I need help with a Krosan Grip (split-second) ruling.

Asked by jtmccree755 3 years ago

So me and my buddy were playing a commander game the other night. I had a Jodah, Archmage Eternal, and a Isochron Scepter attached to Heroic Intervention. On his turn he tries to play Darksteel Mutation on my Jodah. In response I tap Isochron Scepter to make all my permanent hexproof and indestructible. In response he plays Krosan Grip on my Isochron Scepter. I've never seen a split-second card so I'm confused. I activated the scepter in response to darksteel mutation. Shouldn't my permanents be indestructible, or does split second work for cards played before and after it? I let him have it and he ended up winning but I was about to win otherwise.

SteelSentry says... Accepted answer #1

The effect of Krosan Grip just stops spells and abilities being used while it is on the stack. In this example, it is the same as if he had used Disenchant; your Scepter is destroyed, then after it resolves, it is removed from the stack and the ability of Isochron Scepter resolves (Your Heroic Intervention is still in exile, so the ability can use last known information to copy it). After that, your commander is now hexproof and indestructible so Darksteel Mutation can no longer target it and goes to the graveyard.

April 13, 2020 1:01 p.m.

Tylord2894 says... #2

Split second, simply put, means that nothing can enter the stack until the card with split second (i.e. Krosan Grip) resolves. The stack is, well, the stack of spells and abilities that are trying to resolve. You resolve them in first-in-last-out order.

In the example you shared, the stack was Darksteel Mutation, an Isochron Scepter activation, and then Krosan Grip. First, Grip resolves (because nothing can be done before that) which destroys Scepter. Then the Scepter activation resolves. You still get to resolve this normally because it has already been activated. You then create and copy of Heroic Intervention and cast it. Then the Intervention resolves, giving your stuff hexproof and indestructible. Then the Mutation doesn't resolve because it's target has hexproof.

At the end of all of this, you still have your Jodah and not your Scepter.

Hope this helps!

April 13, 2020 1:06 p.m.

jtmccree755 says... #3

Thank you guys so much!!

April 13, 2020 1:24 p.m.

jtmccree755 says... #4

So in this example my friend should have played Krosan Grip first?

April 13, 2020 1:43 p.m.

Tylord2894 says... #5

Correct. If your opponent wanted to better ensure that Jodah was going to be turned, they should have played Mutation, held priority, then casted Grip (or visa versa). Of course, if you had something similar to Intervention in your hand, you could still stop Mutation after Grip resolved, but you would have to wait until then.

April 13, 2020 1:48 p.m.

jtmccree755 says... #6

Thanks man!

April 13, 2020 2:48 p.m.

dragonstryke58 says... #7

@Tylord2894

Just a small nitpick on your response in post #2: Split second only prevents activated abilities and casted spells from entering the stack until the spell with split second resolves. Triggered abilities can still enter the stack.

An example would be if the you have Lurking Predators and your opponent casts Krosan Grip to destroy it. The cast trigger for Lurking Predators would still be put to the stack even if the Krosan Grip is still on the stack.

April 13, 2020 3:48 p.m.

Tylord2894 says... #8

dragonstryke58, that is a fair point. I was trying to get to the main issue but sidestepped a bit too far.

April 13, 2020 3:59 p.m.

Kogarashi says... #9

It should also be noted that special actions can still go on the stack with split second as well. This means if you had a face-down Voidmage Apprentice or Stratus Dancer, you could morph it to counter the Krosan Grip when a conventional counterspell wouldn't work.

April 13, 2020 8:47 p.m.

Tylord2894 says... #10

Kogarashi, special actions don't use the stack.

116.1. Special actions are actions a player may take when they have priority that don’t use the stack. ...

April 13, 2020 8:59 p.m.

@Kogarashi

Like Tylord2894 mentioned, special actions do not use the stack.

The abilities of Voidmage Apprentice and Stratus Dancer that could enable you to counter Krosan Grip are triggered abilities which trigger when the morphed card is turned face up.

April 13, 2020 10:11 p.m.

Kogarashi says... #12

Yes, my bad. Special actions don't use the stack. That'll teach me to comment when tired.

What I was trying to say (and poorly indicate) is that you can morph something even with split second in the way, as some people might not realize that morph is not an activated ability but a special action.

April 14, 2020 1:39 a.m. Edited.

Rhadamanthus says... #13

jtmccree755: Since it's clear you got a satisfactory answer to your question, I marked one of them as the "Accepted answer" so that this topic can move out of the list of unanswered questions. Please remember to take care of this yourself in the future.

April 14, 2020 8:38 a.m.

jtmccree755 says... #14

Sorry about that !

April 14, 2020 9:32 a.m.

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