MTG Salvation

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this---I've been very busy lately. To be honest, this one is a little more complicated than I'm able to get into right now. I recommend asking on the rulings forum here:

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings

Additionally, when you ask your question in the rulings forum, I would also mention the specific cards involved beyond Primal Surge (even if they're just example cards), because it is difficult to answer rules questions in the abstract. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Normally, players get priority during the Upkeep Step and the Draw Step, but not the Untap Step. Specifically, the Comprehensive Rules explain:

502. Untap Step

502.1. First, all phased-in permanents with phasing that the active player controls phase out, and all phased-out permanents that the active player controlled when they phased out phase in. This all happens simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. See rule 702.25, “Phasing.”

502.2. Second, the active player determines which permanents he or she controls will untap. Then he or she untaps them all simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. Normally, all of a player’s permanents untap, but effects can keep one or more of a player’s permanents from untapping.

502.3. No player receives priority during the untap step, so no spells can be cast or resolve and no abilities can be activated or resolve. Any ability that triggers during this step will be held until the next time a player would receive priority, which is usually during the upkeep step. (See rule 503, “Upkeep Step.”)

503. Upkeep Step

503.1. First, any abilities that trigger at the beginning of the upkeep step and any abilities that triggered during the turn’s untap step go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)

503.2. Second, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

503.3. If a spell states that it may be cast only “after [a player’s] upkeep step,” and the turn has multiple upkeep steps, that spell may be cast any time after the first upkeep step ends.

504. Draw Step

504.1. First, the active player draws a card. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

504.2. Second, any abilities that trigger at the beginning of the draw step and any other abilities that have triggered go on the stack.

504.3. Third, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

Stalking Vengeance will trigger from Draco leaving play because sacrificing a creature counts as "dying". Draco will be 11/9 and therefore will deal 11 damage when it dies.

A more complicated subtle issue is why Draco benefits from Inner-Flame Acolyte's ability. The short answer is that Cauldron Dance resolves all at once before any triggered abilities go on the stack or targets are chosen (like Inner-Flame Acolyte's comes-onto-the-battlefield ability). Hence, Draco will be on the battlefield in time to be chosen as a target for Inner-Flame Acolyte's triggered ability.

(Also, note that this article was written before the term "die" was added to the comprehensive rules; the caption for the first image in the article is now out of date!)

You're right. This mistake has apparently been in here for many years. I'll get it corrected. Thanks for your help!

You first example is right. Cavern of Souls doesn't use the stack (and its "as this comes into play ability" doesn't use the stack either---see my article called Triggered Abilities for why that is). So, after you play Cavern of Souls, you can tap it and get the mana long before your opponent gets any chance to use his Strip Mine.

Your second example, however, is incorrect. There are two issues here. First, abilities exist independent of their sources. So, for example, if your opponent used Dust Bowl (sacrificing something other than Dust Bowl) to try to destroy your Cavern of Souls, your Cavern of Souls wouldn't be saved if you use your Strip Mine to destroy his Dust Bowl in response. Yes, your opponent's Dust Bowl would be destroyed, but your Cavern of Souls still gets destroyed by Dust Bowl.

Second, you can't destroy his Strip Mine in response to his using its destroy ability---part of the cost of using Strip Mine's destroy ability is sacrificing Strip Mine. So, even if you tried to destroy his Strip Mine with your own in response, you couldn't do that. By the time he's activated the ability, he's already paid the costs (sacrificing Strip Mine and tapping it), so there's nothing to target.

Your 1/1 will die if events happen the way you describe them. However, as I explain below, there is a way to save him if you play differently. We'll look at the way you describe the sequence of events first.

