Activating an ability multiple times...
Asked by toxonic 12 years ago
I was wondering what happens when a player activates an ability multiple times at once (for example using Olivia Voldaren ping ability several times), and I want to be specific...if they literally say "i activate this ability 3 times and target that creature" and then they tap 6x lands. Do all those abilities exist on the stack all at the same time? Or is it assumed that player waits for the first to resolve (important as I want to Searing Spear her in response.
RussischerZar says... #2
Well if they say and do it like this, I would assume they're putting everything on the stack at once, although that would be rather stupid in any case. Depending on the rules enforcement level you should maybe just ask "so, the ability is on the stack now 3 times?" out of courtesy, especially at a FNM event.
March 8, 2013 5:12 a.m.
Just making sure. Since abilities on stack don't care about their source I assume that even if you Searing Spear Olivia Voldaren in response to her abilities, the abilities would still resolve and do their damage+turn to vampire thing even though Olivia is not on the battlefield anymore.
Side question. If you activate Olivias ability to ping but your opponent prevents the one damage somehow you still put the counter on Olivia right, since it's a separate effect (at least seem so from reading the card)?
March 8, 2013 8:27 a.m.
I believe she still gets bigger because the ability still resolves but the damage isnt applied. The ability wouldnt resolve if the target became illegal (it left the battlefield or gained hexproof) but i see no reason for olivia not to get bigger.
March 8, 2013 8:31 a.m.
Absinthman says... #5
Correct. If Olivia's ability is activated, it no longer cares whether Olivia is still there, as far as damage and turn into a Vampire parts of that ability are concerned. Of course, no counters are placed anywhere as Olivia is no longer there to receive them.
Correct. The second and third part of Olivia's ability doesn't care whether the damage actually got through. "That creatue" is refering to the creature ebing targeted, not the creature dealt damage. Also, the part about +1/+1 counters doesn't include any condition like "if that creature is dealt damage this way, put a ... ".
March 8, 2013 8:36 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #6
In the common interpretation of shortcuts, it's assumed that unless a player specifically says he's holding priority at certain points then he isn't. This means for a shortcut like this it's assumed that unless the player specifically says he's responding to each activation with a different one then he's letting each one resolve before activating the next one.
You won't find this written down anywhere in the CR or MTR, but it's what I've picked up from years of talking with other players and reading answers to similar questions from DCI-certified Judges. Absinthman's accepted answer is a technically correct description of the alternative interpretation.
March 8, 2013 9:57 a.m.
Absinthman says... #7
Thanks to Rhadamanthus for sheding light on this obscure matter. I based my answer on common sense. I've personally never been in such situation where a dispute over this would arise.
Absinthman says... #1
Whenever a spell is cast or an ability is activated (thus put onto the stack), its controller is the one who receives priority after that. So if a player does what you say, it would go liuke this:
1. I activate for the first time.
2. I get priority because I'm the controller of the last item that has been put onto the stack.
3. I activate for the second time.
4. I get priority... and so on.
So you should be able to Searing Spear her after the last ability is put onto the stack. The other thing is that after you play the spear, he or she might start to argue that he or she waited for the abilities to resolve, but that's not true because he didn't pass priority to you between activations.
March 8, 2013 5:11 a.m.