Abilities and Spell stacks
Asked by darkmatter32x 6 years ago
I want to clear things out for a friend of mine.
Scenario: my opponent is attacking with Den Protector with 6 (six) +1/+1 counters on it.
On my defense side of the field I have Rhonas the Indomitable and Noxious Gearhulk
Before I declare blockers I used Rhonas the Indomitable's activated ability to pump up Noxious Gearhulk with 2 (two) +2/+0, however my opponent responded "Before you activate the ability I cast Long Road Home!"
Question: does Noxious Gearhulk gets the +4/+0?
Please paste MTG ruling for reference.
Thanks guys
hyperlocke says... Accepted answer #2
Activating an ability/casting a spell is a process that involves announcing the spell/ability and putting it on the stack, choosing modes and targets, determining the costs and paying them. During this process, nobody gets priority, so nobody can do anything.
Once you have begun activating the ability, nobody can do anything until the activation process is complete. At that point, the ability is on the stack. As abilities on the stack exist independently from their source, it doesn't matter what happens to Rhonas. The ability will resolve normally, even if Rhonas isn't on the field anymore.
Rules for activating abilities
112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time wont affect the ability. [...]
July 8, 2017 10:34 a.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #4
So there are a few things going on here, and it's not really clear which of them it is based on the way you described the scenario.
It's important to know as we get started that the first thing that happens in the declare blockers step is that the defending player declares blockers. You can't do anything else before that happens (players don't get priority until blockers are declared).
Your last chance to do something before blockers is at the end of the declare attackers step.
Since it's your opponent's turn, he or she will have priority after attackers are declared. At this point, he/she has two options: 1) Cast Long Road Home, or 2) pass priority to you.
Option 1: Your opponent casts Long Road Home. You can then respond to Long Road Home by activating Rhonas the Indomitable's ability.
Option 2: You get priority and can activate Rhonas the Indomitable's ability. Your opponent can then respond by casting Long Road Home.
Note that it's not possible in either scenario for your opponent to cast and resolve Long Road Home without you ever getting to activate Rhonas the Indomitable's ability. It's also not possible to retroactively do something to preempt your activation; your opponent has to decide before passing priority whether he/she will take an action. And, as hyperlocke explained, any abilities on the stack will remain there and eventually resolve regardless of whether Rhonas is still on the battlefield at the time.
To add to the rules links above, here are the rules for the combat phase with links to the individual steps in combat.
July 8, 2017 12:01 p.m.
Gearhulk gets +4/+0 because once the ability is activated, it has nothing to do with Rhonas. However if The Gearhulk was targeted instead, than the ability would have fizzled.
darkmatter32x says... #1
I meant to say "Before you activate the ability I cast Long Road Home on Rhonas the Indomitable"
July 8, 2017 9:03 a.m.