Earliest priority question
Asked by meecht 12 years ago
When is the earliest time you receive priority on your opponent's turn? Could I play an instant in response to my opponent drawing a card, or otherwise before they can cast a spell?
hunter9000 says... #2
You can't respond to your opponent drawing a card directly, but players do get priority during the draw phase. So assuming your opponent doesn't draw an instant and play it during his draw phase, you can play something before he does.
December 16, 2012 2:12 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #3
As others have mentioned, the first step/phase of any turn where players get priority is upkeep. Additionally, drawing a card as part of your turn is a turn-based action that doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to. It happens before anything else in the draw step. If you want to do something before your opponent draws a card, your last chance is before you pass priority during his or her upkeep step (since players must pass priority in succession to advance the game state to the next step/phase).
December 16, 2012 2:36 a.m.
Thanks, all.
I'm trying out a discard deck and I am trying to find a way to keep my opponent from having any cards in hand, including making them discard the one card they get from their draw step.
December 16, 2012 11:15 a.m.
Thanks, all.
I'm trying out a discard deck and I am trying to find a way to keep my opponent from having any cards in hand, including making them discard the one card they get from their draw step.
December 16, 2012 11:16 a.m.
Thanks, all.
I'm trying out a discard deck and I am trying to find a way to keep my opponent from having any cards in hand, including making them discard the one card they get from their draw step.
December 16, 2012 11:16 a.m.
Oops. I swear I didn't mean to post that so many times. Any way you could delete the duplicates (and this comment), Epoch?
December 16, 2012 11:22 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
I can't delete them, but they don't really matter.
Most of the time; you aren't able to force your opponent to discard on his or her turn. The vast majority of discard and hand manipulation effects are sorcery speed to prevent someone from locking his or her opponent out of drawing cards.
December 16, 2012 2:36 p.m.
When my opponent's hand is empty and they enter the Draw phase, I want to sacrifice Black Cat to cast card:Altar's Reap to force them to discard the card they drew before they have a chance to cast it. Is that possible?
That's probably how I should have originally worded the question...
December 16, 2012 4:12 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #10
It will probably work most of the time, but it's not a sure thing. Since it's your opponent's turn, he'll have priority first during the Draw step, and he has to pass to you before you can do anything. If the card he drew is an instant or has flash, he can choose to cast it instead of passing.
If he passes instead of doing anything else, your play is perfectly legal. card:Altar's Reap is an instant, so you're allowed to cast it at this time, and Black Cat 's "dies" ability will trigger when you sacrifice it to pay the cost of Reap. The Cat's triggered ability will go onto the stack on top of Reap, and will resolve before Reap does. However, note that if the card your opponent drew is an instant or has flash, he'll still be allowed to cast it before the Cat's triggered ability resolves.
So you know, these are the times a player gets priority: At the beginning of each step and phase except for Untap and Cleanup, the active player gets priority After a spell or ability is put onto the stack, whoever cast/activated it gets priority After a spell or ability resolves, the active player gets priority After a player passes, the next player in turn order gets priority, unless that pass means all players have passed in succession. In that case the topmost object on the stack will resolve, unless the stack is empty, in which case the game will move on to the next step or phase
December 17, 2012 10:53 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #11
Dang, all that text in italics was supposed to be a bulleted list. I don't know why I didn't catch it in the preview. Oh well, hopefully it's readable.
December 17, 2012 10:54 a.m.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Additionally, is a Miracle cast during the Draw step, or the first Main phase? Since the text for Miracle says "You may cast this card for its miracle cost when you DRAW it if it's the first card you drew this turn," the card, technically, goes into your hand BEFORE it's cast, correct?
120. Drawing a Card
120.1. A player draws a card by putting the top card of his or her library into his or her hand. This is done as a turn-based action during each players draw step. It may also be done as part of a cost or effect of a spell or ability.
702.92. Miracle
702.92b. If a player chooses to reveal a card using its miracle ability, he or she plays with that card revealed until that card leaves his or her hand, that ability resolves, or that ability otherwise leaves the stack.
I know that's not what happens during a match, but the rules say that the miracle is technically brought into your hand. Therefore, since most Miracles are labeled "Sorcery," but can be cast like an instant during an opponent's turn if the draw conditions are met, could my opponent cast it in response to Black Cat 's trigger?
December 17, 2012 12:30 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #13
Miracle is a combination of two abilities: a static ability that can create a replacement effect (you may reveal this as you draw it if it's the first card) and a triggered ability that triggers when the replacement effect is applied (when you reveal this, you may cast it for the Miracle cost).
The Miracle card is in the player's hand until it's actually cast, at which point it moves to the stack, and the special casting is done as part of the resolution of the triggered ability. The only way the player could cast it before that ability starts resolving is if the card is an instant or has flash, and then he has to pay the regular cost of the spell.
If your opponent revealed Thunderous Wrath and you respond with your trick while the Miracle trigger is still on the stack, he's allowed to respond by casting it, but only by paying 4RR. If your opponent revealed Entreat the Angels and you respond with your trick while the Miracle trigger is still on the stack, he can't respond by casting it.
December 17, 2012 2:11 p.m.
So I would need to state something like "In response to the miracle trigger, blah blah blah" in order to pull it off properly? I'm not sure how many people at my local shop would understand what's going on, so I want to be sure I announce it properly.
December 17, 2012 3 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #15
Yes, something along those lines should be enough. If your opponent skips ahead and starts casting it, just give a simple "ok wait, I have a response to the miracle trigger" and he should back up to the trigger still being on the stack (having to back up if you've skipped ahead without giving your opponent a chance to respond is part of the Magic Tournament Rules).
If your opponent doesn't understand what you're doing, call a judge to explain. At the level of a local shop FNM, you might unfortunately run into the situation where the acting judge doesn't understand it either, but you have to go by his decision, whatever it is.
December 17, 2012 3:59 p.m.
Thanks for clarifying everything, Rhadamanthus! My shop hasn't had an actual licensed judge the past few FNMs, but hopefully there will be another player or two there that can back me up if I run into a problem.
drakanar says... #1
You receive priority on your opponent's turn after he passes priority. The first time this occurs is during the upkeep step. Your opponent will be unable to cast anything at sorcery-speed at this time; however, he does receive priority before you.
December 16, 2012 1 a.m.