Crew Vehicle Combat Timing and interference ex: Deadlock Trap
Asked by Korombos 7 years ago
I got really confused this morning at prerelease when trying to get the timing of combat straight when it comes to my opponent trying to interfere with my ability to crew a vehicle.
My opponent has Deadlock Trap with 5 energy counters
I have Ballista Charger,Night Market Lookout, Longtusk Cub, and a servo token and 7 energy counters
I go to "declare combat"
Wait for responses.
I go to "declare attackers"
? can he then decide to use Deadlock Trap or is it too late to stop me attacking with any of my 3 creatures?
conversely:
I go to "declare combat"
He uses Deadlock Trap targeting my Longtusk Cub
? can I spend energy to give my cub a +1/+1 token and use it to crew Ballista Charger in response?
metalmagic says... Accepted answer #1
After your main phases, the first two steps of the combat phase are 'Beginning of Combat' and 'Declare Attackers.' The ABSOLUTE first thing that happens in Declare Attackers before either player receives priority is the active player chooses with which creatures they are are attacking. If your opponent wants to tap anything down with Deadlock Trap, Beginning of Combat is their last chance to do so. However, Beginning of Combat is also the last chance YOU have to crew a vehicle, because by the time you would get a chance to do so in the Declare Attackers Step, you will have already declared all of your attacks.
Now it sounds to me like there was just a little miscommunication between you two, as can happen by the shortcuts we as magic players take to make the game faster. If you go to Beginning of Combat (which your opponent probably assumed was what you meant by "declare combat"), you have priority first. Most (99%) of players will not say they are passing priority - as is the mechanic to resolve spells on the stack and move through the steps and phases of a turn - but will simply acknowledge they are going straight to the next Step, which you can't do without passing priority.
If there was no talking in between you saying what you said, it would be assumed that when you say you're going to declare attackers that you are passing priority for your opponent to play spells and activate abilities in Beginning of Combat when they receive priority.
Question #2: Yes, you certainly can. Until the ability of Deadlock Trap resolves, you may activate your Longtusk Cub's ability and use it to crew vehicles. Hope I helped clear things up!
September 24, 2016 11:27 a.m.