Can the Bladesingers ability ( Action: If this unit has 2 or less damage on it or assigned to it, return this unit to the top of its owner's deck) be used when the Bladesinger has 1 damage on it and 2 damage assigned to it? I'm pretty sure that it can't, but it would be nice to have this affirmed.

I think you are right.

I take the text to mean "a total" of 2 or less damage assigned/on it. In your scenario, the total would be 3. However, before you declare defenders there is an action window,so you could trigger the action then and get that card outta there!

Its referring to 2 damage total, specifically so you can't just block with it and then pull it back right before damage is applied.

The way it's worded, it looks like it was meant to do exactly that - as a defender, soak up 1 or 2 dmg, deal 3 in return, and return to the top of your deck before it is killed. How am I misunderstanding this?

Junglecat said:

My post was not worded well, thanks for pointing that out. I didn't mean to give the impression that it can't be used in that way, just that the "2 or more" is there so that your opponent has a method to keep you from doing it every turn (i.e. by assigning an extra damage to Bladesinger). The "or" is somewhat ambiguous, but I'm 99% sure that it refers to the total of applied and assigned.

ok, I think I get it. In the example at the top, with the 1 current dmg and 2 applied, the total is more than 2 so you can't take that action. But can you assign more dmg than it takes to kill a unit if it doesn't have toughness or redirection?

Yes, you can. You only HAVE TO assign enough to destroy the unit considering its HP and known cancellation effects, but you can assign more, for example because you anticipate your opponent having an unknown cancellation effect up his sleeve.

Good to know, thanks much!

Junglecat said:

Also, redirection is not cancellation, so you don't have to account for it at all when determining how much *must* be assigned to the unit during combat.