MTG Flying and Menace rules guide showing evasive creatures attacking through blockers, with a flying dragon and a menace attacker demonstrating Commander combat evasion.

MTG Flying & Menace Rules Guide

Games of Magic: The Gathering are rarely won by the biggest creature. They are won by the creature that actually connects — and that is what evasion abilities are for.

Flying and menace are the two most common evasion keywords in the game, and both look deceptively simple. "Can only be blocked by fliers or reach." "Needs two blockers." Every player learns those sentences in their first week. What most players never learn is the timing rule underneath both abilities — the one that decides when blocking legality is checked — and that rule produces situations that surprise even experienced Commander players.

This guide covers both abilities in full: the basics, the combat maths, and the advanced corner cases that win real games.

This is the sixth article in our complete series on MTG keyword abilities. You can find the full series at the end of this article.

What Is Flying in MTG?

Flying (CR 702.9) is a blocking restriction: a creature with flying can't be blocked except by creatures with flying and/or reach.

Two consequences follow immediately, and the second one is missed constantly:

  • A ground creature can never block a flyer. If your opponent has no fliers and no reach, your flying attacker connects every single turn. No combat maths, no blocks, just damage.
  • Flying creatures can block creatures with or without flying. Flying restricts how the creature is blocked, not what it can block. A flyer can block ground creatures and other fliers, as long as no other blocking restriction applies. This asymmetry is what makes flying one of the strongest evasion abilities in Magic: it matters on offence and defence.

The classic example in Commander is a dragon like Old Gnawbone — a 7/7 flyer that most boards simply cannot block. Every connected hit generates seven Treasure tokens on top of the damage, and against a board without fliers or reach, "every connected hit" means every combat, every turn.

The Counters to Flying

Only two things block a flyer: another flyer, or a creature with reach — the dedicated anti-air ability we covered in our vigilance, lifelink, reach and defender guide. Everything else — removal, tap effects, damage spells — answers the creature, not the evasion.

One niche detail worth knowing: a handful of cards say they "can't be blocked except by creatures with flying". Against those, reach does not help — the card asks for flying specifically, and a reach creature does not have it. Always read the exact wording.

What Is Menace in MTG?

Menace is also a blocking restriction, with different geometry: a creature with menace can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.

Where flying asks "do you have the right type of blocker?", menace asks "do you have the right number?" And that question gets sharper as the game goes on:

  • Against zero or one available blockers, menace is unblockable. If your opponent has a single untapped creature, it cannot block your menace attacker alone — the block would be illegal. One blocker might as well be none.
  • Every block is a two-for-one offer. Even when the opponent can block, they must commit two bodies to stop one attacker. Against decks that grind out board presence, menace taxes the defence twice per attack.
  • Menace does not change damage assignment. If a menace creature is blocked by two or more creatures, its controller assigns combat damage among those blockers during the combat damage step. Combining menace with deathtouch or trample makes those forced blocks extremely expensive, as we covered in the deathtouch guide and the first strike, double strike and trample guide.

Resolved Example — The Basic Menace Attack

You attack with a 4/4 with menace. Your opponent controls one untapped 5/5.

They cannot block. A single creature — no matter how big — is not a legal block against menace. Your 4/4 connects past a bigger creature purely on geometry. This is why menace on aggressive creatures is so much better than the stats suggest: it turns "one good blocker" into "no blockers".

Resolved Example — Menace vs Menace

Your opponent attacks with a menace creature. You control two creatures that also have menace. Can you block?

Yes. Menace restricts how a creature is blocked when it attacks — it says nothing about what the creature can do as a blocker. Your two menace creatures form a perfectly legal two-blocker team. Menace does not "cancel out" or interact with itself.

The Timing Rule That Changes Everything

Here is the rule underneath both abilities, and it is the single most important thing in this article:

Blocking restrictions are checked when blockers are declared. Before that moment, abilities can still be added or removed and it matters. After blockers are legally declared, later changes do not make the attacker unblocked or make the original block illegal.

From the rules for the declare blockers step (CR 509.1): the legality of blocks is evaluated as blockers are declared. Once a legal block exists, it exists — the game does not re-check it. This produces three situations that decide real games:

Edge Case 1 — Removing Flying Before Blockers

Your opponent attacks with a big flyer. You have no fliers and no reach — but you have an effect that makes a creature lose flying. When do you use it?

After attackers are declared, but before blockers are declared — the priority window we explained in our haste and flash guide. The attacker loses flying at that moment, blocking legality is checked at declare blockers, and your ground creatures block it normally. The attack that looked unstoppable dies to a rules window.

Edge Case 2 — Granting Flying After Blocks Does Nothing

Your attacker is blocked by a ground creature. In response, you give your attacker flying. Does it become unblocked?

