How to Play Magic: The Gathering | Priority and The Stack

[@armoured7201]

ulalek brought me here

[@kellhiggins9251]

Same

[@Jerrybaggins]

@@kellhiggins9251 same

[@limitlessLtd]

ULALEK ULALEK ULALEK

[@erock2331]

Lol me too. Found a precon at walmart.

[@yubel2713]

we share the same pain woohoo

[@Sbuswell]

Thanks for the tutorial, super helpful. A video about sagas, and saga manipulation would be so helpful!

[@FedericoLancerin]

One of the things I discovered recently and that is mentioned in far too few of these videos is that you don't have to pass priority immediately after casting a spell. You can in fact retain priority and keep adding instants/flash spells on the stack, in response to your first one, to craft your preferred order of resolution of the effects. Of course once you're done you have to pass priority to let spells resolve, and one by one your opponent can respond to, before it resolves. Still, I don't often hear this possibility mentioned!

[@terry6152]

Great job man. Simple and easy to understand

[@JesseRachael]

Great tutorial for new players! 🎉

[@LucaDV92]

After a new spell or ability enters the stack, in a multiplayer game who gets the next priority? The active player?

[@fabryce5271]

Still the actual Active Player, and then in clockwise order :)

[@kirika119]

Great tutorial

[@robtron3]

Blue spells are engineered to ruin my game - got it

[@ShaggyKing]

5:30 I don’t understand how the Planes walkers effect still goes off if it isn’t on the field. Also why can I respond to the ability and not him casting the spell? Could the player cast another instant speed spell or effect after activating the Plane walkers ability?

[@christianmacintyre5453]

Removing the source of an ability does not remove the ability from the stack You can respond to your opponent casting the spell, but the spell is only on the stack and not on the battlefield, until it resolves. Since it is not on the battlefield, you cannot target it with removal, but you can counter it. Last question is part of what brought me here

[@LurkerPlus]

So long as a player is holding onto priority, they can make the stack go a mile high before passing priority to an opponent. Which means they could go {Planeswalker Ability}, {Instant Spell 1}, {Activated Ability 1}, {Instant Spell 2}, before you get to put your own stuff on top of the stack. Those spells / abilities won't resolve until we get down to that point in the stack, so if you've added to the stack your stuff would go before those - but adding stuff to the stack also means you pass priority back to them, so they can add more to the stack. (You see it a bunch when people have a lot of counterspell-like cards in their hands.) If you cast {Damaging Spell} to kill the creature with the Activated Ability, then the stack would resolve in order: DS first, then IS2, then AA1, then IS1, then PA. I try to think of creature (and Planeswalker) abilities like an abstract version of throwing a grenade - we could shoot the grenade-thrower, but the grenade is already in the air and will still detonate. So a creature like 'Mogg Fanatic', for example, will (almost) always be able to deal 1 damage to a player, because it's own self-sacrifice ability can be used to respond to any effect which would destroy it.

[@esoteric1070]

This video was really helpful but one thing that still confuses me is that players can respond to a spell on the stack when priority is passed but in this case Garruk still resolved before priority was passed? Do planeswalkers being cast not go on the stack or were you able to hold priority while it was being cast? Everything else makes perfect sense it's just the planeswalker example that confused me

[@kal54321]

You cast a planeswalker and it goes on the stack, priority then passes to your opponent. If they don't have a counterspell, or a way to deal with it on the stack, then priority passes back to you and the planeswalker resolves. You still have priority and can activate the planeswalker before anyone can cast a removal spell (like Feed the Serpent). When you activate the ability of the planeswalker, it goes on the stack, and you now pass priority to your opponent. At this point your opponent can play a removal spell and destroy/exile the planeswalker.

[@clickbait0190]

He phrased that oddly. What he meant was that the exile effect can't target Garruk on the stack, because in order to exile (or destroy, -X, damage etc.) a permanent it has to already exist. The Garruk on the stack however is the spell to cast him, not the permanent itself. That means that Garruk resolves and its player has priority. At *this* point the player with FTS "doesn't have priority to cast his spell yet".

[@helfiswelf]

So why does the Garruk ability resolve if it was exiled last/first is the question?

[@clickbait0190]

@@helfiswelfBecause when Garruk resolves, his player still has priority. Only after Garruks ability was used, his opponent gets priority to react, but that is too late to counter Garruks ability. So his ability never gets exiled, only Garruk himself.

[@MortonFMurphy]

This bothered me too and it is because they cannot respond to Garruk being cast (when he says they have no responses he means counterspells or the like). The spell you DO want to use can only target Garruk when he is on the field. Because you cannot respond to him being cast, your next chance to respond is when he activates the ability, because that is the next time priority is passed to you for responses.

