast it during the combat damage step, then damage has already been dealt and there's nothing left to prevent.
There isn't actually any way that order matters, except possibly with trample. The rules for damage assignment say this for a blocked creature:
Quote from Comp. rules »
510.1c [...] However, [a blocked creature] can’t assign combat damage to a creature that’s blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. An amount of damage that’s greater than a creature’s lethal damage may be assigned to it.
Example: The damage assignment order of an attacking Enormous Baloth (a 7/7 creature) is Trained Armodon (a 3/3 creature) that already has 2 damage marked on it, then Foriysian Brigade (a 2/4 creature that can block an additional creature), then Silverback Ape (a 5/5 creature). The damage assignment order of an attacking Durkwood Boars (a 4/4 creature) is the same Foriysian Brigade, then Goblin Piker (a 2/1 creature). Among other possibilities, the active player may have the Baloth assign 1 damage to the Armodon, 1 damage to the Brigade, and 5 damage to the Ape, and have the Boars assign 3 damage to the Brigade and 1 damage to the Piker.
As the last example shows, the order in which the attackers' damage is assigned (note: not talking about the damage assignment order) is irrelevant, since neither the Baloth's 1 damage to the Brigade nor the Boars 3 damage to the Brigade would be lethal if that order mattered, and both assign damage to another creature that's after the Brigade in their respective damage assignment orders.
It seems intuitive that trample would function the same way, but the rules for trample seems to lack some of the same wording ("when combat damage assignments are complete"), though it also has other parts of the same wording ("take into account ... damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step").
Edit: To clarify, I don't think it matters for trample either. And even if it did, it makes sense that the choice for the order, such as it is, would happen as damage is being assigned.
509.3. Third, for each blocking creature, the defending player announces that creature’s damage
assignment order, which consists of the creatures it’s blocking in an order of that player’s choice.
(During the combat damage step, a blocking creature can’t assign combat damage to a creature it’s
blocking unless each creature ahead of that blocked creature in its order is assigned lethal damage.)
This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.
Seems pretty clear to me. In fact I would say the least clear bit about this text is that it doesn't specify that creatures can normally only block one creature, so it might be confusing if you were just reading this part.
We have the monstrous Hundred-Handed One blocking 2 Elvish Mystics and a Savage Knuckleblade. If the blocking player orders the Mystics first, the attacking player might want to pump his Knuckleblade to 6/6, since only 4 damage would carry over from the elves. If, however, the Knuckleblade is placed first, maybe he would play Giant Growth instead, to make it large enough to soak up the 6 damage and protect the elves without dying.
Blocking damage assignment order works exactly the same as attacking damage assignment order, but order is decided first for attackers, then for blockers.
EDIT - Sorry, this might not be the question we are discussing, finally figured that out. Each of the attackers only has one creature in its order, so it looks to me like the "ordering" of damage against a creature blocking multiple attackers doesn't happen until damage is actually happening.
Suppose I'm attacking with two Rancored Ohran Viper and both are blocked by a single Two-Headed Dragon.
I assume I can make my Vipers both assign 2 damage to the Dragon and 1 damage to the defending player, thus drawing two cards (and triple-killing the Dragon), because there is no "order" involved here, my damage assignement as a whole just has to be legal.
Is this correct?
Correct, each of your Ohran Vipers can see that the other is assigning 2 damage so that combined they are dealing lethal damage and so they can each trample over for 1 and trigger their draw a card abilities.
Thanks everyone for the help on this. Got my head wrapped around it now and the several examples in the CompRules as well as on here really helped too.
If a creature blocks more than one creature, is the blocking creature's controller required to immediately choose the order in which that creature deals damage to the creatures it blocked, just like if an attacking creature were blocked by multiple creatures?
Yes, in that you choose its damage assignment order as described by 509.3, which Gerrard's Mom quoted above.
Note that, as GM also stated above, the attacking creatures' damage assignment orders are chosen first, before the blocking creatures' damage assignment orders, so it's not quite "immediately".
