Priority with activated, triggered abilities
Asked by Temporal_Inept 6 years ago
Two part question. 1st part concerns:
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
and
116.3c If a player has priority when he or she casts a spell, activates an ability, or takes a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
along with Pestilence Demon. If I cast the Demon, and it resolves I get priority according to 116.3b meaning I can then pay and activate the Demon's ability before any player responds. And according to 116.3c I can put as many of those abilities on the stack as I have mana for before any player can respond. Is my understanding correct?
2nd part concerns:
116.2a Triggered abilities can trigger at any time, including while a spell is being cast, an ability is being activated, or a spell or ability is resolving. (See rule 603, Handling Triggered Abilities.) However, nothing actually happens at the time an ability triggers. Each time a player would receive priority, each ability that has triggered but hasnt yet been put on the stack is put on the stack.
this is where my understanding breaks down. Suppose my opponent has Intruder Alarm and a tapped King Macar, the Gold-Cursed When the Pestilence Demon enters, Intruder Alarm's trigger is put on the stack because I received priority (116.3b and 116.2a). I can now respond while Intruder Alarm's trigger is on the stack by activating the Demon. This is where I have difficultly, if I continue to activate the Demon putting three activated abilities on the stack it seems that the Intruder Alarm trigger will not resolve until I run out of mana. So let's assume I have three black mana available after casting Pestilence Demon, Intruder Alarm's trigger goes on the stack, I respond by putting three of Pestilence Demon's abilities on the stack. Excluding a stifle or some such, each of those abilities resolve, dealing three damage to King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and thereby killing him before Intruder Alarm's trigger resolves which means the inspired trigger of King Micar would never happen. Is this correct?
Thanks for reading through the lengthy question.
PrimeEpoch says... #2
Yeah, you can activate his ability as many times as you want when you have priority which means you can resolve 3 rounds of his ability when he enters the battlefield before anything else happens including triggered abilities. So as long as your opponent has no response to this, you're safe.
January 24, 2018 7:15 p.m.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... #3
Even if your opponent does have a response, you can respond to their response by pumping even more mana into Pestilence Demon if you have it.
January 24, 2018 7:23 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #4
Yeah when their response is put on the stack, you will get priority before it resolves which means you can activate him as many times as you want before their response resolves.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... Accepted answer #1
Correct on both counts, so far as I can tell. Keep in mind that there is a round of priority after you cast Pestilence Demon, before he resolves, but after he does resolve, the active player will have priority. (usually you unless you cast him at instant speed)
January 24, 2018 6:01 p.m.