When blocking with creature/Centuar and Creature/Geist TRapper 'soulbound'.... ??

[cboyer1951]

Question please.
When Blocking with Creature/Centaur 3/3 with Creture/Geist Trappers 3/5 (pair this creature with another creature on battlefield)....

So I am being attacked by:

Black:
Markov Partrician 3/1
Tormented Soul 1/1 (nothing can block it)
Farbog Boneflinger 2/2

I'm new, and I don't understand how the battle stage would go with this.
So any help, much appreciated please.

What I 'think' is going to happen (and since you're not here, I'm playing it this way for now)
is;

Black declares those 3 attacking
Green declares the duo combo Geist Trapper/Centaur as blocking

1. Since Tormented Soul can not be blocked, 1 pt against Green player.
2. Green declares Geist Trapper (3/5) blocking Markov Patrician (3/3)
so the battle is that Geist blocks 3 black strength, and delivers 3 strength, which Markov
blocks back with only 1 blocking pt. then Markov is put into Graveyard.
Geist blocked 3 strength delivered to it from Markov so it has 2 blocking strength left and lives. But of course those other remaining 2 blocking pts in a normal 1 on 1 are just reset to the 5 as Geist won that battle and will untap full strength again.
But since Geist and Centaur (3/3) are 'bound' paired with soulbound, then do I carry over the remaining 2 defending pts of Geist and they are 'with' Centaur's 3pts, therefore 5 blocking pts left to face Farbog Boneflinger 2/2, or do the Geist Trappers remaining 2 blocking pts drop off and i'm only facing blocking Farbog with Centaur's 3/3?

I just want to know to be sure, certain and following the rules of course.
Since Farbog only has 2/2 it only attacks with 2 dmg and centaur blocks wth 3, or can i have the remaining 2 blocking pts of Geist 2pts block the 2 attack pts of Farbog?
Either way the green creatures remain, and the Black, Markov and Farbog are to the Graveyard.
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And... for that matter, a 2nd question just popped up on Tormented Soul.
Now on the Black player's side, I am now ready to attack, it can't be blocked.
And it can't block. So if it can't block, can it even pretend to be included in blocking?
Or is it not invincible? Can it be attacked? It seems to me that if the attacker then has cards, creatures placed paired to it blocking, that Tormented Soul can not be one of those cards paired up to block, since it can't block. So how is it attacked then? Hmmm... can't wrap my mind around the dynamics of this.


Usually I just wouldn't add this Geist Trapper into my deck as I'm a green beginner and have
no idea of how to use the particulars. But I figure I'd better start.
Also, I don't have enough cards to make other choices from, I only have 2 to 8 cards of each color that are left over when I make a one color 60 card deck. Perhaps I should be using 2 color decks. And/or making 40 card decks, since it's just to train myself the dynamics of the game.


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And the other queston. Please.
If Tormented Soul (1/1) text states Tormented Soul can't block and is unblockable.
What are the defense 1 pts for?

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Now I've played 5 games against myself as the opponent, is it regular that one side pretty much gets beat within 7 or 8 turns? Or is the game supposed to go on for much longer?

Thanks
Chuck

Oh, and is there an online way to link up to a card database where I can recreate my decks that I'm using with my physical cards and study it that way, and which cards perhaps to replace.
Or is that best done with Magic Set Editor, Wagic, Magic Workstation, or MagMa2? All of which I've downloaded and am trying to look at for their efficacy and pertinent useage.,

[Arix]

1. Pairing creatures with soulbond means nothing beyond what is written on the cards. So pairing Geist Trappers with another creature grants both creatures reach - but that's it.

2. I think you're making combat a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Here's a simple step-by-step of what happens:

1. Your opponent declares attackers - he attacks with Markov Patrician, Tormented Soul, and Farbog Boneflinger.
2. You decide if and how you want to block. You block Markov Patrician with Geist Trappers and Farbog Boneflinger with the Centaur token.
3. Each creature deals combat damage equal to its power (the first number) to the creature it's blocking, the creature it's blocked by, or the defending player, whichever is appropriate. So the Patrician deals 3 to the Trappers, the Soul deals 1 to you, the Boneflinger deals 2 to the Centaur, the Trappers deals 3 to the Patrician, and the Centaur deals 3 to the Boneflinger.
4. State-based actions are checked. They see that the Boneflinger and Patrician have been dealt lethal damage, so they're destroyed.

That's all there is to it.

And... for that matter, a 2nd question just popped up on Tormented Soul.
Now on the Black player's side, I am now ready to attack, it can't be blocked.
And it can't block. So if it can't block, can it even pretend to be included in blocking?

What even do you mean by this?

Or is it not invincible?

No, it just can't block or be blocked.

Can it be attacked?

As I mentioned earlier, you never attack creatures directly.

And the other queston. Please.
If Tormented Soul (1/1) text states Tormented Soul can't block and is unblockable.
What are the defense 1 pts for?

Toughness counts for more than just combat. Aside from the obvious (spells like Shock or Dismember will kill it), there are cards that reference a creature's toughness directly.

[cboyer1951]

Thank you, everything is much clearer now because of your explanations. I think I learn a lot from play-by-play descriptions of the action. It's just the facts as they happened. So thanks for that.

What I meant by the question that was wrongly put. If Tormented Soul can't block. And in this case it was on the blocking (Opponent) side, to the Attacker, then why would it even be included in on the attack? But you answered that in saying that the attacker doesn't attack creatures, just the player or planeswalker. From the blocking/Opponent's viewpoint it wouldn't even be considered as it can't block. But from the attacker's viewpoint he can well attack it and destroy it, ok. Plain and simple. I get that.

And, yes, I do tend to get too over intellectual over details. I'm learning, I will learn. But it is very difficult. It's much easier to see when playing what is happening than trying to visualize it.

Are there any sites online where people list or post step-by-step, blow-by-blow accounts of their matches?
I'd really like to read a lot of those. I think that I can learn faster by reading something like that. Just pour over a bunch of notes on matches/games and learn from that.

And thanks, Arix, yes, of course toughness points count for more than just combat, spells that reference a creature's toughness, etc.... I get that now that you've said it.

Thanks, Arix. Always helpful.