Can instants be cast to pump creatures involved in a fight?

Asked by Wainwright 11 years ago

Hopefully this will just be a dumb question which is easy to answer, but something I've never come across before in the year that I've been playing.

If a spell or ability causes to creatures to fight, during the fight, or before, can my opponent cast an instant which pumps their own creatures p/t?

Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1

No player has priority while a spell or ability is resolving, so there is no point at which your opponent (or you) could cast a spell or activate an ability during the fight. Any player may respond to the spell or ability before it resolves, though.

May 5, 2014 5:13 a.m.

PrimeEpoch says... #2

You can't do it during the fight, as no player has priority during the resolution of a spell or ability, and you may only cast spells or activate abilities when you have priority. Everyone gets to respond to the spell or ability, however. First, your opponent still has priority after casting the spell or activating the ability, so they can stack a pump spell or effect so that it resolves first. If they don't, then priority is passed to you, and if you pass priority without casting a spell or activating an ability, the fight spell or ability then resolves. Basically, If your opponent doesn't pump then passes priority to you to see what you do, they can't respond to you doing nothing.

May 5, 2014 7:05 a.m.

Wainwright says... #3

Thats great information thank you guys.

So if it's a fight when I cast Nessian Wilds Ravager , priority goes to my opponent over the tribute, if they don't pay I then choose the which creature the ravager would fight.

Do they still have the chance to respond before the fight occurs or is too late at this stage?

May 5, 2014 8:09 a.m.

PrimeEpoch says... #4

Sorry, I assumed that your opponent was making the fight. It goes in APNAP order, so if it's your turn, it goes the other way round. You must target the creature first, and you have priority after the ability goes on the stack, so you can respond to it first. Then your opponent gets a chance to respond. Then you do again if your opponent does, you can do it before or after the resolution of their spell/ ability. But they can respond to this by doing something to the creature like remove it from the battlefield, and ultimately, your opponent gets the last say if it's your turn. It's the other way round if it's your opponent's turn.

May 5, 2014 8:42 a.m.

smash10101 says... #5

Actually nayaftw, it's a little more complicated than that. In the case of Nessian Wilds Ravager , assuming it was cast normally, the active player gets priority first, but other times this won't be the case.

601.2h Once the steps described in 601.2ag are completed, the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spells controller had priority before casting it, he or she gets priority.

Let's say NAP (non-active player) has priority and casts Pit Fight . NAP then gets priority to cast/activate pumps. If they pass, then AP gets priority. If they too pass, Pit Fight resolves. NAP does not get a second chance to cast spells or activate abilities. Let's say AP does cast Giant Growth in response to Pit Fight . AP now can cast a second spell, but lets just have them pass. NAP now gets a chance to respond to Giant Growth , but they pass. Giant Growth resolves and AP gets priority. They pass, and NAP gets a chance to do something. Lets just say everything resolves now and move to the next example.

NAP flashes in a Nessian Wilds Ravager and AP decides to fight. NAP chooses the fight target and the ability goes on the stack. AP gets priority first, rest as above.

Basically the rules for priority are:

• You get priority first after casting a spell or activating an ability.
• Active player gets priority after a spell or ability resolves.
• If both players pass priority without casting any spells or activating any abilities, the top item on the stack tries to resolve.

/rant

May 5, 2014 10:58 a.m.

PrimeEpoch says... #6

Yeah, what he said haha ;) Flashy fights didn't occur to me...

May 5, 2014 11:35 a.m.

GoblinsInc says... #7

@smash

Don't forget that in tournaments there's a shortcut that you pass priority after adding something to the stack unless you specify that you are keeping priority.

May 5, 2014 2:22 p.m.

Wainwright says... #8

thanks so much for all your help guys, its really appreciated

May 5, 2014 6:12 p.m.