Proper time to crew before attackers
Asked by KB2187 8 years ago
So this came up during my last draft.
When is the absolute latest that you can crew a vehicle before sending it to attack?
I've been under the impression that as combat is declared, I can crew because it's at instant speed. My opponent said that I have to crew before the combat step. I don't know if it actually makes a difference but if it does, then I would like a proper ruling.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2
The combat phase consists (usually) of five steps:
Beginning of combat
Declare attackers
Declare blockers
Combat damage
End of combat
The first thing that happens in the declare attackers step is the active player declares all of his or her attacking creatures as a turn-based action. This doesn't use the stack, and nobody can do anything else until this process is finished.
If you want to be able to attack with a vehicle, your last chance to activate its crew ability is during the beginning of combat step.
October 2, 2016 2:22 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
Ruling to support my answer:
506.1. The combat phase has five steps, which proceed in order: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat. The declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped if no creatures are declared as attackers or put onto the battlefield attacking (see rule 508.5). There are two combat damage steps if any attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4).
October 2, 2016 2:23 p.m.
Right, I forgot about the beginning and end of combat steps, my bad
October 2, 2016 2:26 p.m.
@KB2187: Actually, shortcuts likely play a big part in declaration here because "Go to combat?" (and whatever similar shortcuts) means to go to your declare attackers step and not to the beginning of combat step. Since you used the wording "as combat is declared", I'd think the active player has used the above shortcut, effectively suggesting to skip to their declare attackers step, and at that point wouldn't be able to crew vehicles to attack with anymore.
To clarify, the above answer by Epochalyptik is entirely correct and backed by the correct ruling, yet shortcuts allow players to skip past the beginning of combat step, possibly without them knowing. A player telling you that you can't crew vehicles after proposing the shortcut to go to combat would be correct.
The rulings for shortcuts don't cover this in it's entirety, so if you're looking for a quoteable source about this exact case, consider this article
(also bumping acbooster)
October 2, 2016 5:09 p.m.
Thank you guys. So then the follow up question I have then is since crewing is done at the beginning of combat step, my opponent could then tap down a crewed vehicle after it resolves but before the "declare attackers" step. Making sure my interpretation is correct.
October 2, 2016 7:05 p.m.
To be perfectly precise: You can crew at any point when you have priority, including during your opponent's turn - you just have to do it before the declare attackers step if you want to attack with the vehicle.
That said - yes, in order to advance to the next phase or step, all players have to pass priority, which means if you activate an ability, they can respond to it as well as do something after it resolved - for example by tapping a creature with a spell or ability that allows this.
acbooster says... #1
You have to crew before combat starts. Combat starts with the Declare Attackers Step, and the first thing that happens there is the active player declares specific creatures as attacking and says what or who they're attacking. This happens before anyone gets priority.
If you crew a vehicle after combat starts, your attackers were already declared and you won't have a chance to attack with the vehicle.
October 2, 2016 2:20 p.m.