Is declaring attack considered a spell?

Asked by grysong 12 years ago

Yesterday I played against this dude that used cancel to stop a creature from attacking him, and he also said that creature dies in the process, is this true?

The_Darkhorse says... #1

not at all. none of that

January 3, 2013 12:42 p.m.

grysong says... #2

so an attack cannot be stopped by spells like Mana Leak and Cancel ?

January 3, 2013 12:59 p.m.

The_Darkhorse says... Accepted answer #3

not a chance. declaring attack is not a spell. things like card:Norn's Annex can "stop" an attack. The cards you mentioned affect something different.

January 3, 2013 1:01 p.m.

grysong says... #4

Exactly as I thought, ty for the answer :)

January 3, 2013 1:05 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #5

Since no one said it specifically, any effect that says it counters a spell can only be used against a spell that's in the process of being cast, while it's still on the stack.

For example, if I cast a Lightning Bolt , you could cast Negate and counter it before it deals any damage. If I cast a Thragtusk , you could cast Cancel and counter it before it enters the battlefield. However, if you let it resolve and enter the battlefield then it's too late to do anything with countermagic, because it's not a spell anymore. To deal with it now, you would need things like Murder , Oblivion Ring , etc.

January 3, 2013 1:39 p.m.