2 Questions

Asked by RockerRyan 13 years ago

1) I have a Vexing Shusher on the battlefield. I cast an Incinerate. My opponent uses a Counterspell.Can I say "In response" and use the Shusher's ability to block the Counterspell?

2) My opponent has out a Llanowar Elves.I have out a Gideon's Lawkeeper. He taps his elf to use its ability.Can I say "In response" and use my Lawkeeper to tap his elf, thus preventing him from adding 1 mana to his pool?

rckclimber777 says... Accepted answer #1

1. Yes that is how it works. You cast incinerate your opponent tries to counter it and then you play his ability. They all go on the stack in that order and then resolve in the opposite order.

So your Ability targets incinerate and is now un-counterable, the counterspell attempts to counter it, but it is now targeting an illegal target and thus it fizzles and incinerate goes through.Note here that if they countered it in response to you activating it then your ability would have been below the counterspell in the stack and would have resolved after the counterspell had already resolved thus your incinerate would have been countered.

1. No. Llanowar elves has a mana ability. Mana abilities resolve immediately and thus you cannot do anything in response. Ie mana abilities don't use the stack.

February 25, 2012 10:13 a.m.

BigBruce says... #2

1) Yes you can. The stack resolves from top to bottom.

1.Vexing Shusher activated ability2.Counterspell3.Incinerate

Vexing Shusher ability will resolve first, granting Incinerate uncounterable status, Counterspell will try to resolve, but since the target is now invalid, Counterspell will fizzle and do nothing. After all this, Incinerate will finally resolve.

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2)No, tapping the Llanowar Elves is a cost. The payment of costs cannot be responded to, by the time your opponent can act, your creature is already tapped and the ability is on the stack independent of its source or in the case of the Elves' mana ability, already resolved.

Also, a mana ability cannot be respond to, see the rules below:

605.3b An activated mana ability doesnt go on the stack, so it cant be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after it is activated.

February 25, 2012 10:14 a.m.

RockerRyan says... #3

Ok thanks!

February 25, 2012 10:20 a.m.

KorApprentice says... #4

I would like to note that using Gideon's Lawkeeper to tap a creature will not prevent it from using any ability, not just mana abilities. Costs are paid before abilities are placed on the stack and can be responded to, therefore the creature will already be tapped with its ability on the stack when you try to tap it with Gideon's Lawkeeper. Once the ability is activated, it exists independently of its source on the stack, tapping or untapping the source will not affect the resolution of the ability.

February 25, 2012 11:08 a.m.

rckclimber777 says... #5

That is a good point as well Korapprentice.

February 25, 2012 11:10 a.m.

bcurran says... #6

I should point out that Counterspells can legally target spells that "can't be countered", they just have no effect. The spell does not "fizzle". The same is true for indestructible creatures and Terror-esque spells.

February 25, 2012 6:07 p.m.