when do phases end?
Asked by ilikeoldcardsbetter 14 years ago
not sure if that is the correct question to ask, but heres the example I had in mind:
I declare Pygmy Pyrosaur as the attacker. You declare Honor Guard as the blocker. After declare blockers step (as far as I understand) we have opportunities to play instants/activated abilities. So if I "pass", priority goes to you, and you pump Honor Guard by one.
Will the phase end there, because I passed on priority once? (meaning the guard kills the pyrosaur). Or do I have another opportunity to pump my pyrosaur? If the latter is true, then will our mana supply be the only limit to how many times priority moves from one player to the other (assuming we only pump once at a time for some reason)?
Lots of questions within that question, hopefully you see what I'm asking. I appreciate any explanations.
You could also just respond to his pump by doing your own action on the stack.
October 14, 2010 4:57 p.m.
All players have to pass priority in succession while the stack is empty before the phase/step ends.
In your case when your opponent pumps the honor guard by one you will actually get two chances to respond to this at least.
Once he has activated the pump one time he has to pass priority back to you before the pump actually resolves. If you, for whatever reason, decide to pass priority here the pump will resolve and you will receive priority yet again.
At this point if you pass priority your opponent can simply pass priority as well and at that point you will be in the Combat Damage Step and you won't receive priority again until after damage has already been dealt in this step and thus until after your poor pygmy is dead.
$ªmHεiπ says... Accepted answer #1
You definitely have a chance to pump the pyrosaur.
500.2. A phase or step in which players receive priority ends when the stack is empty and all players pass in succession. Simply having the stack become empty doesn't cause such a phase or step to end; all players have to pass in succession with the stack empty. Because of this, each player gets a chance to add new things to the stack before that phase or step ends.
October 14, 2010 9:16 a.m.