Liliana of the Veil + Lightning Bolt

Asked by scholar 13 years ago

If I were to cast a Liliana of the Veil and as soon as she hits the battlefield, can my opponent Lightning Bolt me, then redirect to Liliana of the Veil, killing her, before I even had a chance to use one of her abilities? I know this is some kind of "player priority" issue, but am a little confused as to how this works mechanically. Would appreciate a solid explanation! Thanks everyone!!

Bingbing says... Accepted answer #1

Nope, he can't bolt her until you pass priority.Upon resolution of Liliana of the Veil, the active player (i.e. You, as it's your turn) receives priority.

You are then free to use one of Liliana's abilities. Your opponent can Lightning Bolt in response, but it won't stop the ability from going off.

If you pass priority do anything else which passes priority, including casting any other spell, or activating any other non-mana ability, then your opponent can Lightning Bolt you, and kill your Liliana of the Veil before you use her.

February 27, 2012 12:29 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #2

After a spell or ability resolves, the active player gets priority. You have the first chance to take actions after Liliana resolves, which includes activating one of her abilities. Loyalty counters are added and removed as a cost, so if you use her +1, she will have 4 loyalty by the time anyone has a chance to respond.

This is everything a player needs to know about priority:

1. No player gets priority during the Untap Step.
2. No player gets priority at the beginning of the Cleanup Step, but they can get it if something gets added to the stack (see below).
3. At the beginning of a step or phase (except for Untap and Cleanup), the active player gets priority.
4. After a spell or ability is added to the stack, the player who put it there gets priority.
5. After a spell or ability resolves, the active player gets priority.
6. When a player passes, the next player in turn order gets priority.
7. If all players pass in succession, the topmost object on the stack resolves. If the stack is empty, the game moves to the next step or phase.

February 27, 2012 12:37 p.m.

lesthenjay says... #3

so state based actions are checked when a player recieves priority, but dont you already have priority when casting spells or does it only check when priority is passed. for instance i have Heartless Summoning and cast Perilous Myr. can i Artillerize it before the myr goes to the graveyard? or would it die because as it resolves im receiving priority and SBA's get checked and its p/t is less than 1

February 27, 2012 2:09 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #4

SBAs get checked right before a player would receive priority. In your example, you don't get a chance to cast Artillerize before Heartless Summoning kills your Perilous Myr.

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, "Timing and Priority"), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority. This process also occurs during the cleanup step (see rule 514), except that if no state-based actions are performed as the result of the steps first check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, then no player gets priority and the step ends.

February 27, 2012 2:16 p.m.

lesthenjay says... #5

thanks alot for explaining...think i got it now.....

February 27, 2012 3:54 p.m.