I was playing a control deck, loaded up with removal spells. It's early in the format, and the popular decks are still a bit of a mystery. About halfway through the event, I was facing off against this green aggressive deck. And, well. I passed the turn. My opponent attacked. I cast a removal spell on it, knowing I could fire off another if I needed to.
And he showed me this:. But the lesson has lingered on. If I had just thought about what cards were in the format and what could happen, I would have removed his creature on my turn and easily gone on to win the game. And not only did I make Top 8, but I did the same exact thing to numerous opponents I played against. Sometimes twice in the same match! It really felt like they were playing on autopilot with instants.
Use your instants when it makes the most sense to use them. Sometimes, if you want to make sure something is dead, the best time to do it is on your turn. Let's talk about five very common scenarios where it's right to cast an instant at an unusual time. When you're using damage-based removal, like Electrify , running into a combat trick can be disastrous. Let's say your opponent has a Hyena Pack you want to kill, and you have an Electrify in your hand. The rules of thumb above would indicate pass the turn, wait for your opponent to attack, and then cast Electrify.
No problem, right? They just traded Brute Strength for your removal spell—and made you take 6 damage in the process! Realistically, waiting didn't gain you that much. Your opponent is probably going to attack first and cast spells in their second main phase. So, the only time Electrifying during your main phase here is going to cause problems for you is if your opponent would do something before attacking that would change your decision.
For example, if they have a haste creature you'd rather Electrify , then you don't have that opportunity. It's certainly a tradeoff; you're going to feel silly if you Electrify on your turn and then your opponent untaps and casts Glorybringer. But that's a risk you take to make the play that is better in more situations. And it's not just damage-based removal. The same can be said for playing against bounce spells they can return their own creature in response , spells that give them hexproof, and so on.
If you think your opponent might have a counterspell, casting instants on your turn makes a lot of sense. Let's say your blue opponent is tapped out of mana. Well, now might be the right time to cast that instant. You could wait, but what are the advantages? It varies situation to situation. But every time, you have to ask yourself the question, "What if they have a counterspell? If it's not going to make a big difference whose turn you cast it on, and you don't want your spell to get countered, go ahead and cast it now.
Of course, if you'd be happy trading that spell for a Cancel , then maybe wait anyway. But what if your opponent does have mana untapped in their blue deck?
Well, in that case. If you think your opponent might have the counterspell, and they do have mana untapped, the upkeep step is where you want to be. Well, there are two important reasons: your opponent hasn't drawn their card for the turn yet meaning they have nothing new to fight off your instant with, such as a counterspell , and if your opponent does counter your spell, it'll be on their turn, which means they tap mana.
In short: if your opponent is going to Cancel your spell, at least make them lose access to three mana on their turn to do it. Now this isn't without risks. You could get crushed by, say, a Brute Strength once again if it's damage removal on a creature you're targeting.
But especially in Constructed, where you often know your opponent's rough deck composition, this is a great window. Classically, this is a popular time to cast spells to fight over in control mirror matches. Bridge card games. When can you play instants in combat?
Do instants count as combat damage? When can instants be used? When can I cast spells during combat? Can you use instants during combat?
The combat phase has five steps, which proceed in order: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat. The declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped if no creatures are declared as attackers or put onto the battlefield attacking see rule There are two combat damage steps if any attacking or blocking creature has first strike see rule During the combat phase, the active player is the attacking player; creatures that player controls may attack.
During the combat phase of a two-player game, the nonactive player is the defending player; that player and planeswalkers they control may be attacked. Note that the choice may be dictated by the variant being played or the options chosen for it.
That player becomes the defending player. Only a creature can attack or block. Only a player or a planeswalker can be attacked. It continues to be an attacking creature, although it is attacking neither a player nor a planeswalker. It may be blocked. If it is unblocked, it will deal no combat damage. It may be cast only before or after the declare attackers step begins, regardless of whether any attackers are actually declared. See rule It may be cast only before or after the declare blockers step begins, regardless of whether any blockers are actually declared.
0コメント