Hello! I have a question on how priority passes during upkeep.
I have recently built a The Prismatic Bridge deck. Bringer of the Black Dawn is one of the creature I can get on the battlefield with the Prismatic Bridge trigger.
Would I be able to activate Bringer's ability when he enters the battlefield at the beginning of my upkeep? Or has priority passed now that he entered the battlefield and I am no longer "at the beginning of my upkeep"?
Thanks!
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-MadMage
Hello! I have a question on how priority passes during upkeep.
The same way it passes during any step/phase that has priority.
117.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:
117.3a The active player receives priority at the beginning of most steps and phases, after any turn-based actions (such as drawing a card during the draw step; see rule 703) have been dealt with and abilities that trigger at the beginning of that phase or step have been put on the stack. No player receives priority during the untap step. Players usually don’t get priority during the cleanup step (see rule 514.3).
117.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
117.3c If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
117.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, they announce what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.
I have recently built a Prismatic Bridge deck. Bringer of the Black Dawn is one of the creature I can get on the battlefield with the Prismatic Bridge trigger.
Would I be able to activate [sic] Bringer's ability when he enters the battlefield at the beginning of my upkeep? Or has priority passed now that he entered the battlefield and I am no longer "at the beginning of my upkeep"?
Thanks!
This would be the sequence:
Your upkeep begins. This is the only time that "At the beginning of your upkeep" abilities can trigger. That ability of The Prismatic Bridge triggers at this time. The ability of Bringer of the Black Dawn does not, because it is not on the battlefield at this time.
You would get priority, but there is a triggered ability to put on the stack. You put "At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature or planeswalker card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order." on the stack.
You get priority and pass.
Opponent gets priority and passes.
The top object on the stack (the ability put there in step 2) resolves. The card you get that way is Bringer of the Black Dawn, so you put that onto the battlefield and any others on the bottom of your library.
You get priority and ....
Steps 5 and later are not step 1, so "At the beginning of your upkeep" abilities do not trigger at that time. This doesn't have anything to do with the passing of priority; triggered abilities just don't trigger for events in the past.
603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point.
603.2a Because they aren’t cast or activated, triggered abilities can trigger even when it isn’t legal to cast spells and activate abilities. Effects that preclude abilities from being activated don’t affect them.
603.2b When a phase or step begins, all abilities that trigger “at the beginning of” that phase or step trigger.
Note that Bringer of the Black Dawn has no activated ability.
602. Activating Activated Abilities
602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”
602.1a The activation cost is everything before the colon (:). An ability’s activation cost must be paid by the player who is activating it.
Example: The activation cost of an ability that reads “{2}, {T}: You gain 1 life” is two mana of any type plus tapping the permanent that has the ability.
602.1b Some text after the colon of an activated ability states instructions that must be followed while activating that ability. Such text may state which players can activate that ability, may restrict when a player can activate the ability, or may define some aspect of the activation cost. This text is not part of the ability’s effect. It functions at all times. If an activated ability has any activation instructions, they appear last, after the ability’s effect.
602.1c An activated ability is the only kind of ability that can be activated. If an object or rule refers to activating an ability without specifying what kind, it must be referring to an activated ability.
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I have recently built a The Prismatic Bridge deck. Bringer of the Black Dawn is one of the creature I can get on the battlefield with the Prismatic Bridge trigger.
Would I be able to activate Bringer's ability when he enters the battlefield at the beginning of my upkeep? Or has priority passed now that he entered the battlefield and I am no longer "at the beginning of my upkeep"?
Thanks!
Using card tags is mandatory in the Magic Rulings forum. Please check your private messages to learn how to use them. I've added them for this post.
-MadMage
[c]Bringer of the Black Dawn[/c] -> Bringer of the Black Dawn
The same way it passes during any step/phase that has priority.
This would be the sequence:
Note that Bringer of the Black Dawn has no activated ability.