How does the stack work?
Asked by zigkid3 14 years ago
just seeing if i got this right. so say someone casts Giant Growth on their 2/2 creature to make it a 5/5 until end of turn. the giant growth goes on the stack first. then i cast Disfigure which gives the creature -2/-2 until end of turn. then my disfigure is on the top of the stack. so my disfigure resolves first, thus killing the creature before it can become a 5/5?
and if it was the otherway around then the 2/2 creature would be 5/5 then 3/3?
yup. this rule has hurt me more times than i care to count, so I would know.
November 10, 2010 8:06 p.m.
imo i think this rule is completely backwards =/ if i was wizards i would have made it first come first serve or they resolve at the same time.
November 10, 2010 9:27 p.m.
That was the batch - pre 6th edition rules change. Everything resolved out of the batch at the same time, except interrupts, which were first...or something like that. It was really confusing, and they fixed it with this.
The problem you would have if the first spell played was the first to resolve is that it makes the game totally uninteractive - and thus utterly, horridly, ridiculously awful. No, seriously. Awful. Think about it - with first in first out, Counterspell . doesn't. do. anything. Not only is KrazyCaley quietly sobbing in a corner somewhere, but Magic is boring and, oh, pretty much anything that can be cast at instant speed is far less useful to some significant degree.
November 10, 2010 9:35 p.m.
Sporkife pretty much nailed the importance of the stack.
Having it this way instills a level of strategy and depth to the game that simply is not possible without it. Instead of just being able to ignore your opponent you have to actually consider "Hmm, does he have that disfigure in hand? He left mana untapped for it, but is he bluffing?".
If they ever got rid of the stack and failed to replace it with something comparable they would pretty much be signing a death warrant for the game. It would pretty much immediately kill competitive play (actually I think the current competitive scene is strong enough that it might splinter off and ignore the rule change).
Put simply....the stack is a pretty damned important part of why this game rocks. And I gauruntee you WotC explored it inside and out long before they made the change.
awesomusprime says... Accepted answer #1
Looks right to me.
November 10, 2010 6:29 p.m.