No. The block was legal when it was declared, and it stays declared. Your now-flying creature remains blocked by a ground creature that could never have blocked it a moment earlier. Evasion granted after blocks is wasted — the time for evasion is before the declare blockers step, never after.

Edge Case 3 — Killing One of the Two Menace Blockers

Your menace attacker is blocked by two small creatures. In response to the block, you kill one of them. Is your attacker unblocked now?

No — and this surprises almost everyone. Once a creature with menace is legally blocked by two creatures, removing one of them does not undo or change the block. Your attacker remains blocked by the survivor. Without trample, your attacker deals its damage to that one remaining blocker and nothing gets through. With trample, everything beyond lethal damage to the survivor tramples to the player — which is exactly why menace + trample is such a feared combination: killing your own way out of a menace block only works if trample lets the damage keep going.

Flying vs Menace: Which Evasion Is Better?

Question Flying Menace
What stops it? Any flyer or reach creature Any two creatures
When is it strongest? Against grounded boards (green/red decks without reach) Against empty or nearly-empty boards; after board wipes
When is it weakest? Against decks full of fliers (blue/white) Against token decks with bodies to spare
Does it help on defence? Yes — fliers block anything No — menace is attack-only
Scales in multiplayer? Yes — the least-defended opponent is always attackable Yes — attack whoever is lowest on bodies
Best partner keywords Vigilance, lifelink Trample, deathtouch

In Commander, flying is usually the stronger all-round ability because it works on defence too, but menace punishes a different weakness — and in a four-player game, there is almost always at least one opponent whose board is vulnerable to each. The strongest evasive threats combine one of these with a damage keyword: a flyer with lifelink races everything, and a menace creature with trample or deathtouch makes the forced double-block a disaster for the defender.

Evasion and Commander Damage: Why This Wins Games

Commander adds a rule that makes evasion disproportionately important: a player who takes 21 or more combat damage from the same commander over the course of the game loses, regardless of life total.

Twenty-one damage from a commander that gets chump blocked every turn takes forever. Twenty-one damage from a commander that cannot be blocked arrives in three or four hits. This is why evasion is the first thing experienced players look for in an attacking commander — a 7-power flyer represents a three-turn clock on every opponent without air defence, and no amount of ground creatures changes that.

The same logic applies to big evasive threats that are not commanders. A dragon like Old Gnawbone does not just deal 7 evasive damage — it converts every connected hit into seven Treasures, which is a full turn of mana acceleration attached to an attack most boards cannot prevent. Evasion turns "if it connects" into "when it connects", and every ability that triggers on combat damage becomes reliable instead of hopeful.

You can find evasive finishers and the staples that support them in our full catalogue, or import your decklist directly with our decklist search tool.

Frequently Asked Questions About Flying and Menace

Can a flying creature block a creature without flying?

Yes. Flying only restricts how the flying creature is blocked when it attacks. As a blocker, a flyer can block any creature — flying or grounded. This one-way asymmetry is a large part of what makes flying the best evasion ability in the game.

Can one creature block a menace attacker if it's the only creature I control?

No. Menace requires two or more blockers, and that is checked when blocks are declared. With only one available blocker, no legal block exists — the menace creature is effectively unblockable against you that turn.

If I kill one of the two creatures blocking my menace attacker, does it become unblocked?

No. Blocking legality is only checked when blockers are declared. Once the menace creature is legally blocked by two creatures, removing one from combat does not change the block — your attacker remains blocked by the remaining creature. If your attacker has trample, excess damage beyond the remaining blocker's toughness can still get through; without trample, no damage reaches the player.

If I give my blocked creature flying, does it become unblocked?

No, for the same reason. The block was legal when declared and remains in place. Evasion abilities only matter at the moment blockers are declared — gaining evasion afterwards has no effect on that combat.

Can I remove flying from an attacker so my ground creatures can block it?

Yes — if you do it before blockers are declared. After attackers are declared, players receive priority before the declare blockers step. Removing flying in that window means the creature has no evasion when blocking legality is checked, and your ground creatures can block it normally.

Do two instances of menace mean four blockers are needed?

No. Multiple instances of menace are redundant — the requirement stays at two blockers. A small number of cards have a stronger version requiring three or more blockers, but that is a separate ability written out on those specific cards, not stacked menace.

Can menace creatures block other menace creatures?

Yes. Menace only restricts how the creature is blocked when attacking — it places no restriction on the creature as a blocker. Two of your menace creatures can team up to block an attacking menace creature legally.

Does reach block a creature that "can't be blocked except by creatures with flying"?

No. That wording asks specifically for flying, and reach is not flying. Reach only helps against the standard flying restriction, which allows blocks by "creatures with flying and/or reach". Always read the exact text on the attacking creature.

More guides in our keyword abilities series:

Related guides:

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