If a creature with Flanking is blocked, does damage still get through to the defending player?

No — not unless the flanking creature also has trample. Even if the blocker dies to the -1/-1 from flanking, the attacking creature is still considered blocked, so no combat damage is dealt to the defending player.

Does having one instance of Flanking protect a blocker from multiple instances of Flanking on the attacker?

Yes. If the blocking creature has even one instance of flanking, none of the flanking triggers fire, regardless of how many instances the attacker has. One instance on the blocker shuts down all of them.

Can I give a creature Flanking after blockers are declared to protect it?

No. Flanking triggers during the declare blockers step. If a creature gains flanking after blockers have already been declared, the window for the trigger has passed and the -1/-1 has already been applied (or not). Giving flanking to a blocking creature at that point has no effect on the current combat.

What sets have Flanking cards in them?

Flanking was introduced in the Mirage block (Mirage, Visions, Weatherlight — 1996–1997) and returned in Time Spiral block (2006–2007). Commander 2016 added one more flanking card (Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa). A functional version of the effect — without the flanking keyword — has appeared on more recent cards like Plague Wight and Order of the Alabaster Host.

Why hasn't Flanking returned to Standard-legal sets?

Wizards of R&D has given flanking a 7 on the Storm Scale, citing player confusion around the self-referential rule — specifically that a creature with flanking is immune to the flanking trigger. R&D considers a renamed version without that interaction more likely to return, which is why newer cards carry the effect without the keyword.

Flanking in MTG: Rules, Strategy & Card Guide

Q: Does Flanking trigger when a creature with Flanking blocks, or when it's blocked?

Only when it's blocked. Flanking triggers during the declare blockers step when the flanking creature becomes blocked by a creature without flanking. If the flanking creature is the one doing the blocking, the ability doesn't trigger at all.

There's something satisfying about a keyword that tells a story in its name alone. Flanking captures the idea of cavalry swinging around the side of a battle line - and in game terms, it punishes anything bold enough to stand in the way.

Flanking is a combat keyword that weakens creatures that block the flanking creature, as long as those blockers don't also have flanking. It's not flashy, but it creates real decisions at the table, especially when your opponent has to choose whether to trade, take damage, or let a weakened blocker die in the dirt.

What is Flanking?

Flanking is a triggered keyword ability that fires during the declare blockers step. When a creature with flanking becomes blocked by a creature without flanking, that blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

If the blocker already has flanking itself, the ability doesn't trigger at all - fitting, really, since a cavalry force that also knows the tactic can't exactly be caught off-guard by it.

The classic example is Mtenda Herder, a one-mana 1/1 Human Scout. On paper, a 1/1 for '{W}' looks like a throwaway. But flanking means any 1/1 that tries to block it becomes a 0/0 and dies before damage is ever dealt - so your opponent either lets it through or trades a bigger creature to stop it.

Flanking rules

Let's dig into the exact rules text, because there are a few important wrinkles here.

"Flanking is a triggered ability that triggers during the declare blockers step. 'Flanking' means 'Whenever this creature becomes blocked by a creature without flanking, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.'" - CR 702.25a

"If a creature has multiple instances of flanking, each triggers separately." - CR 702.25b

Key rules to know

Flanking only triggers when the flanking creature is attacked into a blocker, not when the flanking creature itself is doing the blocking.
If the blocker dies from the -1/-1, the creature with flanking is still considered blocked. That means no damage gets through to the defending player - unless the attacker also has trample.
Because the -1/-1 happens in the declare blockers step, a blocker that dies to it won't deal any combat damage, even if it has first strike. The flanking trigger resolves before damage is assigned.
Gaining flanking after blockers are declared does nothing. The window for the trigger has already passed.
Multiple instances of flanking each trigger separately. So a creature with flanking twice gives a blocker -2/-2 total - unless, crucially, the blocker has even one instance of flanking, in which case none of the triggers fire.
Flanking applies even to creatures blocking indirectly, such as creatures that join a block because they're part of a band with the flanking creature.

Rules note: The interaction with banding is one of the stranger corners here. If a flanking creature is part of a band, any creature assigned to block that band without flanking takes the -1/-1, even if they weren't specifically blocking the flanking creature.

Common misunderstanding

The most widely misunderstood part of flanking is the "unless the blocker has flanking" clause. Players often assume it's about the attacker - that if two flanking creatures fight each other, something unusual happens. In fact, the check is entirely on the blocker: if the blocker has any flanking at all, the trigger simply doesn't happen. One instance on the blocker is enough to shut down even multiple instances on the attacker.

This rule quirk is actually part of why Wizards of R&D rates flanking a 7 on the Storm Scale - meaning a return to the mechanic in Standard is considered unlikely. The self-referential nature of the ability confused a significant portion of players, and R&D has acknowledged this as the mechanic's core design problem.

