Can I Flicker in response to Sacrifice?
Asked by speedchicken29 7 years ago
Situation:Opponent has a World Queller and chooses creature.I have two creatures out.
Can I sacrifice one and then use some flicker ability like Cloud Shift so that I don't sacrifice anything?
Oloro_Magic says... Accepted answer #2
In the case of World Queller you can respond to the sac as it is taken as a resolution of an ability. In other words, your opponent activates the ability of World Queller and from there priority passes to you and you are able to respond to the sac trigger. If the sac happens via something like Vampire Hexmage as part of a cost then you would not hold priority as the ability resolves.
Essentially think of the stack like this: your opponent activates the ability of World Queller, priority then passes to you, here you may chose to flicker, if you don't the ability resolves and you must chose a permanent to sac, because World Queller doesn't target Eerie Interlude is a good work around to it.
With Vampire Hexmage you sac as a cost and once you activate the ability you no longer have priority and if your opponent passes priority the ability resolves without giving you the option to respond.
I have attached the comprehensive rules on priority below:
- Timing and Priority
116.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority may cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.
116.1a A player may cast an instant spell any time he or she has priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during his or her main phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty.
116.1b A player may activate an activated ability any time he or she has priority.
116.1c A player may take some special actions any time he or she has priority. A player may take other special actions during his or her main phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty. See rule 115, Special Actions.
116.1d A player may activate a mana ability whenever he or she has priority, whenever he or she is casting a spell or activating an ability that requires a mana payment, or whenever a rule or effect asks for a mana payment (even in the middle of casting or resolving a spell or activating or resolving an ability).
116.2. Other kinds of abilities and actions are automatically generated or performed by the game rules, or are performed by players without receiving priority.
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. See rule 116.5.
116.2b Static abilities continuously affect the game. Priority doesnt apply to them. (See rule 604, Handling Static Abilities, and rule 611, Continuous Effects.)
116.2c Turn-based actions happen automatically when certain steps or phases begin. Theyre dealt with before a player would receive priority. See rule
116.3a. Turn-based actions also happen automatically when each step and phase ends; no player receives priority afterward. See rule 703, Turn-Based Actions.
116.2d State-based actions happen automatically when certain conditions are met. See rule 704. Theyre dealt with before a player would receive priority. See rule 116.5.
116.2e Resolving spells and abilities may instruct players to make choices or take actions, or may allow players to activate mana abilities. Even if a player is doing so, no player has priority while a spell or ability is resolving. See rule 608, Resolving Spells and Abilities.
116.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:
116.3a The active player receives priority at the beginning of most steps and phases, after any turn-based actions (such as drawing a card during the draw step; see rule 703) have been dealt with and abilities that trigger at the beginning of that phase or step have been put on the stack. No player receives priority during the untap step. Players usually dont get priority during the cleanup step (see rule 514.3).
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
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.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that players mana pool, he or she announces what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.
116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.
116.5. Each time a player would get priority, the game first performs all applicable state-based actions as a single event (see rule 704, State-Based Actions), then repeats this process until no state-based actions are performed. Then triggered abilities are put on the stack (see rule 603, Handling Triggered Abilities). These steps repeat in order until no further state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the player who would have received priority does so.
116.6. In a multiplayer game using the shared team turns option, teams rather than individual players have priority. See rule 805, Shared Team Turns Option.
116.7. If a player with priority casts a spell or activates an activated ability while another spell or ability is already on the stack, the new spell or ability has been cast or activated in response to the earlier spell or ability. The new spell or ability will resolve first. See rule 608, Resolving Spells and Abilities.
July 11, 2017 3:18 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
You could respond to the original ability by flickering, but it isn't going to do anything and you are not going to know what type was chosen. World Queller's ability is all one effect, so once the type is chosen players must choose and sacrifice a permanent of that type without any player receiving priority. The ability also does not target, so even if it only could hit creatures it works more like Wrath of God than Doomblade. Cloudshift negates targeting because the creature that enters is considered a new game object. The new object would still be a creature and could still be sacrificed if creatures were chosen. Something like Ghostway could save all of your creatures, but your opponent could just choose a different type than creature since they don't have to choose until the World Queller's ability resolves.
The MtG comprehensive rules and the search function (ctrl+f) can answer all your questions as long as you are good with picking out keywords. That being said there is no reason to reference 20 rules about timing and priority when 116.1a and 116.2e are the only relevant ones.
July 11, 2017 4:27 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
@Oloro_Magic: Of note, World Queller's ability is not an activated ability. It's a triggered ability.
Activated abilities are written in the form "[cost]: [effect]" and must be manually activated by a player who has priority.
Triggered abilities are written in the form "[At/When/Whenever] [event/condition], [effect]" and trigger automatically when the given event occurs or the given condition is met.
Also, a player may retain priority after activating an ability; priority is not necessarily always passed right after activating an ability.
July 11, 2017 5:46 p.m.
For my understanding, i'f I'm attacked by Ulamogs Crusher, can I select two creatures for the sacrifice then cast Ghostly Flicker to save them?
August 30, 2019 3:16 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #8
June_Bug: In the future, if you have a question it's much better to start a new Rules Q&A topic than respond to an old thread. The way this site works, only users who are still subscribed to the old thread will be aware that you posted something. I don't really know why I was subscribed to this one, but here we are.
No, that won't work. The Annihilator ability on Ulamog's Crusher and similar cards doesn't target, so that means you wait to decide what you want to sacrifice until the ability is actually resolving. Players don't have an opportunity to cast spells or make responses in the middle of another spell or ability resolving. In this example you have to sacrifice two permanents.
speedchicken29 says... #1
Also if someone could post a link to a website with advanced stack rules and stuff that would be great.I have a lot of questions similar to this one that will probably come up and it could all be solved by simply having a rule book about the stack
all i can find are "the stack for beginners" and similar
July 11, 2017 3:01 p.m.