Can Nightcreep be used as a counter or to skip an opponents turn??
Asked by NCP884 12 years ago
I am very new to Magic. I've been looking at the card Nightcreep (sorry I don't know how to attach the link to the show the card). A black instant costing bb mana that says: all creatures are black and all lands are swamps. Can I potentially cast this on another players turn (assuming their not playing black) and leave them unable to cast anything with nonblack mana?? If so, how early on their turn can I cast this?? If they were to cast a creature or sorcery spell and I followed with Nightcreep, what would happen?? Would the creature be cast?? Would I cancel it out?? If he couldn't cast it, would the lands he tapped to try and cast it stay tapped?? From what I have read, it seems like if an opponent tried to cast a creature, and I cast this card, my instant would resolve first and he wouldn't have proper colored mana to cast his creature. I am 100% sorry if this question is horrible. I have read the basic rules and can't seem to make sense of this. THANK YOU!!
Thanks for the help!! I understand now. How quickly can I cast this card (or any other instant)on my opponent's turn?? Can I cast it right off the bat unless he has some sort of instant that counters or avoids it??
January 15, 2013 4:11 p.m.
Yes, instants can be cast at any time unless something on the battlefield says it can't be cast. Even if he counters it, the spell is still cast, it just doesn't resolve. Good luck, I hope you have a fun time with magic.
January 15, 2013 4:14 p.m.
@Chubbub Actually instant can't be cast at any time, you need to have priority to do so.
The earliest you can normally have priority is at the upkeep, your opponent will still be able to tap his current mana in response to your spell and play anything that could be played at instant speed to at least have some use of the current mana he has.
I'll probably get corrected by Epochalyptik any time soon.
January 15, 2013 4:25 p.m.
Thanks MurasakiRose, I had actually never heard of their being priority, so thanks. Lol to the Epoch joke.
January 15, 2013 4:34 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #6
I'll try to answer the question as completely as possible:
Instants may be cast any time you have priority. The active player (the player whose turn it is)always gets priority first in every step and phase except untap and cleanup, where no players get priority (ever for untap, most of the time for cleanup). To progress to the next step or phase, all players must pass priority without doing anything. This means that when your opponent passes priority on his or her turn, you may cast instants and activate abilities.
The casting process involves taking the spell, putting it onto the stack, making appropriate choices (modes, targets, etc.), and paying its costs. During the casting and resolution processes, no players have priority anymore. The mana is already spent by the time a player receives priority again.
Nightcreep doesn't do anything until it resolves. When it resolves, all creatures currently on the battlefield become black (the lose their other colors) and all lands become Swamps.Nightcreep does not retroactively change anything about spells on the stack or mana floating in mana pools.
January 15, 2013 4:39 p.m.
candlehawk says... #7
Mana abilities (abilities that tap for mana) do not use the stack, so you can not respond to your opponent tapping their lands to cast something. That said, you can play it any time before they tap those lands, like at their upkeep, or whatever. They can also respond to Nightcreep by tapping all of their lands for mana before it resolves, then have until their next step to use the mana in that mana pool. If your opponent already has tapped their lands, you are too late. I would recommend using it on your opponent's upkeep, because both mean that they can not cast non-instant speed spells.
January 15, 2013 4:39 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
The first time you have priority to cast Nightcreep on your opponent's turn is after he or she passes priority in his or her upkeep step. Your opponent may cast spells first before passing priority, and he or she may respond to Nightcreep before it resolves.
January 15, 2013 4:41 p.m.
I see. Seems like a pretty effective card, but not as good as I originally thought. Thanks so much for the help!!
January 15, 2013 4:44 p.m.
In competitions, or even regular play, how do you know if the active player passes priority? Should you always say 'I pass priority' and do you declare each stage when you enter it (e.g. combat step, main phase etc)? I may be going to my first FNM this Friday, I don't want to look like fool. Playing with your friends is a bit easier, there's a sort of mutual agreement on some things.
January 15, 2013 6:31 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
In competitions, it's assumed that a player passes priority after he or she casts a spell or activates an ability. In these environments, it's appropriate to say "retaining priority" as you cast something to indicate that you don't wish to automatically pass.
You should always declare when you're passing priority, because passing over an empty stack is an indication that you (when you are active player) intend to move to the next step or phase. Depending on the situation, it's also appropriate to declare when you're transitioning between steps/phases. For example, if you control Phyrexian Arena , it would be appropriate to declare when you're about to enter your draw step because something has happened in the upkeep step.
Normally, in competitions (FNM, EDH tourneys, etc.), I say "untap, upkeep, draw" as I move through the first three steps of my turn. This gives other players a cue that they have an opportunity to do something before we move on.
You should especially announce when you are entering the various parts of the combat phase because many effects and spells are relevant to combat (dealing with creatures before they can attack or block, for example).
January 15, 2013 7:22 p.m.
Yeah, I guess it's a good idea to say untapped or draw, or something relevant to avoid unneeded hassle.
I do always announce when entering into the combat phase since that's important.
Well, thanks for replying.
Chubbub says... #1
Since it would change their lands to swamps which only have tap: add one black mana to your mana pool you would have to cast it before they tap their mana or while they are because if they have already tapped it and are casting a spell, the mana is already in their mana pool, so it wouldn't change mana that has already been put in the mana pool. And the way to link cards is by doing 2 brackets, card name, 2 brackets.
January 15, 2013 3:56 p.m.