do i use Hail of Arrows before or after the regular combat damage is dealt?
do i use Hail of Arrows before or after the regular combat damage is dealt?
That's entirely up to you. A creature becomes an "attacking creature" as soon as it is declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step.
It remains an attacking creature all the way until the end of combat step, which is after the combat damage step. So, you can certainly use Hail of Arrows before you take damage; or you can wait until after damage has been dealt.
The chances you have to use Hail of Arrows are the following:
- The declare attackers step (no damage dealt yet)
- The declare blockers step (again, no damage dealt yet)
- The combat damage step (you don't receive priority until after damage has been applied, if you wait this long)
- The end of combat step (obviously, damage has already been dealt by this point as well)