When Twisted Fate attacks and flips a Fury Rune (dealing 2 damage to one unit and 1 to others), does this kill defending units before the combat damage step, preventing them from dealing damage back to Twisted Fate?

Ruling: Yes, Twisted Fate's Fury Rune damage resolves during the "When attacking" part of the chain, before combat damage is calculated. This kills units before they can deal damage back to Twisted Fate.

Sequence:

• Twisted Fate's "when attacking" ability triggers and goes on the chain
• The Fury Rune damage resolves (2 damage to one unit, 1 to everything else)
• After the chain resolves, if units are still alive, combat damage is calculated
• If all defending units died from the Fury Rune, Twisted Fate takes no damage

Nuances:

• This only happens when Twisted Fate is attacking, not when defending (the ability specifies "when he is attacking")