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B. Also, are there State Based Action checks after each creature attacks? E.g. If I had a 9/9 creature blocking a Typhoid Rats and another 3/3 creature, and the Rats were the first attackers, would my 9/9 creature die from Deathtouch before dealing damage to the other 3/3 creature? Or would the 9/9 kill both creatures and THEN die from Deathtouch?
So...
Attackers are declared "all at once". Responses to this can happen, or not. Blockers, if any, are also declared "all at once". Then, assuming no other relevant responses happen at that stage, all combat damage happens "all at once", with the same caveat as above.
With multiple blockers per attacker, or multiple attackers per blocker, or indeed tramplers (et al), combat damage is still assigned as the attacker chooses, generally speaking. There are some exceptions to this. But even so, when the damage is actually dealt, it all happens at the same time. Disregarding First Strike...
B) All combat damage (assuming no first/double strike) is done at the same time. so your 9/9 will kill both creatures regardless of the order of damage.
Each player announces both the damage assignment order (how the creature they own in combat is going to assign damage in relative order) and how that damage is then divided. So your Hundred-Handed One can order which creatures it will assign damage to, and then how much damage it will assign each. Note, however, that it must assign lethal damage before going on to the next creature in the order it blocked. So if you're blocking two Elvish Mystics and a Savage Knuckleblade, you can pick which one you choose to block first, second, and then third, and when distributing damage, must assign lethal to each before proceeding to the next creature. So the order would look like this:
Daniel
**Clarification requested here, does the active player have to announce at this time which creature will deal damage to the Hundred-Handed One "first" as would be relevant if one of the creatures had trample or does that take place in the combat damage step? Couldn't find the answer in the CompRules.
The attacking player gets to choose.
(emphasis mine)
509.2 and 509.3. Yes, the active player declares damage assignment order first, then the blocking player does so.
I am getting the feeling that damage dealt is not truly 100% simultaneous, but rather there is just no State Based Action check between the creatures dealing damage so that it appears simultaneous?
As far as I can see on that, only two of the 2/2 creatures would die as Corpsejack Menace only has 4 damage to deal, but it would be Indestructable, so at the end of that turn there would be 8 2/2 creatures and the Corpsejack left alive.
Dang that's right, I forgot to factor in the Indestructible. But still, so only 2 of the 10 would die. Is the 4 damage split between the two 2/2's or do both of the 2/2's take 4 damage each?
So I was reading through this section of the CompRules when my confusion came up. The example provided for 509.2 is where you have one attacking creature being blocked by multiple creatures, specifically that the one creature divies its damage up among the multiple blockers. Let's look at that example:
So in the example I provided, if I, the attacking player, chose the damage assignment order for the Savage Knuckleblade, I would choose Hundred-Handed One because there's only one blocker. The example doesn't demonstrate or give latitude for multiple attackers being blocked by one blocker and having to declare the order in which each of my attackers deals damage to the one Hundred-Handed One. Then you get to 510.1c which states that "If exactly one creature is blocking [an attacking creature], it assigns all its combat damage to that creature." So each of my creatures have been assigned to deal all their damage to their one blocking creature but not necessarily in any particular order. Since this is only relevant in the event a creature has trample, let's look at the trample rulings:
The example provided is a little wishy-washy on its verbage, so it's hard to tell if the damage is divied in that order because of the damage assignment order or because of the combat damage assignment. I mean, it makes sense to me that it would be during the damage assignment order portion, but I can't find anything that explicitly deals with one blocker and multiple attackers.
Daniel
Yes, that's how the attacking player would want to divy up the damage to be most effective. Vanilla first, trample second. The question I've been posing is when is that order determined when it's one blocker and multiple attackers. If it's determined during the declare blockers stage, then technically, your opponent can respond with something (Deflecting Palm is a pertinent example of a good response). If it's during the combat damage step, then the opponent does not get a chance to respond.
