The 36 Best Fight Cards and Effects in Magic

Last updated on October 24, 2025

Dromoka's Command | Illustration by James Ryman

For years, green players have had to look to other colors for interaction with opponents’ creatures. Green’s plan was to attack with a big creature, force some damage with trample, and maybe use a combat trick like Giant Growth. Other colors have direct damage, burn, and exile effects to interact.

What if the opponent has a utility creature that must be destroyed? Or a bomb that'll take over the game? Enter fight effects, which have become one of the main characteristics of green and an essential tool in the color's arsenal.

What Are Fight Cards in MTG?

Blizzard Brawl | Illustration by Manuel Castañón

When two creatures fight, they each deal damage equal to their power to the other. Thematically, you’ll make your 3/3 elephant stomp your opponent’s 1/1 elf, or your 6/6 giant hit their 3/3 mammoth. There are more than 100 cards with the fight keyword printed, most of them green.

Fight effects started firmly as a green effect, with cards like Prey Upon. Green now has conditional removal, which is better than nothing. Green’s strength comes from its creatures being bigger than average, and fight effects leverage that. It’s imperfect interaction that requires you to have big creatures on the board, and it’s vulnerable to instant-speed removal or combat tricks. Although it’s secondary, there are also some red fight cards.

You can usually find fight effects on sorceries, instants, and creatures. Some sets have auras that enchant a creature and make them fight another creature, or planeswalkers that make your creatures fight.

#36. Go for Blood

This fight effect has an advantage with cycling , so Go for Blood is an easy inclusion in any cycling-matters deck. You can always cycle the card if you don’t have a favorable fighting scenario.

#35. Prepare / Fight

Prepare / Fight is mostly here for the Prepare effect. The fight is totally secondary, but combining the two effects can be a massive life swing and board swing if you have 6 mana to spare.

#34. Markov Enforcer

Markov Enforcer is a 6/6 vampire that fights another creature and makes a Blood token. It’s a good ETB effect on a sizable creature, and it can keep fighting as more vampires enter. The more reasons you have to play vampires and Blood tokens, the merrier.

#33. Contested Cliffs

The activated ability on Contested Cliffs locks this into Commander decks with a GR+ color identity, but that's where all the best beasts are anyway. This effect also exists on Arena, but Cliffs taps for mana, which is the difference between unplayable and incredibly useful. Even if my commander was the only beast in my deck, I'd still consider this if I had room for a colorless utility land.

#32. Decisive Denial

Decisive Denial is a flexible card that saw its share of play in Standard. Having to choose between a fight effect at instant speed and a conditional Negate is good for playing different matchups.

#31. Ulrich of the Krallenhorde / Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha

Ulrich of the Krallenhorde works like Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves and Tovolar's Huntmaster. You’ll get an immediate benefit to another creature by giving it +4/+4. If Ulrich transforms, you get a bigger creature and a fight effect.

#30. Thorn Mammoth

The first contact I and many other MTG players had with Thorn Mammoth was in Arena with the starter decks. It’s a 6/6 creature that can eliminate another threat, though 7 mana is a lot. The good side is that the fight effect will be repeated if you play another creature.

#29. Skyshroud Ambush

This is one of the only cards that care about the outcome of a fight, though “win the fight” isn't really defined by the rules of Magic. Fight, kill an opposing creature, and draw a card. Skyshroud Ambush was designed for Jumpstart: Historic Horizons on MTGA, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this digital-only effect printed on more cards.

#28. Smell Fear

In EDH, Smell Fear has a multitude of uses. You get to combine two effects: fight and proliferate. You should play the card whenever the proliferate effect alone makes sense since you get something extra.

#27. Savage Stomp

You should play Savage Stomp in EDH dinosaur decks, especially considering the enrage mechanic. The cost reduction matters a ton, and the +1/+1 counter is very important.

#26. Domri Rade

The original Domri planeswalker can fight with the -2 ability and can provide card advantage with the +1 ability, although it sometimes misses. In the end, Domri Rade is showing its age, though cheap planeswalkers always have a home somewhere.

#25. Setessan Tactics

“Any number of target creatures fight” is a good sentence on an MTG card. This card was made to bolster heroic by giving lots of heroic triggers around the table. If you have a good board and some mana, Setessan Tactics will deliver kills.

#24. Domri, Anarch of Bolas

Domri sees play in Explorer/Pioneer as a good Gruul () threat. Giving +1/+0 to creatures permanently is very nice, and you can make them fight another creature or bypass counterspells.

