Does an instant resolve before a sorcery?
Asked by Druxe 12 years ago
I'm semi-new to MTG and I've been wonder for a while now during a main phase if an instant is played and then a sorcery is played would the instant resolve first?
Same question for abilities. Like if I had Prodigal Pyromancer used his ability then played World Fire would they resolve in that sequence or would my opponent be dead since I poked him after World Fire drops his life to 1?
Like Epochalyptik said, you may play non-instant cards at 'Sorcery-speed', which is during your main phases of your turn when the stack is empty.
You can only 'respond' to cards with either Instants, cards with Flash (eg. Ambush Viper , Eel Umbra etc.) or activated abilities. Worldfire is a sorcery without Flash, so you can only play it at sorcery speed.
November 18, 2012 6:55 p.m.
cartwheelnurd says... #3
If you used something like Hypersonic Dragon to get a sorcery at instant speed, then yes, they would die because spells resolve in reverse order from when they are placed on the stack. This is why counterspells work. They resolve before the card that they are countering, so it is countered while it is still on the stack and unable to resolve. In your case, the worldfire would resolve and then the 1 damage ping would resolve, killing them.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Sorceries can ONLY be played on your main phase when the stack is empty. Unless an effect instructs you to cast the sorcery at a certain time or the sorcery has gained flash, you can't play a sorcery in response to anything.
Spells in MTG resolve using the stack system: Whenever a spell or ability is cast, activated, or triggered, it is put onto the stack. All players (in turn order) then get a chance to respond to that spell or ability. Any new object placed onto the stack goes on top and will resolve before anything below it.
November 18, 2012 6:33 p.m.