Can I use Treacherous Urge to take control of a creature an opponent has already tapped mana to cast?

Asked by Rikon227 8 years ago

I think the answer to this is no, but I figured I might as well ask. Let's say my opponent starts tapping land to play a card. Before they put that card into play, can I then play Treacherous Urge as an instant before that spell has resolved to steal the creature they were going to cast?

Raging_Squiggle says... Accepted answer #1

No. Lands have activated abilities called mana abilities. These are special actions that don't use the stack and cannot be responded to.

If the active player has priority in his main phase, he may cast a creature spell and put it on to the stack. At that point you may respond with Treacherous Urge. At that time, however, the creature is no longer in his hand, it is on the stack and therefore not a legal choice for Treacherous Urge.

You also cannot cast Treacherous Urge without having priority, so the last time you would have been able to cast it before he cast the creature spell would be at the end of his draw step when he passed priority to you before changing phases.

February 29, 2016 1:52 p.m.