How does the upkeep work?
Asked by mtghypatia 9 years ago
The other day I was playing with Mana Vault and I didn't know exactly how the upkeep and untap fase worked.
Being able to untap it only during the end of my upkeep means that even if I got 4 spare lands at the beginning of my upkeep, I will have to tap those after my untap fase and thus, they will remain tapped during my turn?
I also have a question regarding Paradox Haze . Having an extra upkeep doesn't mean I get an additional draw step right? In other words, using Paradox Haze doesn't let me draw two cards each turn, right?
nobu_the_bard says... Accepted answer #2
First, Mana Vault 's text is different from what is printed now. It is an old card and the rules have changed a bit. You can see the current wording here at the Gatherer. The most important thing to note is that the trigger is at the start of the upkeep now; modern rules don't put triggers at the end of steps or phases generally.
Briefly, without getting into it too much, the phases proceed in this order, each turn: untap, upkeep, draw, 1st main, combat, 2nd main, end phase.
Mana Vault does not untap during the untap phase, but everything else does normally. At the start of the upkeep, Mana Vault 's ability triggers; when it resolves, you get to make a choice if you are paying its 4 mana to untap it. If you tap four lands to pay the 4 mana, you're "down" 1 mana, effectively (this is the "trade-off" for using Mana Vault in the first place, in theory; the damage it deals tries to encourage you to suffer this trade-off). In practice, people abuse the hell out of it with stuff like Voltaic Key though, instead of using that untap trigger it has.
Paradox Haze gives you just an extra upkeep. You would proceed-> untap, upkeep, upkeep, draw, 1st main, and so forth. Nothing happens on its own during upkeeps unless you have cards that interact with the phase somehow (besides players being allowed to play instants or activate abilities before your draw and main phases). That means Mana Vault , if also in play, would trigger its untap ability twice before your draw step, if it matters to you- but you'd still have to pay 4 mana each time to agree to let the ability untap the Vault, so the two cards don't have a strong interaction.
July 10, 2014 12:11 p.m.
mtghypatia says... #3
Sorry for my english, I'm from Latin America. Thanks for your answers.
Epochalyptik says... #1
Phase. Not fase.
Untap precedes upkeep. You untap all of your permanents before you do anything else. The game then immediately proceeds to the upkeep. Therefore, you can't pay to untap Mana Vault , then untap the lands for your turn.
Paradox Haze does exactly what it says. It gives the enchanted player an additional upkeep. Upkeep is not draw, so you still only have one draw step.
July 10, 2014 12:01 p.m.