Could one sacrifice Hokori, Dust Drinker after an opponent's un-tap step but prior to his or her upkeep so that ALL of their lands remain tapped?
Asked by DocProc95 6 years ago
I'm in the process of creating an Alesha, Who Smiles at Death EDH tax and stax deck. My thoughts are... if I could sacrifice Hokori, Dust Drinker (to any mana-less outlet like Altar of Dementia) after my opponents un-tap step, then recur him during my combat, I would completely break the symmetry of his affect. Furthermore (and this is my question) I was curious to see if it was possible to sacrafice him after his first ability resolves on my opponent but before his second ability, effectively locking my opponent out of mana (especially with Loxodon Gatekeeper). To put it more plainly... is it possible to use an activated ability after an opponents un-tap step but prior to their upkeep?... and in the described scenario, how would it play out? (I'm newer to Magic of this comes across as obvious.)
ClockworkSwordfish says... #3
You might also be interested in combining Winter Orb with cards that can tap it during your opponent's upkeep, such as Icy Manipulator. It's a back-up method of achieving the same thing.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
No, you won't be able to make that work. The upkeep step happens right after the untap step, and there's no in-between space where a player can get priority to take an action. Also, no player gets priority to take actions during the untap step either. The first opportunity you'll have to try and do something is after Hokori's 2nd ability has already triggered. Getting rid of Hokori won't go back and "un-trigger" the ability. Your opponent will still untap a land.
However, your plan does let you untap all of your lands while your opponents only get to do one per turn, which is still pretty good!
April 6, 2018 8:21 p.m.