While playing against infect it's common to see some guys trying to cast 3 or 4 spells at the same time. Is it a legal action? If yes, may I respond to all of them at once?
For example... active player announces Glistener Elf as attacker, I (the opponent) announce Bear Cub as blocker. Once the active players gets priority after I declared blocker, he taps 3 forests and says "I cast Mutagenic Growth and Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation" trying to pump his elf. This is really common and looks wrong to me... Didn't he have to play one at a time? Play the first one, pass the priority, play the second, pass the priority, etc...
If this is an illegal action, do I (the opponent) get some advantage or the actions are simply reversed and the payments canceled? If it's not illegal, may I play just one card to respond all the spells at once?
This is allowed. Once a player casts a spell normally priority passes and the opponent gets a chance to act. However a player can retain priority if they wish and cast a another spell if they wish. That being said the spells do not resolve until the opponent has passed priority so there is generally no reason for a player to do so as this just lets the opponent know all of their cards without a tactical advantage.
It is totally legal to play multiple spells without passing priority.
116.3c. If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
However, your opponent is considered to have passed priority in what you described. MTR4.2 states
Whenever a player adds an object to the stack, they are assumed to be passing priority unless they explicitly announce that they intend to retain it.
I'm not sure what "may I play just one card to respond all the spells at once?" means, but if your opponent does cast them without passing priority, and you cast something after that, it is put on the top of the stack, and it resolves before all other spells.
It is perfectly legal for players to retain priority after casting a spell or activating an ability (this is how Twincast and company function, after all) in order to cast something else with the first spell on the stack, as priority has to be passed to change. This should only occur if the player specifically states that priority is being held, as casting instants in succession without retaining priority is typically a proposition for a shortcut for letting each resolve in turn before casting the next. That shortcut operates under the assumption that your opponent is taking a course of action that doesn't open up to a 4-for-1, which is what holding priority and casting the lot would do.
The stack resolves one spell or ability at a time, not all at once. After each spell or ability resolves, everyone gets priority again before the next spell or ability resolves. Each spell will resolve one at a time, not all at the same time.
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Sorry, guys, but I’m still confused here. I searched and searched but found no rules that say it’s possible to retain priority.
I quoted the rule. (See above.) If you cast a spell or activate an ability, you get the priority immediately afterwards, before anyone else does. "Retain priority" is a common phrase used to mean not passing this priority right away. Usually you're assumed to pass (also see above), because there is seldom a strategic advantage to not pass.
Sorry, guys, but I’m still confused here. I searched and searched but found no rules that say it’s possible to retain priority.
if I assume it’s possible to cast many spells while holding priority... they all resolve at once or they will resolve one after another?
Sorry, but the legality of this isn’t clear for me at all :\
To help clarify, here is a detailed explanation below. The tl;dr version is that yes, your opponent is doing something legal, and yes, you can respond and disrupt the shortcut being used here, at which point the game would rewind to the point at which you want to interrupt.
There is a shortcut that is being employed here, specifically, that if a player casts multiple spells in a row, it is assumed that the player casts a spell and it fully resolves with no responses from any other player before the next spell is cast. This shortcut is perfectly legal, but can be disrupted if other players do in fact have some response.
Therefore, in this specific example, as per Comp Rule 116.3c ["If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward."], when your opponent casts Mutagenic Growth, once the spell goes on the stack, s/he received priority again. The shortcut described above presumes that your opponent is passing priority, that you are passing priority, and that the spell resolves, after which your opponent casts Giant Growth... the same happens again, and your opponent casts Unnatural Predation.
To NOT use this shortcut, your opponent would specifically have to say "I am holding priority between each spell." What this effectively means is that when Mutagenic Growth goes on the stack, when your opponent receives priority, instead of passing priority to you, s/he is casting another spell, that is, Giant Growth. And then again, once Giant Growth goes on the stack and s/he receives priority, instead of passing priority to you, s/he is casting another spell, that is, Unnatural Predation. This leads to the stack looking like this: [TOP OF STACK] Unnatural Predation, Giant Growth, Mutagenic Growth [BOTTOM OF STACK]. This leads to all three spells being on the stack, as opposed to each spell going on the stack and resolving individually.
It is fairly uncommon for players to take this approach, as if you had a removal spell (e.g. Lightning Bolt), you could respond to all three spells, kill the creature, and your opponent loses all three spells PLUS their creature. This is why the shortcut exists and is presumed to be the normal state of gameplay unless your opponent specifically says otherwise.
A good example of an opponent who might not use this shortcut is a Storm player. Sometimes, Storm players will Remand their own spell to increase their Storm count. To do this, they have to specify that they are retaining priority, as otherwise, their spell will resolve as part of the shortcut and they don't get to Remand it!
Going back to the shortcut scenario, if your opponent casts all three spells in rapid succession without specifying that they are retaining priority, you can absolutely interrupt the shortcut. That would look like this:
The game will rewind to before your opponent cast Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation. Both cards will go back into your opponent's hand and their mana sources will unwind as well (i.e. untap their forests, but would also untap a mana creature like Noble Hierarch).
You will get to cast your spell, in this case, Sudden Shock and it will go on the stack and resolve assuming no responses (which would be highly unlikely for a split second spell...).
The end state, assuming you kill their creature, is that your opponent does not have a Glistener Elf, you still have your creature, Mutagenic Growth is countered due to not having a legal target, and your opponent still has Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation in hand.
