Tumble Magnet and Attacking Creatures
Asked by Uglulyx 14 years ago
Ok so this has come up a few times. I have a Tumble Magnet out but rather than tapping down creatures after my opponent's untap step I wait to see what else they play first.
Now from what I and most people around here understand is that a tumble magnet cannot be used to tap a creature is response to it attacking thus preventing the attack. But you can tap the creature prior to the combat step.
This understanding leads often to people attacking completely unannounced or really quickly.
Opponent "I play an land, tap n drop a creature, swing for n"
Me "What the hell? Slow down there and give me a chance to tap something down with my magnet here."
Opponent "To late I already attacked."
To me this just seems childish and completely hoses an awesome card, what is the official ruling here?
Technically speaking, your opponent has to pass priority to you at the end of the main phase, and you back to them, before they can enter their combat phase. Same goes for the beginning of combat step, priority passes between all players before the game can advance.
If you need a ruling: 116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.
A phase or a step won't end until all players have passed priority. You always have a chance to activate abilities and cast appropriately-timed spells when you plan to. As I have said elsewhere, Magic is a game of strategy, not speedy hands.
May 31, 2011 9:19 a.m.
If they just say "I play an land, tap n drop a creature, swing for n" then they've basically hosed themselves, as it's their fault for not giving you a chance to respond - you can then say "no, I'm going to tap this guy before you attack" with impunity.
Them doing that just means you get to see what they were planning on attacking with (if anything at all) so you can use your Magnet perfectly =P
Basically they should play their land and spells or do whatever they want to do in their first main phase, then say "entering attack step..?" and allow you to do anything before they attack. Importantly, once they've said they're entering attack phase, they can't cast any more non-instant spells until after attacks are over. [:
May 31, 2011 9:46 a.m.
your opponent in this case is not only being childish. He/She is actually bypassing rules. There are very detailed rules on priority change. After each of those actions that your opponent is making. There is a switch in priority and yes you have a chance to take action.
That is the whole point behind EOT terminology. If you opponent says, 'no you can't its already your turn' I would scoop and write down the url of the official rulebook and tell them to learn the rules and stop cheating.
Bertie says... #1
Yea, our group used to tap attacking cratures to prevent attacking, untill we found out we couldn't do it. Now we usually say that we intend to declare an attack if someone has a permanant that we can see might tap a guy. If someone forgets to say this we either tell them to slow down (which they normally do) but if they dont you just say "Well before you declare attackers,during the begining of combat step, i'll tap your guy"
If they dont accept that then you dont want to be playing with them as you get to play during the begigining of combat step, so they cant skip it
May 31, 2011 7:30 a.m.