When a player has passed priority on their main phase, can they cast sorcerers again if the opponent casts spells?
Asked by Vediowave 11 years ago
So an example would be: It's my first main phase, I didn't feel like dropping a land or casting anything so I pass priority before moving to the declare attackers bit. My opponent then casts an instant which leaves me wishing I had put a land down and played another creature. Can I drop a land and play a creature before attacking?
harrydemon117 says... #2
The way priority works is APNAP (active player, non-active player). The ONLY time the game moves to the next phase is when both players pass priority and do nothing.
If you (AP) pass priority and your opponent casts Feeling of Dread tapping your two creatures down, it resolves and priority goes back to you. You THEN can cast a creature with haste to be able to attack your opponent that turn if you wish
August 28, 2013 9:14 a.m.
What do u mean before moving to declaring attackers? Have you already declared that you are entering the combat phase? Because seeing from your example, you did not cast any spell during your main phase to cause you to pass priority so i assume the only way to pass priority is with you declaring that you are moving to the combat phase. If this is the case, then you can not drop a land and play a creature YET because you are still in the combat phase. Once you move on to the post combat main phase, then you can drop a land and creature.
August 28, 2013 10:21 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #4
He says "His opponent casts an instant" after he passes priority which means that they are still in the first main phase. Once the stack has resolved, it does NOT proceed to the next phase of the game until both players pass priority without doing anything.
In the above example after the spell resolves (assuming neither player responds to it), then priority goes back to the active player in the same phase (main phase 1). He can play a land and cast spells normally if he/she so chooses
August 28, 2013 11:09 a.m.
RussischerZar says... #5
This is only if his opponent isn't assuming that he casts the spell in the start of combat step, where it's neither main phase nor the attackers have been declared yet.
August 28, 2013 11:16 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #6
If you say "Proceed to declare attackers?" and voice it as a question and your opponent casts a spell, you can assume he did this in the main phase. If he doesn't, he is not allowing you to claim your priority at the beginning of the combat step and thus cast his spell out of turn.
Usually, I declare I cast it "before attackers step" just so my opponent is clear on it.
August 28, 2013 5:24 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #7
I mean, before Combat phase or "at the end of your main phase"
August 28, 2013 5:25 p.m.
how can his opponent have the priority? the opponent just cant say "cast [insert instant] here" during active player's main phase. active player has priority unless he casts a spell or declares that he is entering the combat phase.
AP has priority in main phase->he declares entering combat phase and in doing so, passes priority to Non-Active Player.
this is the only way that the NAP will have priority if the AP did not cast a spell during his main phase.
also one more thing, you just don't skip to "proceed to declare attackers"AP enters COMBAT PHASE -> priority is passed to NAP->priority is passed back to AP-> if no more response then we proceed to DECLARE ATTACKERS (battalion triggers, hellrider triggers) -> priority is passed to NAP -> priority passed back to AP ->if no more responses we proceed to DECLARE BLOCKERS
August 28, 2013 6:57 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #9
You are saying what I already did. He passed his priority in main phase one to his opponent, and then his opponent cast an instant. If no other responses are declared, then the stack resolves. The game doesn't move to the next phase after this however, priority is regained by the AP again in main phase one.
I think you are confused as to how priority works....so was I about a year ago
August 29, 2013 8:09 a.m.
my question is how did he pass the priority to the NAP? i would appreciate it very much if you enlighten me.
August 29, 2013 5:12 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... Accepted answer #11
To pass priority, you either say that specifically or say something like "Proceed to ___ step/phase?". This tells your opponent that you are passing your priority for the rest of this phase to him/her. Then, the NAP is allowed to cast anything that they are currently allowed to in this phase of the game (instants, creatures with flash, etc).
The AP always has priority until he/she passes priority by indicating to the opponent that that is their intent.
To give you an in game example,
Player A (AP) has a Burning-Tree Emissary and a Lightning Mauler on the battlefield
Player A doesn't cast anything in his/her hand and wants to proceed to attack with his/her creatures. Player A passes priority to Player B to make sure that he/she doesn't want to cast any spells before going to the Combat phase.
Player B casts Feeling of Dread when he/she has priority in main phase one to prevent the creatures from being able to attack.
Neither player casts anything further at this point so Feeling of Dread resolves and both creatures become tapped
The stack is now resolved and Player A gets priority again and can cast a creature if he/she wishes such as a Rakdos Shred-Freak to attack during his/her combat step (if that creature is still there to attack with)
Another thing to keep in mind is that even though the AP casts a spell, he/she STILL has priority until he/she passes it to the NAP (so in order to copy a spell with Reverberate , you would have to do so when you still have priority. You cannot wait to see if your opponent is going to do something in response as you have already passed them priority and they can elect NOT to do anything)
Does this help at all?
