I have a planeswalker on the field which has a +1 ability " each opponent discards a card and loses two life ". He as only 1 card in hand so my thoughts are that he has to discard first or do something countering preventing the ability from resolving. However if the 1 card is an instant like say a lightning strike , can he play that first ? Leaving him a empty hand, not forced to discard anything and no lifeloss resulting ?
Your opponent can respond to the ability with an instant and have an empty hand when it resolves. However, they will still lose the life. The ability has no targets and thus, since the response can't have caused it to not have a legal target, it will do as much as it can.
Yes, they can respond to the ability by casting whatever they have in their hand before the ability resolves (assuming it is an Instant or has Flash). It doesn't need to actually do anything to the ability so a Lightning Strike is fine. Then, when they go to discard, they simply don't because they have no cards in hand. However, the ability says they discard and lose two life. Not being able to discard in no way prevents them from losing 2 life; the loss of life is not dependent on the discard. If it was, the card would say so in some way. When an ability or spell resolves, it does as much as possible and the opponent is still able to lose 2 life even without discarding.
Loyalty abilities use the stack and can be responded to. If your opponent casts his last card in response, he will have no card to discard so he won't, the impossile instrruction is just ignored. But since the life loss is not dependent on having a card discarded, he will still lose 2 life.
Does this work thesame way with triggered abilities that force discard too ? When I play fell specter and my opponent has only as a final card a lightning strike in hand. He can't prevent the creature from entering the battlefield, forcing him to discard a card. Can he use the lightning strike to strike upon the fell specter, not having any more cards in his hand, thus not able to discard any card ?
The Specter's discard ability is a normal triggered ability. It uses the stack and can be responded to. Your opponent will always get priority before the trigger resolves, so they can cast the Strike before the trigger resolves (and can target the Specter itself, since it's on the battlefield at that point).
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Does this work thesame way with triggered abilities that force discard too ? When I play fell specter and my opponent has only as a final card a lightning strike in hand. He can't prevent the creature from entering the battlefield, forcing him to discard a card. Can he use the lightning strike to strike upon the fell specter, not having any more cards in his hand, thus not able to discard any card ?
Just as with Angrath's first ability, a spell or ability that has a player discard a card when it resolves (like Fell Specter's second ability) doesn't stop players from playing any cards while it's on the stack. As a result, players can cast instant spells in response to that spell or ability as normal (C.R. 116.1a, 116.7). And when that spell or ability resolves, the instruction to discard a card is simply ignored if the player in question has no cards in hand (C.R. 101.3).
Your opponent can respond to the ability with an instant and have an empty hand when it resolves. However, they will still lose the life. The ability has no targets and thus, since the response can't have caused it to not have a legal target, it will do as much as it can.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
Yes, they can respond to the ability by casting whatever they have in their hand before the ability resolves (assuming it is an Instant or has Flash). It doesn't need to actually do anything to the ability so a Lightning Strike is fine. Then, when they go to discard, they simply don't because they have no cards in hand. However, the ability says they discard and lose two life. Not being able to discard in no way prevents them from losing 2 life; the loss of life is not dependent on the discard. If it was, the card would say so in some way. When an ability or spell resolves, it does as much as possible and the opponent is still able to lose 2 life even without discarding.
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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.