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If I have got a creature with "inflatable abilities" - just like Frozen Shade, or Granite Gargoyle - I want to know what happens when activating it. Since inflatable abilities are activated abilities, if I activate three times Granite Gargoyle's ability ({R}: +0/+1 until end of turn) in response to each other, they go on the stack one after the other, and my opponent may respond to this with a Shock targeting the Gargoyle. So, in such a situation, the Gargoyle dies, and goes to the graveyard before his ability comes to rescue. Is this correct?

ikegami
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ManoFromBerlin
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  • Please tell Ikigami it is this a kind of question slightly different among others I already asked for.1°one concerned about the correct timing between enchantments/instants;2°one was about the timing between instants and other instants too;this one –3°– just involved special abilities and instants.The 3 questions ARE NOT exactly the same,and may serve well in order to understand whyLIFOrule is basically the correct way to recall any order of resolution.In this way, the 3 simple questions are summarized,and fast-recovering,for all beginners/old-time players returning playing after many years. – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 11:21
  • I'm joking, Ikigami, you're welcome...obviously, this is not the kind of questions you really like...since you're an expert one and stuff like this is simply boring. – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 11:23
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    The question is identical. They're all "how does the stack work". The very fact that you use "in respond" in all questions makes then identical. – ikegami Nov 25 '19 at 14:10
  • Ahaha!! Ok, the MacDonald situation is really funny. Isn't it, Lause&Ikigami? Ok, so I'll assume that: the next time I'll go lunching at Mac, instead of paying money I will have a new doggy-dog suit - with the word Shinigami on it - to protect my dog Ajani from the rain (and lightning bolts too),as a tribute immediately after buying a cheesburger!!! – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 14:27
  • You are an expert, Ikigami, not just like me...The question is identical for you. There's lots of people actually having real hard and bad discussions in order to understand the rules properly. – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 14:28
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    @Massimiliano before you ask more questions on this topic I suggest reading https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/12652/in-plain-english-how-does-casting-spells-and-using-creature-abilities-work-with. That may help you understand this topic more generally. – murgatroid99 Nov 25 '19 at 20:49
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    This is pretty much the same as the Shock vs. Titanic Growth example in the online rules, it's just that it's an ability here and not a spell, but then the rules also mention casting spells and activating abilities both use the stack ("When you cast a spell or activate an ability [...] it goes on the stack.") Of course, with an ability, it's easier to just reply to Shock by pumping again. – ilkkachu Nov 26 '19 at 10:52
  • Re "in such a situation, the Gargoyle dies, and goes to the graveyard before his ability comes to rescue. Is this correct?", According to the original wording of the question, that is not correct. I fixed the question to be what the OP believes it is based on extensive comments by the OP's on a now-deleted answer. This is the third question by the OP with an identical answer, but rather than closing this one as a dup of an earlier one, I closed an earlier one as a dup of this one as it has a better answer. – ikegami Nov 26 '19 at 15:49
  • What do you mean with OP's? What does it mean? – ManoFromBerlin Nov 27 '19 at 11:32
  • Ah, ok , it stands for "Original Poster", or "Overpowered", sometimes... – ManoFromBerlin Nov 30 '19 at 11:21

1 Answers1

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Yes, there's not much difference between activated abilities and instants in this particular case. If you look at the Comprehensive Rules, you'll see that they are treated similarly, e.g. in rule 405:

405. Stack

405.1. When a spell is cast, the physical card is put on the stack (see rule 601.2a). When an ability is activated or triggers, it goes on top of the stack without any card associated with it (see rules 602.2a and 603.3).

405.2. The stack keeps track of the order that spells and/or abilities were added to it. Each time an object is put on the stack, it’s put on top of all objects already there.

405.4. Each spell has all the characteristics of the card associated with it. Each activated or triggered ability that’s on the stack has the text of the ability that created it and no other characteristics.

In this case, you're better off activating the Gargoyle's ability once, and let it resolve before activating it again. If your opponent responds with Shock, you can respond to that with activating the ability again, saving the Gargoyle.

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Glorfindel
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  • Exactly. Thank you Glorfindel. It is a simple kind of question, but it could be important, since some players may think at "inflatable abilities" just like they were static ones:that is wrong. – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 11:31
  • That's why it's best to wait for the Gargoyle's ability to resolve before activating it again. In fact, under tournament rules, that's what "I activate three times" means – ikegami Nov 25 '19 at 14:21
  • Well, properly talking...returning back to the Gargoyle example, activating the inflatable ability just one time - instead of two - in response to Shock, it is enough to rescue her. – ManoFromBerlin Nov 25 '19 at 14:36
  • Yes, but that would require spending an extra {R} you didn't need to spend, – ikegami Nov 25 '19 at 14:59
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    'In fact, under tournament rules, that's what "I activate three times" means' This was unknown to me. I thought the tournament rules were pretty darn pedantic about what you actually say, and what you actually say in that case is that you activate it three times without paying priority and therefore without letting them resolve. Do you have a reference? – Arthur Nov 25 '19 at 15:12
  • @Arthur, Tournament rules under "Tournament Shortcuts". See my answer for the relevant passage. – ikegami Nov 25 '19 at 15:14
  • @Arthur, If you were forced to do what you say, you couldn't say "I activate this two times." It presumably means "I activate this, and in response, I activate this again" or "I activate this, I wait for it to resolve, then I activate this again". But either way, you are proposing a shortcut you need to define. The TR just define a few shortcuts so you don't have to do so every game. It also defines a few shortcuts to handle forgotten things without having to invoke a judge. (e.g. Forgetting to scry is like opting not to look and not to change the position of cards, something scry allows.) – ikegami Nov 25 '19 at 15:20
  • Where all my comments about Ikegami’s shortcuts have been end up?Please someone resume them,there were important things they describe.Or maybe it was just you, Ikegami, to hide them?Shortcuts are interesting,but it is important to warn your opponent that the next game is about to use them.Do not doing this means trickery.Much more than this, it is not your interest judging if a question is identical to another one.Looking at your editing,and your comments about it,I'm making sure about the question I asked is really useful,expecially for beginners.This is not you,Ikegami,I already told you – ManoFromBerlin Nov 27 '19 at 10:52
  • I guess they were not trying to improve the post, so they were deleted. Please check the Help Center for when it is appropriate to comment and when not. – Glorfindel Nov 27 '19 at 10:55
  • It was not my fault, you know Glorfinder...in fact, what you say it is true: the last comments are going to describe Ikegami's personality much better than giving info about the question I have made... – ManoFromBerlin Nov 27 '19 at 10:59
  • Who knows how the stack really works?Beginners still don't know very well if a certain type of spell goes on the stack or not,and therefore they need to know if there are differences in interaction between enchantments/instants/abilities,with other instants.To show the validity of the question I may talk about the case of a creature unmorphing itself:in this case,since it is a special action, the unmorphing WILL NOT GO on the stack.Therefore, interaction with it would be different (since opponent cannnot respond to it).Only experienced players,like Ikegami&Murgatroid,know how the stack works! – ManoFromBerlin Dec 12 '19 at 16:24
  • This is why I explicitly proposed three similar situations, and to show their differences with the "special case" in which an opponent responds to a creature's unmorphing - a case I will perhaps show later, with another example - and that looks very different because opponent cannot respond to the "unmorphing" of a creature in itself (since it is a special action), but can respond to the triggered ability due to the unmorphing of the creature, if it has one. – ManoFromBerlin Dec 12 '19 at 16:41