The better you understand how it works, the more you’ll see opportunities to take advantage of it, and be able to avoid traps and pitfalls. This involves understanding the general timing system of the game, and steps and phases as well, so we’ll touch on those here. Let’s start with a little history.
Back in the day, Magic didn’t use the Stack. Instead it used “batching” as a means of tracking spell casting. The batch was defined for the Fourth Edition as:
"A series of non-interrupt fast effects that build on one another as players respond to each other's spells. Batches are resolved by first-in, last-out for all effects. Any damage done to creatures or players isn't applied until the end of the batch, but creatures that are destroyed through means other than damage are sent to the graveyard immediately and regeneration and/or death effects are checked when this occurs.”
(https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Batch)
“Hold on,” I hear you saying. “What in tarnation an ‘Interrupt’?” Well, back in the day, there was another spell type called “Interrupt”. It was “faster” than an Instant. You could respond to Instants with Interrupts, but you could only respond to Interrupts with other Interrupts. Counterspells were always Interrupts. It’s a superfluous card type which was removed with the Sixth Edition rules overhaul, along with Batching and a whole bunch of other stuff. Recreating the feel of Interrupts was the inspiration for the “Split Second” mechanic in Time Spiral block.
It was a clunky system, with odd restrictions and the really bizarre part is that all the damage was saved until the end of the batch resolving. Effectively, what this meant was that you couldn’t respond to someone trying to pump their creature with a burn spell to kill it. But more on that in a moment.
So after the Sixth Edition rules changes, batching was left behind, and we moved to the Stack. It’s a much cleaner way to handle spell casting, and it’s as simple as “Last in, FIrst out”. Objects are placed on the Stack in basically one of three ways - a Spell is cast, or an Ability either triggers or is activated. There are a number of actions, known as “special actions” which do not use the stack. Relevant to Arena, these primarily are Playing Lands, and activating Mana abilities (most typically done by tapping Lands).
A quick note on terminology. If it’s your turn, then you’re the “Active Player”. Everyone else is the “Non-active player”. In Arena, this will always just be your single opponent.
Whenever a spell or ability is placed on the Stack, each opponent has an opportunity to respond to that before that spell or ability resolves. Actually, we probably need to get our Priorities straight here.
The way timing works is through a system of “Priority”. When you’re the AP (Active Player), you receive priority first in any given step or phase (steps are a subset of phases). When it's your turn, you'll get priority at the beginning of your main phase. If you put a stop in your upkeep, you'll get priority there as well. Technically, there's both the Upkeep step and the Draw step where you get priority, but Arena kind of mashes both of those into a single step.
There's basically two “speeds” for putting objects on the Stack. Sorcery speed and Instant speed. What Sorcery speed means, in pedantic rules terms, is 1. On your turn (so you're the active player), 2. During one of your main phases, 3. With nothing else on the Stack. This is when you can play lands, activate Planeswalker Loyalty abilities, cast Creature, Artifact, Enchantment, and of course, Sorcery cards.
Instant speed means that you can do it anytime you have priority. This can be on either player's turn, with an empty stack or not. *Most* activated abilities of permanents can be done at Instant speed, unless otherwise stated. As noted before, tapping Lands for mana doesn't use the stack and may be done at any time, and activating Planeswalker Loyalty abilities can only be done at Sorcery speed. This is a rules restriction that's attached to those abilities. This is also true for the “Equip” ability on Equipment artifacts.
Triggered abilities are a bit of a special case. If you see the words “When”, “Whenever” or “At” in a text box, you're dealing with a triggered ability. Anytime the condition specified in the rules text are met, that ability will go on the stack as soon as priority is checked.
So how can you take full advantage of the Stack? Primarily it's by knowing when you can and can't respond to various actions.
For example, say that your opponent is attacking with their Adanto Vanguard. You block, and they activate the Vanguard's ability in an effort to save it. That ability goes on the stack, but in the moment after the activation and before the resolution, that Vanguard is not yet indestructible. Before the ability resolves, you will gain priority, and can cast a spell like Shock to try to kill the Vanguard. Now your Shock will be on the stack. But the Vanguard's not dead yet. After you put your spell on the stack, your opponent will again receive priority before it resolves. They can again activate the Vanguard to try to save it.
*Edit* A quick note here which should be included, Lifelink and Deathtouch do NOT use the stack. They happen as Damage happens, and are applied before Priority is checked. So if you're at 3 life, and you're being attacked by a pair of 3 power creatures, but your only blocker is a 1/1 with Lifelink, you will live at 1 life after combat done.
This type of scenario is probably the most common way you'll be able to take advantage of understanding the Stack - whether it's with an activated ability, or by your opponent casting a pump spell to buff their creature. It's why the defending player will always have an advantage in combat, because the active player will have to initiate the action, and you'll always have an opportunity to respond.
In this way, priority is passed back and forth until each player passes without taking an action. At that point, the spells and abilities will start resolving, one at a time, Last in, First out. And after each one resolves, each player will again have priority to put new objects on the stack.
Arena defaults to a “quick play” type of mode, where you're automatically passing priority if you can take no actions. If you want, you can put stops on your opponent's turn, or switch to “full control” (by hitting the Ctrl key), in which case you'll have to manually pass priority each and every time. It's more cumbersome to play that way, but it will maximize your opportunities to take actions.
The Stack is nothing mysterious. It's an elegant and clean way to handle in-game timing.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I hope some of you find this helpful. Feel free to post any questions or corrections. You can frequently find me hanging out in the MTG Arena Players group on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment