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Ok.

To answer your first question, we need a little more info.

If he let it resolve before he played the spell to destroy your creature, his creatures would still be tapped.

However, if he played the spell as a response to your activation, your creature would be destroyed and his creatures would not become tapped.

Question two i'm a little unsure about, so i'll move on to question 3.

You cannot cast unsummon on Iona because Iona has to be in play to unsummon here. And when she comes into play, you named blue. Unsummon is a blue spell and therefore cannot be played.

I paid the 8 mana, then used the ability. As he's tapping his creatures, he gets to the one that can "Destroy Target Creature". He taps the creature along with the Island and the Swamp, and destroys my Dawnglare Invoker. Then untaps all of his creatures because my Dawnglare Invoker was destroyed and said that the ability couldn't have been used.

For the second question, The Vengeful Archon essentially redirects as much mana as you tap. I tapped the mana, redirected it at him, then he unsummoned my vengeful archon, and then said the damage still gets sent at me.

And I remembered he used Unsummon once on my Iona, and then used "Counter Target Spell" on my other two Ionas I tried to lay (arguing that an instant can still be used). Like I said, I figured once the color is said, its from that point on until Iona gets destroyed that the opponents cant cast any spells of that color.

I typed all of that on my iphone between games so its not surprising if its a little weird to read.

for question 2: if he bounces the creature after it's activated it's ability, then the ability is already on the stack, it will resolve unless countered whether the creature is still in play or not

About 3rd.
Unsummon works only on creature permanents, not spells, so it can only return a creature to it`s owners hand when the creature is already in play, not on the stack anymore. He can use counterspells as long as Iona is on stack, for her ability takes effect only when she`s in play.

1st.
After you forced him to tap all his creatures, he paid an activated ability cost, i assume if the activated ability required to tap the creature, after your ability has already been resolved, then it can`t be used. If the destroy ability doesn't require to tap the creature, after your ability has resolved, the opponent can use it to destroy your Invoker, but the effect of your Invoker will still take place. If he used the activated ability before your ability resolves, then he doesn't tap his creatures.

Countering Iona is completely legal, because Iona has not entered play yet, therefore, here ability has not activated(and no, it is not an activated ability, activated seemed to be the right word.)

Thanks guys, That'll really help out.

A few more questions if you guys don't mind.

When playing Two headed Giant, If I play a Leyline of Sanctity, will it provide protection for the team, or just for me. We really couldn't come to a judgement on it. It has the word "You" in it, so I'm assuming it means for just me and not the team, but others say when playing two headed giant, You equals both players on the team.

And this question is pretty stupid I think, but I'm not quite sure. If my opponent hits me with, lets say, and 11/11, and I have a Vengeful Archon out with 5 mana untapped. If I tap the mana, have Vengeful Archon deal 5 damage to my opponent, do I block/take the other 6 attacking points, or does it go away?

2nd,
If you tap 5 mana to pay the archon's ability cost, it prevents 5 damage that would be dealt to you, so you recieve 6 damage after the prevention, if you choose not to block this creature. If you do block it - archons ability takes no effect if the 11/11 does not have trample. It becomes blocked by the archon or another creature.
If the 11/11 has trample and you pay 5 mana to prevent 5 damage, you may declare archon as a blocker, for it will absorb 7 damage and the rest (4 damage) will go after you, but you have prevented 5, so you recieve no damage at all.

Most of your questions can be cleared up with one simple rule of thumb.

If you've paid the cost, the ability or spell goes on the stack and will resolve in some way unless countered directly.

Question 1
You paid the cost (8) so the "tap all creatures opponent controls" is on the stack. In response your opponent can and should use all tap/cost abilities (instants) for creatures he is able to. Those "in response" actions happen before your "tap all creatures opponent controls", but the "tap all creatures" still happens. Event list:
- You pay 8 put "tap all creatures opponent controls" on the stack
- In response your Opponent pays/taps to "destroy your creature" goes on the stack.
- you don't respond (b/c you had nothing to respond with).
- your creature gets destroyed removing "destroy creature from the stack"
- all his creatures then tap removing "tap all creatures opponent controls" from the stack.
Killing your creature does not remove the "tap all creatures" from the stack... and thus.. Your opponent cheated or was mistaken. He should have thought about destroying your creature before the turn.

Question 2
Same issue here. You paid the cost it still evaluates, but after he destroys your card. Event list:
- He attacks with 5/5
- You declare no blockers, but use the archon "damage redirect" ability. "damage redirection" is added to the stack.
- In response, your opponent "unsummons" your archon. "unsummon" is added to the stack.
- You do nothing in response.
- "unsummon" resolves and returns archon to your hand.
- "damage redirect" resolves and you deal 5 damage to your opponent.
Killing your creature does not remove "damage redirect" from the stack... and thus... Your opponent cheated or was mistaken. He should have thought about unsummoning your archon before the turn.

Question 3
This one is a different answer, but you can't "unsummon" a creature that has not been summoned. You can "counter" it, but not unsummon it. There is no Opportunity in this scenario where your opponent can unsummon Iona given that you chose blue.... and thus... Your opponent cheated or was mistaken.

I would not play with this person anymore or without a judge.

I just noticed your 4th question and I would also like the answer.

In two headed giant can Vengeful Archon be used to prevent directed (not global or "all-player") damage to the team?