#23. Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves

Having two bodies in one is already very good, and you’ll get tempo advantage because the 3/3 wolf will fight and gain you some life. Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves is very good when you’re winning or when you’re behind. If you play another wolf, you’ll get more life and more fighting!

#22. The Tarrasque

This card let D&D people down because they expected it to be harder to handle. Still, it’s a 10/10 haste creature that fights, and it basically can’t be targeted by opponents. Play The Tarrasque in green decks looking to go big and you’ll wreak some havoc.

#21. Surly Badgersaur

This dinosaur will fight another creature provided that you discard a non-land, non-creature card. The trick is to have discard outlets like Faithless Looting coupled with madness cards and flashback cards. You get another payoff for discarding cards with Surly Badgersaur, obtaining the benefits of a fight spell for free. Lots of things can happen with a wheel effect, from Treasure generation to +1/+1 counters on the Badgersaur.

#20. Apex Altisaur

Apex Altisaur is a good dinosaur for the decks that want one. It can be an important part of dinosaur-themed EDH decks like Gishath and either Ghalta.

#19. Gargos, Vicious Watcher

Gargos, Vicious Watcher is a nice hydra commander to build around. It’s an 8/7 with vigilance that also discounts your future hydras. If you or your opponent target Gargos, its fight effect triggers. It’s almost guaranteed to kill something and pulls both offensive and defensive duties.

#18. Inscription of Abundance

The flexibility is what makes Inscription of Abundance so good, almost strictly better than Prizefight. You can fight at instant speed, place +1/+1 counters, or gain life. If you have the extra mana, you can do it all.

#17. Primal Might

Primal Might was played in Standard thanks to the huge tempo swing of growing a creature and fighting at the same time. It's crucial to killing enemy planeswalkers or players.

#16. Tovolar’s Huntmaster

Tovolar's Huntmaster is an important part of Winota, Joiner of Forces decks since it’s a large threat on its own and can be both human and non-human. It’s a good threat to have in EDH human and werewolf-themed decks too. Expect the Huntmaster to return to Pioneer/Explorer if Winota is unbanned.

#15. Aggressive Biomancy

Aggressive Biomancy is a clever little card, creating token copies of a creature you control and having them fight on the way in. The sweet spot is 6 mana for two copies and two fights, though you can scale up and down depending on your mana situation.

#14. Wicked Wolf

This card is a 3/3 that fights another creature on ETB, and it can grow into a larger threat with enough Food tokens. Wicked Wolf was an important part of Food decks in Standard, where it was a good partner to Oko, Thief of Crowns and Gilded Goose.

#13. Polukranos, Unchained

Polukranos, Unchained can fight the opposition at will. You’ll pay for it and you have six counters to spend. Most of the time, Polukranos is a big creature that dominates the battlefield and can take on some small creatures. You can fight in response to removal, and it’s a way to avoid being exiled. Like all escape cards, it’s better if you can fill your graveyard.

#12. Gimli's Reckless Might

Gimli's Reckless Might is a pretty obscure red enchantment, but a powerful one if you're able to attack consistently. It's worth at least one fight per turn if you achieve a formidable board state, and it's a perfect pairing with Bello, Bard of the Brambles.

#11. Brash Taunter

Brash Taunter is hilarious. It's a 5-mana 1/1 with indestructible that fights for just . Then, whenever it's dealt damage, it deals that much damage to an opponent. This is an incredibly goblin-y card, and frankly, I love it!

#10. Blizzard Brawl

Blizzard Brawl is a reason to put Snow-Covered Forests into your mono green decks. It’s cheap and it guarantees that your creature will survive the fight by granting it indestructible.

#9. Slinza, the Spiked Stampede

Slinza, the Spiked Stampede is a true beast commander, providing cost reduction, a pump ability, and removal all at once. It's a real “big get bigger” payoff, even though it does very little to protect itself and feels a little win-more if you're able to keep slamming giant creatures on board.

#8. Voracious Hydra

Voracious Hydra is interesting because it’s a choice of bigger creature or a two-for-one. Do you prefer a 6/6 or a 3/3 that kills a 2/2? Having options is good, and this hydra made it into various Standard decks and green EDH decks, especially with +1/+1 counters synergies.

#7. Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy is a full-on fight commander, though how you use it is up to you. It can be an Ulvenwald Tracker if you so desire, or you can have your creatures fight each other. The joke there is that Wayta plays well with enrage dinosaurs, which is a fun niche for a Naya commander.