Sorry, guys, but I’m still confused here. I searched and searched but found no rules that say it’s possible to retain priority.
if I assume it’s possible to cast many spells while holding priority... they all resolve at once or they will resolve one after another?
Sorry, but the legality of this isn’t clear for me at all :\
To help clarify, here is a detailed explanation below. The tl;dr version is that yes, your opponent is doing something legal, and yes, you can respond and disrupt the shortcut being used here, at which point the game would rewind to the point at which you want to interrupt.
There is a shortcut that is being employed here, specifically, that if a player casts multiple spells in a row, it is assumed that the player casts a spell and it fully resolves with no responses from any other player before the next spell is cast. This shortcut is perfectly legal, but can be disrupted if other players do in fact have some response.
Therefore, in this specific example, as per Comp Rule 116.3c ["If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward."], when your opponent casts Mutagenic Growth, once the spell goes on the stack, s/he received priority again. The shortcut described above presumes that your opponent is passing priority, that you are passing priority, and that the spell resolves, after which your opponent casts Giant Growth... the same happens again, and your opponent casts Unnatural Predation.
To NOT use this shortcut, your opponent would specifically have to say "I am holding priority between each spell." What this effectively means is that when Mutagenic Growth goes on the stack, when your opponent receives priority, instead of passing priority to you, s/he is casting another spell, that is, Giant Growth. And then again, once Giant Growth goes on the stack and s/he receives priority, instead of passing priority to you, s/he is casting another spell, that is, Unnatural Predation. This leads to the stack looking like this: [TOP OF STACK] Unnatural Predation, Giant Growth, Mutagenic Growth [BOTTOM OF STACK]. This leads to all three spells being on the stack, as opposed to each spell going on the stack and resolving individually.
It is fairly uncommon for players to take this approach, as if you had a removal spell (e.g. Lightning Bolt), you could respond to all three spells, kill the creature, and your opponent loses all three spells PLUS their creature. This is why the shortcut exists and is presumed to be the normal state of gameplay unless your opponent specifically says otherwise.
A good example of an opponent who might not use this shortcut is a Storm player. Sometimes, Storm players will Remand their own spell to increase their Storm count. To do this, they have to specify that they are retaining priority, as otherwise, their spell will resolve as part of the shortcut and they don't get to Remand it!
Going back to the shortcut scenario, if your opponent casts all three spells in rapid succession without specifying that they are retaining priority, you can absolutely interrupt the shortcut. That would look like this:
The game will rewind to before your opponent cast Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation. Both cards will go back into your opponent's hand and their mana sources will unwind as well (i.e. untap their forests, but would also untap a mana creature like Noble Hierarch).
You will get to cast your spell, in this case, Sudden Shock and it will go on the stack and resolve assuming no responses (which would be highly unlikely for a split second spell...).
The end state, assuming you kill their creature, is that your opponent does not have a Glistener Elf, you still have your creature, Mutagenic Growth is countered due to not having a legal target, and your opponent still has Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation in hand.
I hope this explanation makes sense and helps clarify.
Holy mother... this is what I call a lesson about Magic: The Gathering. Thanks a lot for your patience and effort, my friend! Now I completely understand the difference between the shortcut and the retaining priority thing.
Thanks to all the other great answers above too! This forum is really, really great. Everyday a new lesson
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| UBRG D. Shadow | WUBRG Humans | BRG Dredge | UG Infect |
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While playing against infect it's common to see some guys trying to cast 3 or 4 spells at the same time. Is it a legal action? If yes, may I respond to all of them at once?
For example... active player announces Glistener Elf as attacker, I (the opponent) announce Bear Cub as blocker. Once the active players gets priority after I declared blocker, he taps 3 forests and says "I cast Mutagenic Growth and Giant Growth and Unnatural Predation" trying to pump his elf. This is really common and looks wrong to me... Didn't he have to play one at a time? Play the first one, pass the priority, play the second, pass the priority, etc...
If this is an illegal action, do I (the opponent) get some advantage or the actions are simply reversed and the payments canceled? If it's not illegal, may I play just one card to respond all the spells at once?
Thanks for the help!
| UBRG D. Shadow | WUBRG Humans | BRG Dredge | UG Infect |
However, your opponent is considered to have passed priority in what you described. MTR4.2 states
I'm not sure what "may I play just one card to respond all the spells at once?" means, but if your opponent does cast them without passing priority, and you cast something after that, it is put on the top of the stack, and it resolves before all other spells.
if I assume it’s possible to cast many spells while holding priority... they all resolve at once or they will resolve one after another?
Sorry, but the legality of this isn’t clear for me at all :\
| UBRG D. Shadow | WUBRG Humans | BRG Dredge | UG Infect |
Scientists have calculated that the chance of anything so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.
To help clarify, here is a detailed explanation below. The tl;dr version is that yes, your opponent is doing something legal, and yes, you can respond and disrupt the shortcut being used here, at which point the game would rewind to the point at which you want to interrupt.
Holy mother... this is what I call a lesson about Magic: The Gathering. Thanks a lot for your patience and effort, my friend! Now I completely understand the difference between the shortcut and the retaining priority thing.
Thanks to all the other great answers above too! This forum is really, really great. Everyday a new lesson
| UBRG D. Shadow | WUBRG Humans | BRG Dredge | UG Infect |