Let's assume you control Mons's Goblin Raiders. You play Gather Courage targeting the Raiders. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

Gather Courage doesn't resolve immediately. Instead, both players have to pass priority in a row for it to resolve. As the article explains, when a player plays a spell, he keeps priority. So, rather than passing priority, you announce that you're playing another Gather Courage, again targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders. The stack now looks like this:

Top of Stack
Gather Courage #2 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

Now you pass priority. Your opponent, however, wants to kill your Raiders. Rather than passing priority, he responds by playing Disfigure targeting the Raiders. The stack now looks like this:

Top of Stack
Disfigure (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #2 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

He passes priority and you pass priority back. The top item (and only the top item) on the stack resolves, which in this case is Disfigure. Mons's Goblin Raiders becomes -1/-1. The game immediately sees that Raiders has a toughness of 0 or less and Mons's Goblin Raiders goes to the graveyard immediately. This is called a "state-based action". The stack now looks like this:


Top of Stack
Gather Courage #2 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

You both pass priority and Gather Courage #2 resolves. But your Raiders are already dead so it's too late. Gather Courage #2 is countered on resolution because all of its targets are illegal. The same will be true for Gather Courage #1 when you both pass priority again.

So, what should you do instead? The proper play is this: Like above, play Gather Courage #1, targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders. Rather than playing another one immediately, however, pass priority and give your opponent a chance to respond. This is a key strategic moment in the game to understand. Your opponent has one of two choices: he can either play Disfigure in response and hope you don't have another way to buff the Mons's Goblin Raiders or he can pass priority and Gather Courage will resolve immediately. Note that he does not get to kind of feel you out here and go "are you going to do anything else?" He either has to let Gather Courage resolve or make a play in response, that's it.

Let's assume he does play Disfigure in response. The stack now looks like this:

Top of Stack
Disfigure (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

He passes priority to you. Now you get a chance to respond. You don't want your Raiders to die, so you respond with your second Gather Courage. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Gather Courage #2 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Disfigure (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

You pass priority and your opponent passes priority back. Gather Courage #2 resolves and the Raiders become 3/3. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Disfigure (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

You both pass priority. Disfigure resolves and the Raiders become 1/1 again. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Gather Courage #1 (targeting Mons's Goblin Raiders)
Bottom of Stack

You both pass priority. Gather Courage #1 resolves and the Raiders become 3/3 again. The raiders survive.

Ultimately, the trick here is to not get in a hurry and try to force through a bunch of buffs at the same time. Let one resolve at a time. Note that even if you wanted to use both Gather Courages in the same turn, you could just play one, let it resolve (after both players pass priority), then play a second one and let it resolve as well, without even changing phases/steps of the game.

There is a short test at the end of the article. But, here's a quick test:

My opponent controls Merfolk of the Pearl Trident and it's my first main phase. I cast Shock, targeting Merfolk of the Pearl Trident. In response, my opponent plays Titanic Growth, targeting the Merfolk. In response to that, I cast Opportunity, targeting myself. My opponent lets Opportunity resolve and I draw 4 cards, one of which is Counterspell. I then say that I want to cast the Counterspell that I drew, targeting the Titanic Growth. My opponent protests, saying it's too late to play Counterspell and that the Merfolk will die. I say that it's not too late and that I can still counter Titanic Growth. Who is right and why?

No, your opponent will get chances to respond at some, though not all, of these points.

You cast Undercity Informer. He could respond to that by paying Counterspell or Brainstorm, for example. Both of you have to pass priority for Informer to resolve.

When you activate the mill ability, he can respond to that. So, he could play Stifle to try to counter the Informer's ability, for example.

Let's assume you have no lands in your library, as you say, so your whole deck goes in the graveyard. As you were putting the cards in your graveyard, of course, some of those cards are Narcomoebas. These have triggered abilities. I won't get into all the details here (see my article on triggered abilities, instead: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/articles/15667-magic-101-triggered-abilities), but basically all four of the narcomoebas' abilities will go on the stack separately, that ability being "put Narcomoeba into play from your graveyard since you put it into your graveyard from your library." So, the stack would look like this after the Informer's ability resolved:

Top of Stack
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #1
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #2
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #3
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #4
Bottom of Stack

Each of those technically requires both players to pass in a row. So, both players could respond here with something like Stifle to counter one of the triggered abilities and prevent one of the Narcomoebas from coming into play.

But, if both players pass once, the first Narcomoeba will come into play and you'll have this:


Top of Stack
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #2
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #3
Triggered ability of Narcomoeba #4
Bottom of Stack

Again, both players get the chance to respond, if they want to. Note that you couldn't play Cabal Therapy yet because it's a sorcery and the stack has to be empty to play a sorcery.

Once all those triggered abilities resolve, THEN you could play Cabal Therapy. Let's say you play Cabal Therapy from your graveyard and you have exactly one Bridge from Below in your graveyard. When you play Cabal Therapy, you'll have to pay the cost of sacrificing a creature. So, you play Cabal Therapy and sacrifice a Narcomoeba. Bridge from Below sees that Narcomeoba went to the graveyard and triggers. Before either player gets a chance to respond to Cabal Therapy, Bridge from Below's ability will go on the stack, so you'll have this:

Top of Stack
Triggered ability of Bridge from Below
Cabal Therapy (targeting your opponent)
Bottom of Stack

Both players get a chance to respond to the Bridge from Below trigger (with something like Stifle). If they both pass, you end up with this:

Top of Stack
Cabal Therapy (targeting your opponent)
Bottom of Stack

Again, both players get priority and get a chance to respond.

The same is true with Dread Return---it will go on the stack and both players get a chance to respond. Your opponent would get a chance to return to the trigger of Angel of Glory's Rise (returning Azami, Lady of Scrolls). Your opponent would get a chance to respond to the activation of Azami also.

Finally, assuming your opponent let Azami's ability resolve and you had an empty deck, the game would NOT let you respond to Laboratory Maniac's ability. That's because he has a replacement effect, which, in short, basically means that instead of one thing happening that is supposed to happen, something else happens instead and that thing happens immediately when the original thing would happen. So, instead of you drawing a card from your library, you win the game instead. The game is over immediately and you win.

In short, your opponent will have a numerous opportunities to respond, if he wants to.

Costs are paid when spells are played or abilities are activated, not when they resolve. The cost of Informer's ability is to pay 1 colorless mana and to sacrifice a creature. So, at the time you choose to activate the ability, you have to pay those costs. Since one of those costs is sacrificing a creature, Informer goes to the graveyard immediately as soon as you pay the cost.

Mana abilities---abilities that generate mana---don't use the stack. So, things like tapping a Forest for mana, tapping Sol Ring for mana, or exiling Simian Spirit Guide to get a red mana don't use the stack.

On the other hand, spells that create mana when they resolve do use the stack. The best example would probably be Dark Ritual. If you play Dark Ritual, your opponent will get a chance to respond.

Let's walk through it. Undercity Informer has already resolved, so he's on the battlefield. Your opponent casts Lightning Bolt.

Top of Stack
Lightning Bolt (targeting Undercity Informer)
Bottom of Stack

You discard Simian Spirit Guide. This ability resolves immediately because it is a mana ability and does not use the stack. So, you have a red mana. Costs are paid at the time an ability is activated, so you use up the red mana and sacrifice Undercity Informer, so he goes to the graveyard immediately. You would have to name a target at this point---let's assume you target yourself. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Undercity Informer's activated ability (targeting you)
Lightning Bolt (targeting Undercity Informer)
Bottom of Stack

Your opponent tries to play Echoing Truth targeting Undercity Informer, but the Informer is already in the graveyard and isn't a valid target. So, your opponent can't play Echoing Truth at all here---it will just stay in his hand. In real life and as a practical matter, presumably you would have called the judge at this point and the judge would say that the Echoing Truth just stays in your opponent's hand and the game goes on (assuming a more casual environment).

Both players pass and Undercity Informer's activated ability resolves. You flip cards off your deck until you hit a land and then put them in the graveyard. The stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Lightning Bolt (targeting Undercity Informer)
Bottom of Stack

Both players pass. Lightning Bolt tries to resolve, but Undercity Informer is already in the graveyard. So, Lightning Bolt's target is illegal and Lightning Bolt is countered on resolution due to all of its targets being illegal (also known in the old days as "fizzling").