Vengeful Archon
7/7 flying
{X}: Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to you this turn. If damage is prevented this way, Vengeful Archon deals that much damage to target player.

To my understanding the attacking team chooses which player receives combat damage (and all other forms of targeted damage for that matter). Thus after I play my Vengeful Archon my Opponents will always choose to have any directed damage be dealt to my teammate rather than me (excluding other game effects).

Is this correct?

Clearly in two headed giant the "prevent damage" will work against "damage to all players/opponents" and in cases where damage can be shifted to me, but it seems as though the ability becomes very limited in two headed giant.

1st question: if he'd already tapped his creatures, that means that the invokers effect resolved already meaning that he can not untap the creatures that was tapped by the invoker. even if he destroyed the invoker, the creatures are tapped so he can't do anything about it.

2nd question: since you've paid 5 mana to prevent the damage, (i assume that you did not block, right?) then even if he unsummon the archon, the payment is on stack or resolved already so he takes the 5 damage.

3rd question: he cant unsummon Iona because iona is still a spell that is not resolved. so the unsummon spell can not target it. once Iona resolves, and you choose blue, he can not cast blue spells

So let me get this straight...
I can choose to unsummon a creature with an activated ability, and then that creature can use it's power before it is returned to it's owners hand (assuming it normally could.) That's always made sense to me.

On the other hand though...
My opponent can use that creatures ability (putting it on the stack, yada yada) and I can't use a unsummon to stop that ability? I always figured the unsummon (being an instant like a creature ability) would go before the ability, therefore making it impossible for that ability to activate...

If that's really how it works, then it is complete B.S.. Non-sense. Putting a player in a situation where he can't use his "unsummon"(or other instants) to stop an ability, EVER, except for the summoning sickness turn...

Krenko with haste! Sorry, you're unsummon/death card is utterly pointless...again, I find this to be annoying and stupid. And now I just lost my bet with a friend, because of this BS...grrr.


I guess I'll have to except this...and play accordingly...it just doesn't seem right to me.

So let me add another question: If some one uses a "flash back" ability, can I declare to exile that card(with an instant) before the ability triggers? Or does it work the same way as with a creature ability, and it triggers anyways?
If I can do that, then w.t.h. is the difference bewteen the two scenarios?

[QUOTE=Zakuryu]So let me get this straight...
I can choose to unsummon a creature with an activated ability, and then that creature can use it's power before it is returned to it's owners hand (assuming it normally could.) That's always made sense to me.

On the other hand though...
My opponent can use that creatures ability (putting it on the stack, yada yada) and I can't use a unsummon to stop that ability? I always figured the unsummon (being an instant like a creature ability) would go before the ability, therefore making it impossible for that ability to activate...

If that's really how it works, then it is complete B.S.. Non-sense. Putting a player in a situation where he can't use his "unsummon"(or other instants) to stop an ability, EVER, except for the summoning sickness turn...

Krenko with haste! Sorry, you're unsummon/death card is utterly pointless...again, I find this to be annoying and stupid. And now I just lost my bet with a friend, because of this BS...grrr.


I guess I'll have to except this...and play accordingly...it just doesn't seem right to me.

So let me add another question: If some one uses a "flash back" ability, can I declare to exile that card(with an instant) before the ability triggers? Or does it work the same way as with a creature ability, and it triggers anyways?
If I can do that, then w.t.h. is the difference bewteen the two scenarios?[/QUOTE]

There is no difference between the two scenarios aside from order... In the first, you bounce your creature and respond while the spell is on the stack. The spell on the stack still attempts to resolve, bouncing your creature and the creature abililty still resolves. In the second, the creature ability is on the stack and you respond with the bounce, the ability is still on the stack and will still attempt to resolve. In the case of Krenko, your ability DID do something, it made it at least one smaller since there's one less goblin to count. If you were to use evacuation as your "bounce" spell, it would cause the krenko ability to create 0 goblins when it resolves.

The only way to respond to something on the stack is to counter it, end the turn or remove it from the stack. You cannot use a normal counterspell on activated abilities but you can use Stifle/Trickbind/etc.

In the case of flashback, once he has declared it and put it on the stack, it is no longer in the graveyard for you to target with removal. You have to remove it BEFORE he casts it.

Indeed. Thanks for comfirming and clearing that up for me.

Lol you got cheated. The first example is tricky but I have the answer. An ability is like a spell, once actived it is going to run it's course. In this case that mean as soon as you payed that ability's activation cost tgat ability goes on the stack. Meaning that ability is still going to run it's course reguardless if the creature of that ability goes bye bye. Now if had killed your creature before you payed the 8 mana then yeah he wouldn't have had to tap his creatures. But as soon as that ability is on the stack it runs it's course. In more simple word, killing creature doesn't deactivate the live ability. For example say you have a creature that has an ability 'pay 2 mana: do one damage to target player'. In response of you activating that ability the opponent kills that creature. Well the ability is still on the stack and it still goes tgrough.
The 2nd example is tricky too. He takes the damage. And you only pick blockers once. You can't repick new blockers. He was cheatkng you. However, if had unsommed his creature that would have worked the way he was trying to make it work. In this case as long as the damage is being dealt it can be redirected.
The 3rd example this one is simple. Dude cheated you like he did those other times. In the first example I can forgive him because that's a tricky one. But the other ones no. Dude is a cheat or he don't know how to play tge game.