Posted 24 July 2009 - 09:12 AM
Here's how M:TG actually moves through its turns, and how spells resolve.
The person whose turn it is (the Active Player) recieves priority at the beginning of a phase. If they pass priority on an empty stack (a spell had not been played), the non-active player(s, passing to the left) get the chance to place something on the stack. If they do not, they also pass priority, and the game moves to the next part of the turn (say from Upkeep to Draw).
When the active player plays a spell, they retain priority, and the spell sits on the stack, waiting for the game to tell it to resolve. The active player may play as many spells to the stack as they want (though usually they don't, so you have to specify you're 'retaining priority' if you are going to play multiple spells at once). When the active player does not want to play any more spells, he or she passes priority. Then the non active player (and if multiple, the priority circles around clockwise) then has the chance to play as many spells as he/she/it wants. When the non active player is finished, he or she passes priority. Then the active player gets priority again. Note that no spell has resolved. When the active player passes, and the non-active player passes, the TOP SPELL OR EFFECT on the stack resolves. ONLY the top one. This was referred to as "LIFO," or Last In, First Out.
For the stack to fully resolve, each player will have to pass for each spell on the stack. If anyone plays another card at any point, it goes onto the top of the stack.
Now for the example:
Ash's Goblin Hero is attacking Sue. Sue plays Lightning Bolt on Goblin Hero. Ash responds with Giant Growth. Currently the stack is, bottom to top: Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth. Ash has priority. He passes it. Sue has priority, and she passes it. Giant Growth Resolves, and the Gobin Hero is 5/5. Ash has priority, and the stack has a Lightning Bolt on it. Ash passes. Sue now can pass, letting Lightning Bolt resolve. Gobbin Hero is now 5/5 with three damage one it. Sue blocks it with her 2/1 First Striking Vashino Spearchucker. Go Sue.
Another example. Leo, playing an all-black M10 booster drafted deck, attacks Soups with a Looming Shade. Soups, playing a blue-green deck with three mountains and two Lightning Bolts, says "No blocks." Leo pays all eight of his avaible black mana and says "Pump it for eight. Take nine." Soups says "Before passing priority while the eight activations of Looming Shade's ability is on the stack, I Bolt the Looming Shade." The stack would be: Looming Shade Activation 1,Looming Shade Activation 2, Looming Shade Activation 3, Looming Shade Activation 4, Looming Shade Activation 5, Looming Shade Activation 6, Looming Shade Activation 7, Looming Shade Activation 8, Bolt targetting Looming Shade. Leo passes priority (he's tapped out). Soups passes priority (he's got another kill spell in hand, but it costs more and he's got plans at the end of Leo's turn for the mana), and the Lightning Bolt resolves, dealing three damage to the currently 1/1 shade. The game checks state based effects (such as damage, life total, poison counters, etc) and sees a 1/1 creature with damage greater than or equal to its toughness and places it into the graveyard. Then when Leo and Soups pass priority, each activation will do nothing because the shade is no loinger in play. (they would be 'countered upon resolution due to illigal or non-existant *term I forgot*)
And now you know more than 60% of the people who play Magic about Magic.
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