August 30, 2013 9:39 a.m.
the issue im having with this one is this:
"Player A (AP) has a Burning-Tree Emissary and a Lightning Mauler on the battlefield
Player A doesn't cast anything in his/her hand and wants to proceed to attack with his/her creatures. Player A passes priority to Player B to make sure that he/she doesn't want to cast any spells before going to the Combat phase."
since player A already passed priority cos he wants to proceed to his attacks, and "Player B casts Feeling of Dread when he/she has priority in main phase one to prevent the creatures from being able to attack."
then player A does not cast anything in response to this. so he passed priority to B, B casts feeling of dread, feeling of dread resolves, the stack is empty. Player A no longer gets the priority back because when he declared that he wanted to enter the combat phase, passed the priority to B, when the feeling of dread resolved and the stack is empty, we immediately proceed to the combat phase. which is why player A can no longer cast the rakdos shred freak because technically, as soon as he declared "entering combat phase" once the stack is empty, we move on to combat phase.
this is precisely the reason why people remove creatures upon declaration of combat phase - to avoid triggers of battalion and Hellrider.
i am pretty sure with this one. you can check with other magic players and the judge at the local shop you are playing FNM at.
September 1, 2013 12:59 a.m.
I'm still a little confused. Is Harry right or is Weakmore right? My main confusion is, does priority go back again to the active player after the AP has passed priority and the NAP used an instan cast spell which resolved.
September 2, 2013 7:35 a.m.
i am confused atm as well. because if harry is right, then there's no use holding on to instant speed removals up to the point of swinging.
September 2, 2013 1:37 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #15
Priority is one of THE MOST confusing aspects of Magic, and is why pro players do so well in tournament play.
When the AP passes priority, he is basically saying "I will not cast anything unless you do". If the NAP casts something, it does not mean the phase is over once the stack is finished resolving. The AP is holding his right to do something IF the NAP wants to do something during the main phase. This gives the AP more options on how to proceed should his/her initial plan become thwarted.
Maybe I'm confusing the matter by not using better examples. Let me summon Epochalyptik here to help clarify this
September 3, 2013 4:57 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
Priority is the "right" to cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions. By default, the active player gets priority first in each step or phase except the untap and cleanup steps (where no player gets priority).
In order to resolve an object on the stack, players must pass priority in succession without adding any objects to the stack. The topmost object on the stack then resolves. The process repeats for any remaining objects on the stack such that a round of priority occurs between each resolution.
In order for the game to progress to the next step or phase, all players must pass priority in succession without adding any objects to the stack. If a player adds an object to the stack, then it must resolve or otherwise leave the stack. Because a player added an object to the stack, the game has not yet progressed to the next step or phase. The priority pass has to happen before the transition to the next step or phase (weakmopre, this is where you're getting confused).
Whenever a player casts a spell or activates an ability, that player receives priority after the casting or activation process is complete. Regardless, all players must pass priority, so each player will regain priority at some point.
Because placing an object on the stack "cancels" the game-advancing priority pass (the stack must be emptied and priority must be repassed), you can cast creatures and play lands before attempting to advance to the game once more.
September 3, 2013 8:55 p.m.
@harrydemon117 and Epochalyptik
so please help me out and enumerate the steps sirs, because it is greatly appreciated.
i mean is it like this..
untapupkeepdrawmain 1 (before moving to combat, priority is passed to NAP) (priority is passed back to AP)combat phase (before moving to declaring attackers step, priority is passed to NAP) (priority is passed back to AP) declare attackers step (before moving to declaring blockers, priority is passed to NAP) (priority passed back to AP) declare blocks... etc etc..
is this the correct chronology of the phases and steps?
help is very much appreciated
September 4, 2013 2:03 a.m.
Thanks Harrydemon and Epoch, this really clears things up for me. How you said "Because placing an object on the stack "cancels" the game-advancing priority pass (the stack must be emptied and priority must be repassed), you can cast creatures and play lands before attempting to advance to the game once more." will really stick in my mind. Many thanks for this.
September 4, 2013 6:35 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #19
@weakmopre: Almost correct. Don't forget that in any step or phase where players get priority (that is, any step or phase except the untap and cleanup steps), priority must be passed to advance the game.
September 4, 2013 9:19 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #20
Thanks Epochalyptik for the assist :)
I think this is one of the MOST crucial pieces of the game that players need to grasp in order to enhance their competitive play. Having to call a judge over to tell you that your opponent CAN do something that you thought they couldn't is disheartening when trying to win a match, let alone a tournament.
September 4, 2013 9:34 a.m.
@Epochalyptik and harrydemon117
thanks for the replies and for clearing up my understanding, this will really enhance my gameplay, especially having a deck with battalion triggers!
September 5, 2013 12:47 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #22
No problem weakmopre. That's what I love about this site...a community of people willing to help each other out.
A side note I would like to point out for Battalion is that they only NEED to attack in order for them to trigger. once they attack (3 or more) then Battalion triggers on attacking creatures with Battalion....even if they're removed :) (say to a sac effect like Cartel Aristocrat .
September 5, 2013 4:30 p.m.
Sorry to revive an old thread but I had this question recently and this was one of the top answers I found, but after reading it I was still left with the wrong impression.
The rules above are correct that if the NAP casts an instant pre-combat the AP will afterwards get priority again to do sorcery speed stuff.
BUT the important thing to realize if you're the NAP is that when you want to cast your instant speed tapdown/removal spells you should be careful not to say "before combat".. but instead must say "before attackers" - this is a different phase of the game, between first main phase and declare attackers phase, and will not allow the AP to play a haste creature as in the example above.
KrazyCaley says... #1
Yes. If your opponent uses their priority on your main to do stuff, once their stuff is done, you get priority again.
August 28, 2013 8 a.m.