So at a Guilds of Rav draft my opponent bounced my creature in response to going into combat to prevent the Mentor trigger. Not that it would have made a difference in the game, but he specifically said it was in response to me passing priority to enter combat, which means I was still in my first main. I was wondering why he did rather than in combat before attackers are declared. He tried explaining it to me and it sounded like that wasn't an option. Could he have bounced the creature after entering combat but before attackers were declared?
What is the right way to word that now? In tournaments, I usually say 'Combat?', and the opponent says 'sure'. Then I would say 'swing with these two' and I would assume he could say, 'before you declare them, I bounce that one'. So do I need to break it down like this: Say 'Combat?' meaning 'Passing priority to move into the combat phase'. Then he would say 'sure'. Should I then say 'declare attackers?' meaning 'Passing priority to move to the declare attacker phase' and then wait for his response to actually declare attackers.
So at a Guilds of Rav draft my opponent bounced my creature in response to going into combat to prevent the Mentor trigger. Not that it would have made a difference in the game, but he specifically said it was in response to me passing priority to enter combat, which means I was still in my first main. I was wondering why he did rather than in combat before attackers are declared. He tried explaining it to me and it sounded like that wasn't an option. Could he have bounced the creature after entering combat but before attackers were declared?
Absolutely.
506. Combat Phase
506.1. The combat phase has five steps, which proceed in order: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat. The declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped if no creatures are declared as attackers or put onto the battlefield attacking (see rule 508.8). There are two combat damage steps if any attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4).
507. Beginning of Combat Step
507.1. First, if the game being played is a multiplayer game in which the active player’s opponents don’t all automatically become defending players, the active player chooses one of their opponents. That player becomes the defending player. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. (See rule 506.2.)
507.2. Second, the active player gets priority. (See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.”)
What is the right way to word that now? In tournaments, I usually say 'Combat?', and the opponent says 'sure'. Then I would say 'swing with these two' and I would assume he could say, 'before you declare them, I bounce that one'.
The standard tournament shortcut for that is that you pass priority on an empty stack in your pre-combat main phase and then he describes what he is doing in the beginning of combat step (which can include bouncing a creature with mentor before it can trigger).
Certain conventional tournament shortcuts used in Magic are detailed below. They define a default communication; if a player wishes to deviate from these, they should be explicit about doing so. Note that some of these are exceptions to the policy above in that they do cause non-explicit priority passes.
• If the active player passes priority with an empty stack during their first main phase, the non-active player is assumed to be acting in beginning of combat unless they are affecting whether a beginning of combat ability triggers. Then, after those actions resolve or no actions took place, the active player receives priority at the beginning of combat. Beginning of combat triggered abilities (even ones that target) may be announced at this time.
Of course, he can explicitly state that he is acting before the main phase ends. Or you can explicitly state that you will do something when you get priority in the beginning of combat step.
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What is the right way to word that now? In tournaments, I usually say 'Combat?', and the opponent says 'sure'. Then I would say 'swing with these two' and I would assume he could say, 'before you declare them, I bounce that one'. So do I need to break it down like this: Say 'Combat?' meaning 'Passing priority to move into the combat phase'. Then he would say 'sure'. Should I then say 'declare attackers?' meaning 'Passing priority to move to the declare attacker phase' and then wait for his response to actually declare attackers.
Please help.
Absolutely.
The standard tournament shortcut for that is that you pass priority on an empty stack in your pre-combat main phase and then he describes what he is doing in the beginning of combat step (which can include bouncing a creature with mentor before it can trigger).
Of course, he can explicitly state that he is acting before the main phase ends. Or you can explicitly state that you will do something when you get priority in the beginning of combat step.