Can a unit's might be reduced to 0 or negative values, and when does a unit with 0 or negative might die?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. A unit’s Might can be reduced below 0. When a unit’s Might is less than 0 it is treated as 0 for references and for summing Might in combat [143.2.b]. A unit is Killed when it ever has nonzero damage marked on it equal to or exceeding its actual Might [143.2.a]. Therefore a unit with 0 or negative Might does not die just for having 0/negative Might — it dies as soon as it has any nonzero damage marked on it (because any nonzero damage is ≥ 0 and thus meets the kill condition) [143.2.a] [143.2.b].

A unit’s Might can be reduced below 0; when that happens it is treated as 0 for purposes of spells/abilities and for summing Might in combat [143.2.b]. The kill check uses the rule "If a Unit ever has nonzero damage marked on it equalling or exceeding its Might, it is Killed" [143.2.a]. Concretely: if a unit’s Might is 0 or negative and it has zero damage marked on it, it does NOT die immediately. If it has any nonzero damage marked on it, that nonzero damage is ≥ its Might and it is Killed (sent to the Trash) [143.2.a] [143.2.b].

Check the unit's current actual Might (this can be negative if effects reduce it below 0) and note how much damage is currently marked on the unit [143.2.b.1] [143.2.a]. If the unit's Might is less than 0, treat it as 0 for any spell/ability references and when summing Might for combat assignments, but remember the actual Might value still exists for calculations that explicitly modify Might [143.2.b] [143.2.b.1]. Apply the kill rule: if the unit ever has nonzero damage marked on it that is equal to or greater than its (actual) Might, it is Killed [143.2.a]. Therefore if Might ≤ 0 and the unit has zero damage marked, it does not die. If Might ≤ 0 and the unit has any nonzero damage marked, that damage is ≥ Might, so the unit is Killed [143.2.a] [143.2.b].

A unit with negative Might and zero damage marked does not die simply because Might is negative — the kill trigger requires nonzero damage marked equalling or exceeding Might [143.2.a] [143.2.b]. If an effect changes the definition of lethal damage (see [FAQ:unleashed#8]), that altered definition replaces the default "non-zero ≥ Might" rule for purposes of assignment and cleanup. If a unit can't be dealt damage (e.g., an effect making it untargetable to damage), then it is exempt from lethal-damage assignment considerations in combat [460.2.c.9]. Effects that calculate Might increases/decreases use the unit's actual Might even when it is treated as 0 for references; so interactions that compute "reduced by a unit's Might" should use the actual (possibly negative) value per [143.2.b.1].

Might is the combat statistic that both determines combat assignment and is compared against marked damage to see if a unit is Killed [143.2]. The core kill rule is: "If a Unit ever has nonzero damage marked on it equalling or exceeding its Might, it is Killed" [143.2.a]. The rules explicitly allow a unit's Might to be less than 0; when that occurs the rules tell us to treat that Might as 0 for references by spells and abilities and when summing Might for assigning combat damage [143.2.b]. However, the rule also clarifies that "Although the unit’s Might is treated as 0, it is not 0. Effects that calculate Might increases and decreases use the actual value of the unit’s Might" [143.2.b.1]. The definition of lethal damage used during assignment and cleanup is by default "a non-zero amount greater than or equal to a unit’s Might" [FAQ:unleashed#8]. Bringing these together: if a unit’s Might is reduced to 0 or a negative value, the game treats it as 0 for reference and combat-summing purposes, but the actual value still exists for calculations. Importantly, the unit will not automatically die just because its Might is 0 or negative — it dies when the kill condition is met, which requires nonzero damage marked on it that is equal to or exceeds its Might [143.2.a] [143.2.b]. Practically, this means any nonzero damage marked on a unit with 0 or negative Might will meet "nonzero ≥ Might" and cause the unit to be Killed; if the unit has no damage marked, it survives despite its 0/negative Might. If an effect changes what counts as lethal damage, use that altered definition instead of the default [FAQ:unleashed#8].