We use the terms "first" and "second to help us delineate conceptually the order in which things take place, but think about it this way. You have to choose in what order damage is dealt, but where the damage is dealt is contingent upon lethal damage being dealt. So, in your example, the vanilla 7/7 deals all 7 to the creature and the trample 7/7 deals 1 damage to the creature and 6 damage to you. All this damage is chosen before the damage is actually dealt because we understand the rules of lethal damage. The defending player then chooses that the 7 damage is going to the trample 7/7 and 1 damage to the vanilla 7/7. Still no damage has been dealt. After all the assignments are made, if everything is legal, the damage is all dealt at once: 8 to your creature, 6 to you, 7 to your trample 7/7 and 1 to your vanilla 7/7. So yes, it is simultaneous, but there's a structured ordering system that makes it appear to not be simultaneous.
Daniel
Technically there isn't an "order" here at all. During the combat damage step, the attacker chooses how to assign his damage and then the damage is dealt. Since one of his creatures has trample, as long as lethal is assigned to the blocker, then he can deal any extra damage from that creature to you. In your example, during the combat damage step, the 7/7 with trample can see that the other 7/7 will be doing 7 damage to the 8/8 defender, so he can choose to split it as 1 to the creature and 6 to you (since 1 from the trampler plus the 7 from the other creature would be lethal). There isn't a "this creature deals damage first, then this creature deals damage" ordering at all, it's "Oh hey, I can see that the other creature is going to assign 7 damage so I only need to add 1 more to be lethal then I can do my trample thing!"
In any event, those decisions are all made during the combat damage step, immediately before the damage is actually dealt, and there is not an opportunity to respond between when the damage is assigned and when the damage is dealt. So again using your example of Deflecting Palm, there wouldn't ever be a chance to gain an advantage with it. If you were to cast it before the combat damage step, then the attacker could simply choose to deal all of the damage from both creatures to the blocker and none of it to you, and deflecting palm wouldn't get a chance to prevent / deal any damage. If you cast it during the combat damage step, then damage has already been dealt and there's nothing left to prevent.
As the last example shows, the order in which the attackers' damage is assigned (note: not talking about the damage assignment order) is irrelevant, since neither the Baloth's 1 damage to the Brigade nor the Boars 3 damage to the Brigade would be lethal if that order mattered, and both assign damage to another creature that's after the Brigade in their respective damage assignment orders.
It seems intuitive that trample would function the same way, but the rules for trample seems to lack some of the same wording ("when combat damage assignments are complete"), though it also has other parts of the same wording ("take into account ... damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step").
Edit: To clarify, I don't think it matters for trample either. And even if it did, it makes sense that the choice for the order, such as it is, would happen as damage is being assigned.
Seems pretty clear to me. In fact I would say the least clear bit about this text is that it doesn't specify that creatures can normally only block one creature, so it might be confusing if you were just reading this part.
We have the monstrous Hundred-Handed One blocking 2 Elvish Mystics and a Savage Knuckleblade. If the blocking player orders the Mystics first, the attacking player might want to pump his Knuckleblade to 6/6, since only 4 damage would carry over from the elves. If, however, the Knuckleblade is placed first, maybe he would play Giant Growth instead, to make it large enough to soak up the 6 damage and protect the elves without dying.
Blocking damage assignment order works exactly the same as attacking damage assignment order, but order is decided first for attackers, then for blockers.
EDIT - Sorry, this might not be the question we are discussing, finally figured that out. Each of the attackers only has one creature in its order, so it looks to me like the "ordering" of damage against a creature blocking multiple attackers doesn't happen until damage is actually happening.
Correct, each of your Ohran Vipers can see that the other is assigning 2 damage so that combined they are dealing lethal damage and so they can each trample over for 1 and trigger their draw a card abilities.
Daniel
Yes, in that you choose its damage assignment order as described by 509.3, which Gerrard's Mom quoted above.
Note that, as GM also stated above, the attacking creatures' damage assignment orders are chosen first, before the blocking creatures' damage assignment orders, so it's not quite "immediately".