Countering Something 2+ Cards Below It
Asked by TheGrayMerchant 7 years ago
Let's say that my opponent casts Warren Instigator, and I cast Dissipate in response. If my opponent responds with a Negate, could I then respond with a Cancel targeting the Warren Instigator?
TheVectornaut says... #2
In the given example, it would usually be better to just Cancel the Negate since that lets Dissipate successfully exile the Warren Instigator. If, however, your Cancel was say an Essence Scatter, than you would need to target the creauture, and you would be free to do so since it would still be on the stack, waiting to resolve.
August 29, 2016 10:37 p.m.
The only restriction Cancel has is that you have to name a spell as a target. This means that all spells on the stack (currently Warren Instigator, Dissipate, and Negate) are legal targets for Cancel.
August 30, 2016 3:14 a.m.
Related to what was mentioned, and why it matters that you can target either his counterspell or his creature with another counter, say instead of casting Negate, your opponent responds by surging Overwhelming Denial, or casts Last Word. In that case, you are obligated to cast your Cancel at the Instigator if you want the spell countered.
Epochalyptik says... #1
Yes. There's no rule saying you have to target the most recent spell.
August 29, 2016 8:41 p.m.