Can effects interact with a spell once it has been countered but before the counter is resolved?
Asked by JRaynor 9 years ago
My friend had Mirari on the table and cast some burn spell to kill a creature I had. I countered the spell and he copied the spell on the stack before the counter could resolve.
In the case that such a thing happens, is the copy still considered cast and can I counter that too or no?
I agreed with him after reading the text on Mirari but frankly Magic isn't always intuitive and often enough I'll get a ruling wrong so I wanted to double check. Is that legal?
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2
First, you don't quite have the timing correct.
Mirari's ability triggers when the spell is cast, which means it will trigger at the end of the casting process. The ability will be put onto the stack before any player can respond.
Now, you can counter the original spell in response to Mirari's ability (that is, after the ability has been put onto the stack but before the ability resolves). However, Mirari's ability will still resolve, and its controller will be given the option of paying an optional cost to get a copy of the original spell. The original spell doesn't need to be on the stack anymore for this to happen.
If the spell is copied, the copy is created on the stack. It is not considered to have been cast, but it still uses the stack, and players can respond to it like a normal spell.
November 13, 2014 3:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
Also, a spell isn't considered to have been countered until the spell or ability that would counter it resolves. There's no "once it has been countered but before the counter is resolved."
November 13, 2014 3:22 p.m.
Ok, that makes sense. So it doesn't matter that it hasn't been cast. I can still counter the copies if I had enough counters in my hand?
November 13, 2014 3:51 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Yes.
Also, please remember to select an answer to remove this question from the active queue.
November 13, 2014 4:05 p.m.
Cool thanks. First time using this aspect of Tappedout.
KrosanTusker says... #1
As long as the counterspell hasn't resolved, the spell it's targeting hasn't been countered and there is a chance to respond.
The copy is not considered cast unless it is specified that it is cast (usually if the spell is copied on the stack, it's not considered cast, but if it's copied from exile, for example, you do cast the copy) but you can counter the copy whichever.
November 13, 2014 3:19 p.m.