#6. Kogla and Yidaro

You'd think adding the dinosaur turtle to Kogla, the Titan Ape would make it a better card, but the mono-green ape is still on top here. The tagteam of Kogla and Yidaro is still quite the card, giving you a lot of optionality between fighting, giving it haste, or essentially cycling it to destroy an artifact or enchantment.

#5. Bridgeworks Battle

Yes, this card is that good. Not all MDFCs are created equal, but the “bolt lands” that can enter untapped when you need them too are truly excellent, provided the front side is something you plan on using some of the time. In this case, Bridgeworks Battle is an easier-to-cast Savage Smash, which is situationally quite powerful. Being Tanglespan Bridgeworks when you're not in a position to fight is a huge buyout for this type of effect.

#4. Kogla, the Titan Ape

Kogla, the Titan Ape is a 7/6 creature that fights on ETB. It’s almost guaranteed to remove an opposing creature. If it attacks, you’ll destroy an opponent’s artifact or enchantment. It has synergies with humans too, especially ones with good ETB effects.

#3. Mawloc

As far as ETB fight creatures go, Mawloc is the king. It's larger than most creatures at comparable mana costs, it cantrips with ravenous if you dump enough mana into it, and it exiles the creature it fights. It's a lot like Voracious Hydra without the modality, but with three-for-one potential as opposed to the normal two-for-ones you get from these creatures.

#2. Dromoka’s Command

Dromoka's Command was one of its Standard’s pillars because the card is so flexible. Like most commands, you choose two among four effects: If you’re in the fighting market, you can fight and get a +1/+1 counter. The other modes and combinations are also effective, and all of that at instant speed too. This is an awesome card that is a staple of Selesnya () creature decks.

#1. Ezuri’s Predation

Eight mana is a lot, but Ezuri's Predation can shift the playing field. You get a bunch of 4/4’s to fight some creatures and grant you a board presence. This is a nightmare against token-heavy decks, and one of green's only true board wipes.

Best Fight Payoffs

Big creatures pick off small creatures! That’s all you need! There’s space for more cards that have a perk for winning (see Skyshroud Ambush), but fighting still plays well with other strategies.

Lifelink is an obvious choice. Creatures that are 4/4 or greater benefit a lot from fighting effects because you’ll probably destroy a decently-sized creature, gain a bunch of life, and survive to join the combat step and gain even more life. Some fight effects like Savage Smash will give +2/+2 to the fighter for extra damage (and life!).

Deathtouch creatures that have some toughness are strong fighters, like 1/3 or 1/4 sized creatures. Graveblade Marauder and Ukud Cobra are very good with fight effects.

Effects that give your creatures deathtouch and lifelink, such as Basilisk Collar or Vault of the Archangel, can be just as good.

Infect creatures are interesting too, because they deal damage in the form of -1/-1 counters, including while fighting. Even though your creature probably won’t win the fight, it will leave a permanent mark. Blight Mamba can even regenerate to avoid death.

Boxing Ring taps to make a Treasure if you control a creature that fought this turn.

Neyith of the Dire Hunt draws you a card each time one of your creatures fights. It’s an interesting fight-matters commander. Foe-Razer Regent similarly rewards creatures for fighting and sticking around to tell the tale.

The heroic mechanic is awesome with fight effects since you’ll target a creature, obtain a heroic trigger, win the fight, and attack with a bigger creature. Good heroic creatures with fight effects can be a real beating.

Creatures that have strong “leave the battlefield” effects or dying triggers work well with fighting effects because you don’t care if they survive the fight. The best scenario is when you trade your creature with the opposing creature and get the death trigger.

The enrage mechanic present in various dinosaurs is perfect with the fight mechanic, since they’re usually big and want to be damaged. You’re not even that sad if you “lose the fight” because of the enrage trigger.

Is Fight an Ability?

Fight is a keyword action to shorten the typical reminder text that reads: “Each creature deals damage equal to its power to the other.”  Keywords are great to preserve card space and quickly communicate effects.

Is Fighting the Same as Attacking?

No, fighting isn't the same as attacking. Everything that happens during a fight is considered noncombat actions or noncombat damage.

Can a Creature Without Flying Fight a Creature With Flying?

Yes, a non-flying creature can fight a flying creature. Fight doesn’t care about flying, shadow, menace, unblockable, or other mechanics that grant evasion. It may not be very thematic that a ground creature like an insect is able to fight a bird, but not everything can be on theme.

