Perplexing Test interaction with Commander

Asked by likasumbody 7 months ago

Hi,

I had a question come up in my commander playgroup and am hoping someone can help clarify the outcome for me.

Board state: I have 11 1/1 elf tokens and my commander Lathril, Blade of the Elves

On my opponents turn, I tapped my commander Lathril, Blade of the Elves, before I could tap my tokens to "pay" for the ability, my opponent casts Perplexing Test to return all creature tokens to owners hand.

Does the tokens get returned to my hand before the ability resolved or does the ability resolve first?

wallisface says... Accepted answer #1

Everything before the colon in an activated ability is done immediately as part of activating it, and cannot be responded to.

If you have priority and activate this cards ability, you tap the creature as well as the 10 elves you control - your opponent cannot respond to any of these activation “payments”, and can only respond once the abilities effects (everything after the colon) are already on the stack.

So in your listed scenario your opponent will not be able to cast their instant spell until after you’ve already tapped your elves.

October 22, 2023 12:12 a.m. Edited.