[@marcossarah8636]

Ok I watched it David

[@Jotskyonline]

with the new outlaw of thunder set out I would like to know where rooftop assassin stand on the stack (for the cards ability). it has : flash, flying and lifelink : when rooftop assassin ETB destroy target creature your opponent controls that was delt damage this turn. Question: can I play rooftop assassin after my opponents post combat / before end phase to trigger the destor a damaged target ?

[@chaosflash7]

yeah you should be able to

[@oponomo]

"the stack is this imaginary place" wrong. if i cast a spell it goes from hand to the stack, an actual different slot for my card. If an opponent respond with an instant that makes me discard(or exile) my entire hand, the card is not affected because it isn't in my hand anymore, but in the zone called Stack. Same goes for trying to cast something from Graveyard being responded with exile of the entire graveyard.

[@hommedesbois9080]

Yeah, do you guys physcalky put cards on the stack for every counter spell? No....

[@oponomo]

@hommedesbois9080 yes, you have to put the counter spell on the table revealed for everyone. You won't be holding it in hand while waiting for responses. Putting on graveyard is just a fast convenience.

[@judemiller]

In the Planeswalker example, I'm confused why it can activate it's ability in the same turn. Did we move from Main Phase 1 to Combat Phase between Garruk's placement on the battlefield getting resolved, and his ability activating?

[@rxmy6690]

planeswalkers don't have summoning sickness. They can use their abilities as soon as they're played

[@judemiller]

@@rxmy6690 thanks!

[@judemiller]

@@rxmy6690 But to clarify, when I play a planeswalker, I do have to let priority pass to everyone else before the stack begins resolving, at the end of which my planeswalker actually enters the battlefield? And only when I have priority again after that can I activate its loyalty ability?

[@rxmy6690]

@@judemiller It's weird but when you play a planeswalker I believe you keep priority and can immediately activate it's abilities before anyone can respond.

[@LurkerPlus]

​@@judemiller - As it's your turn, you get priority again when the stack finishes resolving; which means you get the first chance to try and do stuff, including activating the Planeswalker ability after it successfully comes into play.

[@DuraheLL]

Can you add to a stack that is half resolved? Let's say I have 3 effects on the stack, and after one of them resolve, you say "hold on I want to add to the stack" Or is the stack only layering and layering until everyone is done adding to it, then it just resolve and nobody can do anything about it, triggering any effects until it's depleted? Question 2: You can play a land anytime on your main turns right? Even in the middle of the stack resolving? Example, someone try and counter one of my spells by making me pay 2, I only have one, but I play a land as a reaction to the player playing the counter, so now I have 2 to pay (he didn't see that coming)

[@fabryce5271]

You can "add" something in the stack anytime you get priority to play it, which globally means anytime between any element resolved from the stack :) Lands can only be played anytime you could play a sorcery spell if it could help you remember it like this ;)

[@yubeluchiha]

This video needs a update for infinite loop stacking

[@lloydmoxon6479]

Question, do i get priority twice? e.g. i know can hold priority when i first cast a spell, simply playing two instants at once. Then if my opponent does nothing, can i add to the stack again before the first spell resolves? I cant remember the exact scenario this occured, but of top of my head an example might be wanting to double a spells damage, but waiting to see if someone counters the original. I would assume not, but looks like a mana saving trick. and side question, in 3+ people games, if player1 spell goes on the stack and player3 responds. Does priority for player3 spell start again from player3 or player1?

[@tylercherry7424]

1) since you passed priority, and your opponent passed as well, you would not receive priority back until the spell resolved. You would not be able to 2) Player 1 casts the spell passing priority, player 2 passes, and player 3 casts a counter. Player 3 can now hold priority or pass. Once player 3 passes, player 1 and player 2 will both have a chance to respond to the counter. If neither does, then the counter will resolve and priority will be passed back to player 1. This can get complicated however. Lets say player 3 casts the counter and triggers player 1's rhystic study not paying the one and all players pass. Rhystic study's trigger will resolve first and player 1 will receive priority again, meaning if they drew their own counter off of rhystic, they can now counter player 3's counter. Whenever a spell or ability resolves, priority will go back to the active player and there will be another round of priority.

[@TheHappiestHusky]

My head hurts now

[@oceano844]

you say, after casting the planeswalker spell, you have priority. But why? i should be able to react to you casting the planeswalker, no?

[@matthewkarella33]

I personally think this is a very dumb rule

[@qoqqet]

How does a 2 damage spell kill a 5/5 walking corpse?

[@theslyredfox7919]

The +3/+3 card didn't resolve yet because it was responded to. Top to bottom. The top card resolves, doing 2 dmg, killing the creature. Now the bottom card resolves...but there is no creature. The buff card is sent to the graveyard, wasted.