How many lands can be played off Azusa in the face of removal?
Asked by Player3.14 8 years ago
My opponent has played his land for the turn, then has resolved and Azusa, Lost but Seeking. I have a red mana and a Lightning Bolt at the ready to kill Azusa. How many lands can my opponent play before the bolt resolves and kills off Azusa? I think this has to do with priority, but I'm not sure where land playing falls into it.
nobu_the_bard says... #2
Land plays are special actions that do not use the stack. After Azusa, Lost but Seeking resolves, he can retain priority and play up to three lands. If he instead does some other action that uses the stack (for example, activates Expedition Map to try to tutor a land) you can respond by attempting to zap Azusa when you receive priority.
It gets a little more complicated if playing a land triggers something like, Landfall or Burgeoning.
January 20, 2016 6:42 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #3
Note that whenever a spell or ability resolves off the stack, a player can't retain priority at that time. Priority defaults to the active player who may then pass priority if he has no actions to perform. Whenever all players pass priority in succession, the top object on the stack resolves and the process repeats until the stack is empty.
A player can retain priority when casting a spell or activating an ability.
Raging_Squiggle says... Accepted answer #1
If Azusa has resolved, and nothing else has happened, the active player has priority (your opponent has priority since it's his turn).
Playing a land is a special action that doesn't use the stack and therefore can't be responded to by spells or activated abilities. He can get the two extra land drops off before you would get priority to Bolt her.
January 20, 2016 6:40 p.m.