I played a game against one of my friends, who used Krenko, Mob Boss and in response, I used Send to Sleep. He then tapped Krenko, Mob Boss in response to it and argued that it went to the top of the stack, therefore activating Krenko, Mob Boss's ability. Can he do this?
Well no, but it doesn't matter. Tapping Krenko is part of the cost to activate his ability. So when he activates it the first time it will be tapped before any player can respond. So when you cast send to sleep, the Krenko would already be tapped (if you have spell mastery it will stay tapped during the next untap step though). So no they can't activate it a second time because they can't pay the cost, but the first time it's activated will cause it to resolve and send to sleep will not interfere with that.
Yes, that is exactly how the stack works. When one player performs an action other players are able to perform actions that will happen before the first player's action. Every play gets this opportunity for almost every action in the game, obvious exceptions are declaring attackers in declare attackers, drawing a card in draw step, and untapping in untap step. Though for each of those other than untap you can act before the step.
However, your words are ambiguous and that's always dangerous in a complicated game like magic. You say you used Send to sleep "in response" to your friend "used" Krenko, then you say he "tapped" it to activate its ability. If your opponent activated Krenko, Declared the activation of his ability, then that taps him and he can't be tapped again later for the same ability. However, Send to Sleep also has no real effect being used in response to Krenko's activation because you can't tap it to stop it from tapping to activate. Costs, the part before the ":" in abilities is paid up front and is non-runfundable and non-stoppable.
But wouldn't Send to Sleep be on top of the stack, so it would resolve before Krenko?
It absolutely would resolve first, but that won't stop Krenko's ability from resolving. Again you can't respond to costs, and tapping Krenko is a cost to activate the ability. For activated abilities everything on the left side of the colon is a cost, everything on the right side is the effect (ability). You can respond to the ability, but not the cost.
But wouldn't Send to Sleep be on top of the stack, so it would resolve before Krenko?
Do you mean resolve before Krenko as a spell or before Krenko's ability.
In the second case, yes it will resolve first but not do anything, as I said costs are paid up from so Krenko was already tapped by paying the cost to activate his ability so tapping won't undo the activation. With spellmastery Krenko won't untap, which is why I said not do much rather than do nothing.
In the first case. That isn't how Send to Sleep works. You can't tap a creature that doesn't exist. "Creatures" only exist on the battlefield, everywhere else they are "Creature Cards". Look at a card like Bond of Revival, because it is looking for a creature in a graveyard it isn't looking for a "Creature" but a "Creature Card".
Oh, ok, I see. So if this situation were to be in reverse, say I Send to Sleep and he were to tap Krenko for its ability in response to my spell, would he get the tokens?
Oh, ok, I see. So if this situation were to be in reverse, say I Send to Sleep and he were to tap Krenko for its ability in response to my spell, would he get the tokens?
He gets the tokens in both situations. What can't happen is activating Krenko twice, because you pay for it immediately when you do.
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Oh, ok, I see. So if this situation were to be in reverse, say I Send to Sleep and he were to tap Krenko for its ability in response to my spell, would he get the tokens?
You mean something like this?
Your ending phase begins. Your end step begins.
You get priority and cast Send to Sleep. You didn't say anything about a second target, so I'll assume Krenko, Mob Boss is the only target. You pay the cost by spending 1U obtained in an unspecified way.
You get priority and pass.
Opponent gets priority and activates the "T: Create X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, where X is the number of Goblins you control." ability of Krenko, Mob Boss. He pays the cost by tapping it.
Opponent gets priority and passes.
You get priority and pass.
The top object on the stack (the ability activated in step 4) resolves. You didn't say how many Goblins your opponent controls (including Krenko), but that's how many 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens he creates.
You get priority and pass.
Opponent gets priority and passes.
The top object on the stack (the spell cast in step 2) resolves. The "tap" part does nothing, because the target is already tapped. But if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, Krenko won't untap during its controller's next untap step. Send to Sleep goes to your graveyard.
You get priority and ....
Is there some reason to think he wouldn't get the tokens at step 7?
Ok, now I see. So stacks are only for spell casting, right?
Spells and abilities will all go on the stack, but tapping is part of the cost of activating Krenko's ability. Paying the cost of something is part of putting it on the stack, so by the time you can respond to the ability he will be tapped.
Ok, now I see. So stacks are only for spell casting, right?
Spells go on the stack. Most activated abilities go on the stack. Most triggered abilities go on the stack. The detailed steps of casting a spell or activating an ability do not go on the stack as separate objects. Neither do the steps of resolving a spell or ability.
One other note. You said "stacks". There is only one stack per game. It's empty sometimes (such as at the end of every step and phase), but a second stack would require a second game.
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However, your words are ambiguous and that's always dangerous in a complicated game like magic. You say you used Send to sleep "in response" to your friend "used" Krenko, then you say he "tapped" it to activate its ability. If your opponent activated Krenko, Declared the activation of his ability, then that taps him and he can't be tapped again later for the same ability. However, Send to Sleep also has no real effect being used in response to Krenko's activation because you can't tap it to stop it from tapping to activate. Costs, the part before the ":" in abilities is paid up front and is non-runfundable and non-stoppable.
It absolutely would resolve first, but that won't stop Krenko's ability from resolving. Again you can't respond to costs, and tapping Krenko is a cost to activate the ability. For activated abilities everything on the left side of the colon is a cost, everything on the right side is the effect (ability). You can respond to the ability, but not the cost.
In the second case, yes it will resolve first but not do anything, as I said costs are paid up from so Krenko was already tapped by paying the cost to activate his ability so tapping won't undo the activation. With spellmastery Krenko won't untap, which is why I said not do much rather than do nothing.
In the first case. That isn't how Send to Sleep works. You can't tap a creature that doesn't exist. "Creatures" only exist on the battlefield, everywhere else they are "Creature Cards". Look at a card like Bond of Revival, because it is looking for a creature in a graveyard it isn't looking for a "Creature" but a "Creature Card".
He gets the tokens in both situations. What can't happen is activating Krenko twice, because you pay for it immediately when you do.
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You mean something like this?
Spells and abilities will all go on the stack, but tapping is part of the cost of activating Krenko's ability. Paying the cost of something is part of putting it on the stack, so by the time you can respond to the ability he will be tapped.
One other note. You said "stacks". There is only one stack per game. It's empty sometimes (such as at the end of every step and phase), but a second stack would require a second game.