Royal Assassin Vs. Prodigal Sorcerer

Asked by jasonPecorelli 11 years ago

If I have a Prodigal Sorcerer in play and my opponent has a Royal Assassin also in play, I tap my Prodigal Sorcerer to deal the Royal Assassin 1 damage to destroy him, can my opponent tap his Royal Assassin after I tap my Prodigal Sorcerer and destroy target tapped creature??

Slycne says... Accepted answer #1

Yes and they both kill each other.

Nearly everything in Magic uses the stack in order to resolve a series of spells or abilities. Magic also uses priority to determine who's turn it is to be adding effects to the stack.

If you activate Prodigal Sorcerer , tapping as the cost, that puts its ability on the stack. In order for the ability to resolve both opponents must pass priority between each other, this gives your opponent the window to respond. So they activate Royal Assassin and place its ability on the stack, which goes above Prodigal Sorcerer .

Once both players pass then the stack can begin resolving, and it goes in order from the top down. It's important to remember in this situation that abilities once on the stack exist independent from their source. So Royal Assassin 's ability resolves first destroying Prodigal Sorcerer and then Prodigal Sorcerer 's ability deals 1 damage to Royal Assassin , which then dies to state-based checks that see it has damage marked equal to its toughness.

January 27, 2014 11:26 p.m.