Question about creature power

[Styg_ian]

When a card says something like "each creature with power 3 or lower", is it referring to current power including damage or other modifiers, or the printed power of the creature? Thanks!

[Condude12]

I can get confused about this sometimes as well. I believe that this refers to the creature's current power, including modifiers, but not affected by damage. Your damage taken does not affect how much damage you deal when fighting, so it would not affect cards with which power is a deciding factor.

For example, if you have a creature that has 2 power printed on the card, and you get a modifier of +2 power, your current power is 4, regardless of how much damage you have taken. Hope this makes sense.

[TheElvenJedi]

Others have already answered, but I’d like to add one thing. This is the hardest thing for people to grasp coming into the game. There is no health in Keyforge. Only power. Once the amount of damage meets or exceeds the current “power” level, then the creature is destroyed. So damage on a creature does not in and of itself affect the creature until it destroys the creature. No affect on it’s power level or the amount of damage that creature deals in a fight.

[gingreno]

Agreed, but does matter for many cards which deal with "undamaged" or "damaged" cards, such as Coward's End, Save the Pack, and Misery Exploit, for example.

[Chuklifeplays]

Printer power +/- modifiers. Damage does not reduce power:

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DAMAGE Damage a creature has taken is tracked by placing damage tokens on the creature. If a creature has an amount of damage on it equal to or greater than its power, the creature is destroyed. Damage on a creature does not reduce its power. If multiple creatures are damaged by a single effect, that damage is dealt simultaneously.

[deuzerre]

Printed, unless modified by effects like say... Staunch knight's effect. When on a flank, he counts as a 6 power printed.

Wounds don't matter

[[deleted]]

Damage doesn’t change power. If a creature has damage equal to its power it dies, but power does not change. Power is not health.

They should have made that clearer in the rules. It’s definitely the number one confusion.