Prison Term and Stormfront Riders: Which ability gets priority?
Asked by vic 7 years ago
I play a Prison Term on my opponent's creature (any creature). Next turn my opponent plays a Stormfront Riders, returning that creature and another to his hand.
Does my Prison Term fizzle or can I successfully move it onto the Stormfront Riders first?
You can move the Prison Term, assuming this is happening on the opponent's turn. What happens when multiple abilities trigger at the same time is the active player gets to put all the abilities they control on the stack in any order they choose, then the inactive player does the same for abilities they control. Then, because the stack resolves the last ability placed on it first, the inactive player's abilities resolve first and you'll be able to move the Prison Term before Stormfront Riders bounces the creature.
However, the opposite is true if the opponent is somehow putting the Riders into play on your turn.
January 21, 2017 6:29 a.m.
You can move Prison Term onto Stormfront Riders in response to it's entry ability, assuming it enters on their turn. Because Stormfront Riders ability does not target, the will know exactly what Prison Term is enchanting when they decide what two creatures to return, and will likely return the riders themselves if you choose to move the enchantment. If they play Stormfront Riders on your term (perhaps because of Scout's Warning) they will return the creatures and Prison Term will be put into a graveyard by a state based action before it resolves, and it's ability will do nothing.
January 21, 2017 6:54 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #4
Neotrup's answer is the most accurate. Stormfront Riders' ability doesn't target, so your opponent will get to make the decision about what to return after you make your decision for Prison Term.
metalmagic says... #1
So what happens is this: Stormfront Riders enters the battlefield, triggering itself and Prison Term. Assuming it wasn't played at instant speed somehow, it will be your opponent's turn and the abilities will go on the stack in APNAP (active player, non-active player) order. Your opponent chooses targets for the Riders's ability and puts it on the stack, and then your Prison's ability goes on the stack above that. You can then choose to move the Prison over to the Riders since your ability will resolve first, and after that the creatures are then bounced. Knowing this, your opponent should probably choose itself and whichever creature is currently imprisoned to get rid of your aura permanently, though. Hope this helped!
January 21, 2017 6:22 a.m.