MTG Salvation

Hey Y'all! I'm planning on building an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite commander deck based around the interaction of my general, Kormus Bell, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. From my understanding, if I have Elesh Norn on the battlefield and I cast Kormus Bell and no one responds to the casting by tapping their mana, I can then play Urborg as a special action if I haven't used my land drop and since playing a land doesn't use the stack, and I still have priority, my opponents can't respond by tapping their lands as they die to the state based action of having 0 toughness or less the next time I cast a card, activate an ability, or pass priority.

605.3a A player may activate an activated mana ability whenever he or she has priority, whenever he or she is casting a spell or activating an ability that requires a mana payment, or whenever a rule or effect asks for a mana payment, even if it’s in the middle of casting or resolving a spell or activating or resolving an ability.

Is my understanding of this correct? If so, this seems like a cool rules lawyer way to get the drop on my opponents if they don't know the interaction and were holding up a naturalize effect for my Kormus bell.

Well, the lands die as a state based action before you even get priority back after playing Urborg, but yes, once you play Urborg, it is too late for your opponents to tap their lands for mana. Remember, state based actions are checked every time right before a player would receive priority. And once you initiate an action with priotity, you no longer have it, you get it back after your action is done.

Gotcha. I guess I was thinking since playing a land didn't use the stack it didn't use priority. Insignificant difference but good to know. Sweet! I can't wait to get people with this!

Rule 305.1: A player who has priority may play a land card from his or her hand during a main phase of his or her turn when the stack is empty. Playing a land is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 115). Rather, the player simply puts the land onto the battlefield. Since the land doesn’t go on the stack, it is never a spell, and players can’t respond to it with instants or activated abilities.