Standstill + Aether's Vial

[DiTAR]

I have Standstill + Aether's Vial in play.

If I put a creature in play with Aether's Vial, Standstill won't trigger because this isn't considered a spell, right?

Thanks alot, I'm just a casual player

[epeeguy]

If I put a creature in play with Aether's Vial, Standstill won't trigger because this isn't considered a spell, right?

That's correct.  Aether Vial has what is called an "activated ability" that simply puts a creature card into play.  Because the creature card was never played (that is, put onto the stack as a spell and then resolved), it will not trigger Standstill.

[Matt]

For most purposes, including those of Standstill, you can pretend it says "casts a spell" and not "plays a spell".

They used to use "play" for playing a land and "cast" for playing a spell but now they just call everything "play."

This also explains why you can't cycle cards from your graveyard during a Yawgmoth's Will - Will only lets you "play" (i.e., cast spells and put a land into play) cards from your graveyard. In Magic terms, "play" does not mean "play the game as if".

[DiTAR]

Thanks alot guys!