You're mostly correct for the reasons you say. The only thing I would note is that Kor Spiritdancer will trigger immediately upon Canopy Cover being played (Kor Spiritdancer looks for auras to be cast, not resolved). So, you'll end up with a stack like this:

Top of Stack
Doom Blade (targeting Kor Spiritdancer)
Kor Spiritdancer's triggered ability (draw a card)
Canopy Cover (targeting Kor Spiritdancer)
Bottom of Stack

Assuming nobody does anything else and passes over and over, Doom Blade resolves and destroys Kor Spiritdancer. Kor Spiritdancer's triggered ability resolves and Player 1 draws a card. Finally, Canopy Cover tries to resolve, sees that its target is no longer there, and is countered on resolution due to all of its targets being illegal ("fizzles").

Note that Canopy Cover technically only gets countered and goes to the graveyard when it tries to resolve, not immediately upon Kor Spiritdancer going to the graveyard. I have a hard time conceiving of a situation where this would matter, though (I suppose there could be a situation where the number of cards in a graveyard was important for threshold being active).

fckinseven is correct that I made some mistakes. Thanks for pointing this out; I really do appreciate it. Let me elaborate a little more on the correct explanation:

So, here's the setup once again. Chris's brother has Squire in play enchanted with Chris's Prison Term. Chris's brother plays Kor Skyfisher. Assuming both players try to play optimally, who gets the better of this situation?

If you've read the above incorrect answers I gave, let me first point out that neither Prison Term nor Kor Skyfisher targets. This means that decisions for their abilities will all be made on resolution; you don't have to decide anything when they trigger.

So, Kor Skyfisher comes into play and both Prison Term and Kor Skyfisher trigger. How do we decide which trigger goes on the stack first? Quoting from my article, Triggered Abilities (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/articles/15667-magic-101-triggered-abilities):

The game has a rule for handling this called the “APNAP rule”. APNAP stands for “active player, nonactive player," meaning that the active player puts all of his triggers on the stack first, and then the nonactive player puts all of his triggers on the stack second. . . . the controller of a triggered ability is the controller of the thing that created the triggered ability.

So, the active player (the player whose turn it is) puts his triggered ability on the stack first. In this case, since Chris's brother played Kor Skyfisher it probably is his turn (assuming no funny business like Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir) so he is the active player and puts his triggered ability on the stack first. Next, Chris puts his triggered ability on the stack for Prison Term. So, the stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Prison Term's triggered ability
Kor Skyfisher's triggered ability
Bottom of Stack

Assuming both players pass, Prison Term's triggered ability will resolve. Chris gets to decide at this point whether to move Prison Term to Kor Skyfisher because it says he may move it---he isn't required to. Let's assume he moves it to Kor Skyfisher.

Now the stack looks like this:

Top of Stack
Kor Skyfisher's triggered ability
Bottom of Stack

Assuming both players pass, Kor Skyfisher's triggered ability resolves. Chris's brother now gets to choose which permanent to return to his hand. Seeing that the Kor Skyfisher is enchanted with Prison Term, he chooses to return Kor Skyfisher and Prison Term goes to the graveyard since the thing it was enchanting, Kor Skyfisher, is now gone. Note that the outcome is basically the same here even if Chris chooses to leave Prison Term on Squire instead of moving it. When Kor Skyfisher's triggered ability resolves, Chris's brother can just choose to return Squire instead, again causing Prison Term to go to the graveyard. Finally, note that Chris's brother can't choose to return Prison Term to Chris's hand (if he wanted to for some reason)---Chris still controls Prison Term even though it is enchanting his opponent's creature.

So, to answer the question: Chris's brother will get the better of this situation. He'll be left with either Squire or Kor Skyfisher in play and Prison Term will be in the graveyard.

http://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/comprehensiverules

They're pretty dense though---not for the faint of heart!

The Comprehensive Rules specify that only nonzero damage will cause deathtouch to work:

702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature’s toughness.

You could stop Jarad's ability with something that counters abilities, like Stifle, or something that prevents activated abilities from being activated at all, like Damping Matrix. You're correct that in the example involving only Jarad and Lightning Bolt, there is no way to stop Jarad's ability from being activated or resolving.