<p>Yes.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Untapping it does not remove it from combat<sup>[CR 506.4, CR 506.4b]</sup>. Neither does tapping it to pay a cost.</p></li>
<li><p>You get the chance to use abilities at the end of the Declare Blockers Step<sup>[CR 509.5]</sup>. The game will only advance to the next step once all of these has resolved and noone want to activate any others<sup>[CR 116.4]</sup>.</p></li>
<li><p>Damage is only calculated in a later step (the Combat Damage Step)<sup>[CR 510.2]</sup>, so the +1/+1 counters added in the Declare Blockers Step will affect the damage dealt.</p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-03T18:21:56.440Z
2014-08-03T18:21:56.440Z
ikegami
<p>Yes you can.</p>

<p>The combat phase consists of five steps:</p>

<ul>
<li>beginning of combat</li>
<li>declare attackers</li>
<li>declare blockers</li>
<li>combat damage</li>
<li>end of combat</li>
</ul>

<p>In each of these steps players get priority and can cast instants or activate abilities. In the declare blockers step the first thing you do is declaring the blockers. It is after this that each player gets priority and can do stuff. And this is before the combat damage step</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-03T17:27:28.480Z
2014-08-03T17:27:28.480Z
Ivo
<p>Looking at <a href="https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/18085/can-you-sacrifice-a-creature-thats-in-the-middle-of-an-attack">this question</a> and <a href="https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/12107/can-i-pump-my-blocker-after-the-attacker-has-chosen-their-order-before-damage-a">this question</a>, it seems like I can activate abilities after blockers are declared (and before damage is assigned).</p>

<p>So if I'm attacking with <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378509" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Scourge of Skola Vale</a>, can I untap it (say with <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378522" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kiora's Follower</a>) then tap it and sacrifice a creature to pump it with +1/+1 counters, thus doing extra damage?</p>

<p>Would this also work if I'd given it vigilance before declaring the attack?</p>

<magic-the-gathering>
Can you untap an attacking creature to use its ability at the end of declare blockers?
Matt Ellen
# Can you untap an attacking creature to use its ability at the end of declare blockers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-03)

Looking at [this question](https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/18085/can-you-sacrifice-a-creature-thats-in-the-middle-of-an-attack) and [this question](https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/12107/can-i-pump-my-blocker-after-the-attacker-has-chosen-their-order-before-damage-a), it seems like I can activate abilities after blockers are declared (and before damage is assigned).

So if I'm attacking with [Scourge of Skola Vale](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378509), can I untap it (say with [Kiora's Follower](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378522)) then tap it and sacrifice a creature to pump it with +1/+1 counters, thus doing extra damage?

Would this also work if I'd given it vigilance before declaring the attack?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-08-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Yes.

1. Untapping it does not remove it from combat[CR 506.4, CR 506.4b]. Neither does tapping it to pay a cost.
2. You get the chance to use abilities at the end of the Declare Blockers Step[CR 509.5]. The game will only advance to the next step once all of these has resolved and noone want to activate any others[CR 116.4].
3. Damage is only calculated in a later step (the Combat Damage Step)[CR 510.2], so the +1/+1 counters added in the Declare Blockers Step will affect the damage dealt.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-08-03. Score: 2

Yes you can.

The combat phase consists of five steps:

* beginning of combat
* declare attackers
* declare blockers
* combat damage
* end of combat

In each of these steps players get priority and can cast instants or activate abilities. In the declare blockers step the first thing you do is declaring the blockers. It is after this that each player gets priority and can do stuff. And this is before the combat damage step


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