Priority with drawing cards in hopes of pulling a counter spell.
Asked by mikloud 11 years ago
I have a Arcanis the Omnipotent in play with a Pemmin's Aura . My opponent plays some spell I really don't like, but I lack a counter spell in hand. Would I be able to tap Arcanis the Omnipotent (and untap if I don't draw the card I want and tap again) and play the eventual counter spell I draw assuming I have the mana for it?
Would this be different based on who is the active player?I know Activated Abilities are different from spells. Would using a instant that lets me draw a card change the outcome?
Let's say the scenario plays out with the end result being you draw into the counter spell and you cast it.
First, your opponent casts the spell. Priority passes to you.
Now, you can activate Arcanis' ability, and put it on the stack above the spell.
Assuming your opponent didn't cast anything else, the stack will start resolving. Arcanis' ability will resolve first, following the FILO, or First In Last Out resolution.
After the ability resolves, all players go through another round of priority. At this time, you can cast your counter spell targeting your opponent's spell. Once again the stack will start resolving and the spell would be countered.
Activated abilities act just like instants in most cases in the light that they can be used at instant speed, and are put onto the stack. For this reason, your opponent can tap their Llanowar Elves for mana in response to you casting a Doom Blade on it.
November 16, 2013 2:32 p.m.
Short answer: Yes, you can do exactly what you describe as long as arcanis is alive and you have mana to untap him.
November 16, 2013 2:32 p.m.
Thanks for the clarification. I was worried that since after a spell resolves priority first goes to the active player. I figured that in the case the it was my opponents turn that they would then have their spell on the stack resolve. I didn't know about the extra round of priority.
November 16, 2013 3:04 p.m.
Nothing can resolve until both players (in active-player / non-active-player order) say it can. If your opponent casts a spell, you have priority to use Arcanis and draw cards. Since you declined to pass priority (by using Arcanis), then priority tries to pass again with both players needing to pass it in order for the spell to begin resolving. When it comes to you, you decline to pass by countering the spell on the stack. If priority passes through both players at this point, your counterspell resolves and removes your opponent's spell from the stack.
November 16, 2013 3:15 p.m.
Llanowar Elves has a mana ability, so it's actually a different reason there. Mana abilities don't use the stack, so if you tapped llanowar elves for a green, and you had an untapped island, then they couldn't Doom Blade your llanowar elves before its mana came into your mana pool for you to Mana Leak the doom blade. A better example would've been Arbor Elf , as it's not a mana ability. But yeah, you can keep drawing and untapping until you reach your beloved Counterspell
November 16, 2013 7:23 p.m.
The "can't respond to mana abilities" rule is also part of what makes Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx so good in Standard. You can't kill stuff to lower Devotion before they get the mana.
kriskurse says... #1
Someone will answer this better then me, when they cast said spell your trying to counter, priority will be passed an you have the opportunity to cast spells and activate abilities. Then if you decide to activate the ability, it'll be put onto the stack above the spell, making it so it'll resolve before that spell.once the ability is put onto the stack, priority is passed between both players. Then once it resolves priority is then passed again for the spell that you were trying to counter, and you could respond again by casting spells or activating abilities. (I'm confusing I believe. Lol)
November 16, 2013 2:07 p.m.