Is Fight Combat Damage or Noncombat Damage?

Damage from a fight is noncombat damage. Combat damage only happens during the combat step.

Even if the fight happens during a combat step (some cards fight at instant speed like Pounce), the damage is still considered noncombat damage.

Does Fight Target?

The majority of fight abilities target a creature, but some don't. Targeted effects trigger heroic on your creature, but mechanics like hexproof and protection won't allow an opponent's creature to be targeted. Cards like Ezuri's Predation and Hans Eriksson produce creatures that fight without targeting anything.

Does Fight Tap?

No, fight doesn't tap. Fighting only cares about damage, power, and toughness.

Can You Fight a Tapped Creature?

Yes, the fight mechanic doesn’t care whether a creature is tapped or not. It’s not like blocking, where the creature needs to be untapped to block.

Can You Fight Your Own Creatures?

You can fight your own creatures, but the card text needs to make room for that, like Clash of Titans. Most fight cards specify that “target creature you control fights target creature you don’t control.” The only exception is if an opponent has taken control of one of your creatures, in which case you can fight a creature that you “own” but don’t “control.”

Can a Creature Fight Itself?

No. A creature can deal damage to itself but cannot fight itself. The act of fighting needs two different target creatures.

Can You Block Fight?

No, you cannot block fight. The only thing you can do is to kill or debuff the opposing fighting creature in response, or counter the fight spell or ability itself.

Does Hexproof Stop Fighting?

Yes, granting a creature hexproof will stop a targeted fight spell from resolving, since fight spells or abilities need to target the two creatures involved.

What Happens When a Creature With First Strike Fights?

First strike and double strike don't affect fight, since they're abilities that only work during the combat step. Since fight is all about dealing damage, only power and toughness matter. Abilities that care about the damage dealt like lifelink and deathtouch will matter, though.

How Does Double Strike Work With Fighting?

As above, first strike and double strike only work during the combat step. They have no effect on fight effects.

Does Lifelink Trigger When Fighting?

Yes, though there's technically no trigger involved with lifelink. If you make your 3/3 lifelink fight another creature, it will deal 3 damage and you’ll gain 3 life regardless of whether your creature survived the fight or not. The “lifelink” keyword text doesn't specify anything about dealing combat or non-combat damage.

Can You Fight a Creature With Protection?

It depends on the protection. A black spell or ability cannot target a creature with protection from black, so you can’t start a fight without using an ability of another color. For example, a green fight ability can target a creature with protection from black.

However, protection can still prevent the damage dealt during the fight. Staying with our black example, you’ve used a green ability to target two black creatures and have them fight. If one of them has protection from black, the damage dealt to that creature during the fight will be prevented.

How Does Fight Work With Deathtouch?

If a creature with deathtouch fights another creature and deals at least 1 damage, the opposing creature will die from deathtouch like it would in normal combat (unless it's indestructible). It's one of the abilities that matter for the fight mechanic, alongside lifelink.

Can a Creature With Defender Fight?

Yes, a creature with defender can fight. Defender is one of those mechanics that only matter for the combat step, so a 3/3 creature with defender can deal damage by fighting.

Does Trample Work With Fight?

No. Trample only works in the combat step. According to official ruling 702.19: The ability has no effect when a creature with trample is blocking or is dealing noncombat damage.

What Is Winning a Fight?

Winning a fight is when a creature you control fights a creature your opponent controls and kills the opposing creature without dying in the process.

The only card printed so far that uses this term is Skyshroud Ambush, a card that was released on MTG Arena in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. It’s not impossible to see this printed in a physical set.

Two cards have effects that require your creature to survive, but don’t use the word “win” in their text. Boxing Ring can tap to create a Treasure token if you control a creature that has already fought, while Foe-Razer Regent puts two +1/+1 counters on your creatures during the end step after they fight.

Can More Than One Creature Fight?

No, the fight effect is only between one creature and another.

When multiple creatures are involved, MTG designers usually put in the card text that “multiple creatures deal damage” to other creatures, like in the card Band Together. That’s an entirely different effect.

Wrap Up

Polukranos, Unchained | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Fight effects are part of green’s color pie, and they're evergreen mechanics. Fight is very important for green as a color because it’s the main way that green interacts both in Limited and in Constructed formats. Creatures that fight when they ETB are a form of card advantage and tempo that the color desperately needs, and it’s usually nice to add to a big rare or mythic rare green creature.

What fight effects do you usually include in your green-based decks? Let me know in the comments section below or over on Twitter.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!