Trample

Trample is a slang term for the ability for when a blocked creature still breaks a shield.

Details

It is usually worded as the following;

It is commonly seen on cards in the Nature civilization as this is likely due to their finisher creatures with a high cost-to-power ratio.

This ability allows a creature to break one of the opponent's shields event if was blocked, preventing it from being Chump Blocked by low cost and/or power creatures. It also punishes high power creatures with the Blocker ability from blocking a creature with this ability as well. However, as not all decks use creatures with the blocker ability and it is has no use against the Metallica race and their "Attack Bend" abilities, this ability is no longer featured in current sets.

It is based on the Magic: The Gathering ability known as Trample, but in Magic, all creatures are able to block, while in Duel Masters only creatures with the Blocker keyword are able to do so.

• Trample reduces the opponents life total which directly ties to the outcome of the game. In Duel Masters, the number of shields is seen as less important as shields being broken can be advantageous for the defending player, due to Shield Trigger or Strike Back as well as the possibility of recovering finisher cards or key cards. Also due to the Trample effect having no effect when the defending player has no shields, it is considerably weaker than its Magic counterpart.

A stronger and more effective version of this ability is "Whenever this creature wins a battle, ___" ability, which is printed on cards such as Dogiragon, Legendary Legend and Moai Land, Ancient Paradise, as they are effective against a considerably wider range of targets (affecting all creatures they win a battle against, not just creatures with "Blocker") and are often more punishing.

Rulings

• When a creature with this ability is blocked, the Break occurs before the battle. If the attacking creature is destroyed with a Shield Trigger ability such as Terror Pit, no battle will occur.
• The creature must be blocked in order for the ability to trigger. If another ability triggers and destroys the blocking creature before the block occurs, the trample effect doesn't trigger.
• Any effects (such as Bajula's Soul) that allow you to break an additional shield will allow a creature with this ability to break extra shields.