Ghostly Flicker question
General forum
Posted on Dec. 13, 2012, 6:56 a.m. by mavzero87
can Ghostly Flicker be used to fizzle an effect from an instant, like a burn spell?
I understand that, but the permanents return to play as part of the spell. Do i respond to the damage then?
December 13, 2012 8:08 a.m.
Three-Left-Feet says... #4
Well if your creature was targeted by Pillar of Flame , you can play Ghostly Flicker , and your creature would only come back after the chain is done, which would be after Pillar of Flame resolves, and since it was targeting your creature that is no longer there when it resolves, the spell becomes useless. It's like a dodge.
December 13, 2012 8:17 a.m.
The permanents that you used Ghostly Flicker on return to play as new permanents. They have no relation to the permanents that you exiled, and thus, are not targeted by any spells on the stack.
If you Flicker a permanent, it also loses any counters it may have had.
December 13, 2012 8:24 a.m.
VykkDraygo says... #6
@cestdesconneries: Not quite true. The permanents exiled by Ghostly Flicker are returned during the resolution of the spell. They blink out, then back in all at once, before Pillar of Flame would have a chance to resolve.
The reason why this works though, is as Wsebaste said, the permanents that you blink are considered new by the game. Since the old target no longer exists, Pillar of Flame has no targets, and is therefore countered.
Here is the rules text governing this interaction:
608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target thats moved out of the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process to determine its characteristics. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word target, are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally, affecting only the targets that are still legal. If a target is illegal, the spell or ability cant perform any actions on it or make the target perform any actions.
December 13, 2012 9:31 a.m.
VykkDraygo says... #7
As well, you cannot respond to the damage applied by a spell. Your only chance to respond is before the spell resolves, as players do not gain priority during the resolution of a spell. Once the spell resolves, the game checks for state based effects, your creature would die, then your opponent would have priority (since Pillar of Flame is a sorcery, I assume it is on their turn). So responding to the Pillar of Flame with Ghostly Flicker is the only way to save your creature in this scenario.
December 13, 2012 9:36 a.m.
Three-Left-Feet says... #8
Okay, that makes sense, thanks VykkDraygo, i guess it was explained to me wrong, but in a way that works. Haha.
Three-Left-Feet says... #2
Yes it can, as long as you play Ghostly Flicker AFTER the burn spell. In MTG, the rule on instants is that the Last one to be played in a chain is the First one to resolve.
December 13, 2012 8:02 a.m.