Deathrite shaman question

Asked by EmblemMan 9 years ago

Ok so I wanted to activate the black tap ability of Deathrite Shaman and so I said I was going to. My friend had a blue creature that he pays a blue and taps it to tap a creature or something. So, when I announce that I will activate deathrites ability he taps his creature to try to tap my deathrite and I respond by tapping my deathrite and try to activate his ability. Well my friend had 2 of the blue tap creatures and wanted to respond to me activating deathrite with the second one to tap deathrite and fizzle the ability. My question is that when I respond with deathrite he is already tapped in order to pay the cost of the ability so is there any way that his second creature can tap deathrite and make the ability fizzle?

Devonin says... Accepted answer #1

Tapping him is part of paying the cost.

To announce the activation of that ability, you tap the creature and pay one black mana. This puts the ability onto the stack. By the time they have priority to respond with their creature, you've already tapped the Shaman and put the ability onto the stack.

If they started off by targeting your Shaman with the tap ability, it would go onto the stack, and in response you could tap him to activate his ability.

Since the tapping is part of the cost, there's no point at which they could tap your Shaman where you couldn't simply activate the ability in response and put it onto the stack on top.

August 27, 2014 12:21 a.m.

Devonin says... #2

Also, Fizzling is a specific term which means "Countered by the game rules for having no legal target." The only way for DRS's abilities to fizzle is if there was a legal target on announcement, and no legal target on resolution of the ability (Say the other player hit you with a Tormod's Crypt to clear out the card you'd targeted.)

August 27, 2014 12:23 a.m.

EmblemMan says... #3

Ok thanks a quick follow up question though...since he cannot read my mind on when I am going to activate deathrite do I just announce that I will or do I have to tap and pay the cost while doing so (this is referring to activating him in the beginning when he attempted to tap deathrite the first time)

August 27, 2014 12:40 a.m.

Devonin says... #4

Either of you can only activate an ability while you have priority.

For him to try and tap down your DRS before you can use it, he needs to have priority, to activate his creature's ability. Then he has to pass priority to you before the effect of their ability (tapping your shaman) can resolve, which gives you priority to activate the shaman in response.

You "announce" an ability, basically, by choosing targets, paying costs, and putting the ability onto the stack.

August 27, 2014 12:44 a.m.

EmblemMan says... #5

So I was wrong by just saying I was going to use DRS ability and not actually paying the original costs before passing priority so he can respond? If that is the case it wouldnt make sense because if i pay the cost then pass priority he cant respond by tapping his creature because DRS is already tapped? I may have just confused myself sorry........

August 27, 2014 12:50 a.m.

Devonin says... #6

Saying "I'm going to use his ability" is just you saying something. You aren't activating it until you announce targets and pay the costs. Nor would you lose priority unless you announced your intention to move to the next step/phase.

August 27, 2014 12:54 a.m.

EmblemMan says... #7

Ok now if you will bear with me for one more follow up question I will be done if i tap and pay the cost for DRS his ability goes on the stack and then i pass priority correct? So then with him tapped how does my opponent respond and try to tap him? (this is again the first time I am activating DRS's ability)

August 27, 2014 1:01 a.m.

Devonin says... #8

He is allowed to target your creature all he wants. It's already tapped. Tapping a tapped creature won't do anything relevent, but he -can-.

If he thought he could tap it faster than you could, he just doesn't know how abilities work.

August 27, 2014 1:04 a.m.

EmblemMan says... #9

Ok so is there any way that he can tap DRS then before I use its ability? Is there any rule saying that I have to give some notification before paying the costs? Because it seems hard for someone to know when you are going to use an ability or go in to combat and not be able to respond.....

August 27, 2014 1:12 a.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #10

No, there is no way for your opponent to get in front of you to tap Deathrite Shaman without giving you a chance to actually activate the ability. Once you announce the ability, you put it onto the stack, make all the choices, and pay all the costs before anyone has a chance to make responses. If your opponent goes to tap it before you activate the ability, then you can just activate it in response.

Combat is an entirely different question. After you move out of your main phase and into the combat phase, you go through a series of steps: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage (if any creatures in combat have first strike or double strike, there will be two of these), end of combat. Attackers are declared and tapped as the first action of the declare attackers step. Your opponent can tap them down in either the beginning of combat step or some earlier step/phase in order to prevent them from attacking.

August 27, 2014 11:17 a.m.

This discussion has been closed