Strategy

Playing with flanking

Flanking creatures punch above their stat line in combat because they effectively tax any blocker that doesn't also have flanking. A 2/2 with flanking is meaningfully harder to block than a vanilla 2/2 - your opponent's 2/2 blocker becomes a 1/1 before damage, meaning it dies while your creature survives with 1 toughness to spare.

This makes flanking creatures naturally aggressive. They want to be attacking, not sitting back on defence. The ability only matters when the flanking creature is blocked, so you get maximum value by putting pressure on your opponent and forcing them into bad blocks.

If you're building around flanking, Cavalry Master ({2}{W}{W}) is the standout piece. It has flanking itself, and it gives all your other flanking creatures an additional instance of flanking. That means your board of cavalry knights is now applying -2/-2 to any blocker without flanking - a genuine battlefield-warping effect.

Jabari's Banner ({2}) and Flanking Licid ({1}{R}) both let you spread flanking to creatures that don't have it naturally, opening up some fun deckbuilding angles if you want to run flanking as a theme rather than just a collection of individual creatures.

Playing against flanking

The cleanest answer to flanking is to either have flanking yourself (negating the trigger entirely) or use bigger creatures that survive the -1/-1. A 4/4 blocking a flanking creature becomes a 3/3 - annoying, but it lives.

Barbed Foliage ({2}{G}{G}) is a dedicated hate card: it strips flanking from any creature that attacks you until end of turn, turning off the ability entirely.

Instants and removal that kill the flanking creature before it can attack also cleanly answer it, since the trigger only fires when the creature becomes blocked. And if you can avoid blocking at all - through chump blockers you're fine trading, or simply by going wide enough that your opponent can't attack profitably - flanking loses a lot of its sting.

Format check: Flanking as a keyword primarily lives in older formats. Most of the original flanking cards were printed in Mirage block (1996-1997) and Time Spiral block (2006-2007), so you're most likely to encounter them in Legacy, Vintage, or casual/Commander settings.

Notable cards with Flanking

Cavalry Master

Cavalry Master ({2}{W}{W}) is the card that turns flanking from a minor combat trick into a synergistic theme. Every other flanking creature you control gains an extra instance of flanking, stacking -2/-2 onto blockers. In a dedicated flanking deck, this creates a board state where your opponent simply cannot profitably block.

Riftmarked Knight

Riftmarked Knight ({1}{W}{W}) is one of the more elegant flanking cards. It has protection from black and flanking, and its suspend ability - suspend 3 at {1}{W}{W} - eventually creates a 2/2 black Knight token with flanking, protection from white, and haste. One card, two flanking threats, spread across time. I find it a lovely piece of design.

Flanking Licid

Flanking Licid ({1}{R}) is charmingly weird. Licids are a creature type that can turn themselves into Auras, and this one lets you pay {R} to attach it to any creature and grant flanking - then pay {R} again to return it to creature form. It's not exactly efficient, but it is uniquely flexible.

Jabari's Banner

Jabari's Banner ({2}) is an artifact that grants flanking to any creature temporarily for {1} and {T}. In a slower game, or in Commander, repeatedly flanking up your biggest attacker each turn adds up.

Cards with "new flanking"

Wizards has revisited the effect of flanking without the self-referential rules baggage on a handful of newer cards - Plague Wight, Baneblade Scoundrel, Hezrou, and Order of the Alabaster Host all carry a version of "blockers get -1/-1" without using the flanking keyword itself. This sidesteps the confusion of the mirror-flanking rule entirely.

History of Flanking

Flanking debuted in Mirage (1996), the first set of the Mirage block, and continued through Visions and Weatherlight. Thematically, almost every flanking creature is a knight on horseback or a centaur - creatures with tactical mobility and height advantage, swinging around the enemy's flank. The two exceptions are Sidewinder Sliver and Old Fogey, which exist as deliberate mechanical or parody outliers.

In Mirage block, flanking appeared across all five colours, with the heaviest presence in white (eight creatures) and red (four), plus three black, and one each in blue and green.

The mechanic returned in Time Spiral block (2006-2007), leaning even more heavily white - ten white flanking creatures, three red, and one black. Future Sight's development explored the idea of a creature with flanking twice, which eventually materialised as Cavalry Master (though earlier in the block than originally planned).

Commander 2016 added Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa, the first multicoloured card with flanking - a white/green Legendary Creature that also has a distinct, separate ability letting creatures with power 2 or less attack as though they didn't have defender.

Wizards has been candid about why flanking hasn't returned as a keyworded mechanic in modern sets: the "immune to flanking if you also have flanking" interaction was broadly misunderstood by players. The Storm Scale rating of 7 reflects that - not impossible to return, but unlikely in a Standard-legal set without significant retooling. The functional reprints on newer cards suggest R&D still likes the effect, just without the self-referential rules text.