options for Stifle

[wethepeople]

Stifle:
Instant. CC=U

reads: Counter target activated or triggered ability. (Mana abilities can't be countered.)


so anyway, i have always played Stifle, so i want to know just about every ability i can Stifle, this is what i know so far:

triggers of Wire, Oath, Stax, and the such

activations- wastes, welder, i already understand this.

how does it work out when you Stifle the Storm effect?

another one, can you Stifle Jotun Grunt's Cumulative Upkeep trigger? i really this there is a way you can do so because it says it go offs at begining of upkeep, cant you Stifle that?

if you Stifle WGD's leaves play ability, will they lose everything they had in play, including Dragon?


other random questions:

when you Dredge with a Brainstorm, does it stop all three draws, or just one?

In the Stax matchup, can i activate my Dark Confidant ability before i choose what to sacrifice for Stacks, or tap for Wire?

With Sacred Ground out and you are forced to sacrifice land for Stacks, do they come right back or does Sacred Ground only work to stop Strip effects?

if you can answer any of these, please do so, i want to know incase i ever get in one of these situations.


//wtp.

[Polynomial P]

Ill cover the random questions:

Each draw from brainstorm resolves independently and you can choose to apply the dredge replacement effect to any draw you wish. It only replaces that one instance of drawing a card. For example, you can dredge, draw draw; or  draw, dredge, draw; or draw, draw, dredge.

In the stax matchup: Triggers go on the stack as active player, non-active player. So you put your dark confidant trigger on the stack, then your opponent puts tanglewire trigger and smokestack trigger on the stack. Triggers then resolve in reverse order, so you sack, tap, then reveal to confidant. If you were the controller of Dark confidant, smokestack, and tanglewire, you could choose to reveal first then make your decisions to sac and tap.

Sacred Ground: Sacrifice effects controlled by your opponent (ie smokestack) will trigger sacred ground and you will get your lands back.

[Godder]

You can Stifle WGD's leave play ability, and if you do, they have no permanents.

[wethepeople]

Sacred Ground is now worth playing, and Stifle will always be atleast a 3'of in my decks.

i am still questioning on the Grunt thing, i have been in that situation atleast five times and was never sure whether or not i could stifle it.

[parallax]

Cumulative Upkeep is a triggered ability, and can be Stifled.

[Komatteru]

You can Stifle all upkeep costs, as they are all triggered abilities.  Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, an artifact's cost when either Kataki or Energy Flux is in play, etc. are all valid targets for Stifle.

[Khahan]

stifle:
U
Instant

 Counter target activated or triggered ability. (Mana abilities can't be countered.)

From the rules:
#  403.1 - An activated ability is written as "[cost]: [effect]." The activation cost is everything before the colon (. An ability's activation cost must be paid by the player who is playing it. [CompRules 2003/07/01]

So any ability with a : in it is an activated ability and can be stifled except:

Mana abilities:
#  406.1 - A mana ability is either (a) an activated ability that could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves or (b) a triggered ability that triggers from a mana ability and could produce additional mana. A mana ability can generate other effects at the same time it produces mana. [CompRules 2003/07/01]


Also,
Triggered abilities:
#  404.1 - A triggered ability begins with the word "when," "whenever," or "at." The phrase containing one of these words is the trigger condition, which defines the trigger event. [CompRules 2003/07/01]

can all be stifled.

There are abilities often confused with triggered abilities that cannot be stifled. These are replacement effects:
#  419.1a - Effects that use the word "instead" are replacement effects. Most replacement effects use the word "instead" to indicate what events will be replaced with other events and use the word "skip" to indicate what events, steps, phases, or turns will be replaced with nothing. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
# 419.1b - Effects that read "[This permanent] comes into play with ...," "As [this permanent] comes into play ...," or "[This permanent] comes into play as ..." are replacement effects. [CompRules 2003/07/01]

[wethepeople]

every single question of mine has been answered, thanks everyone!

[wethepeople]

Okay, so I've got another Stifle-related question.

If i am not mistaken, you can Stifle the "Add X Mana at begining of next main phase" ability of Mana Drain, right? So if i were to do so, would i cast Stifle in response to Drain, or at the begining of the caster's next Main Phase?

[Khahan]

Okay, so I've got another Stifle-related question.

If i am not mistaken, you can Stifle the "Add X Mana at begining of next main phase" ability of Mana Drain, right? So if i were to do so, would i cast Stifle in response to Drain, or at the begining of the caster's next Main Phase?

Mana Drain:
Counters target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add X to your mana pool, where X is the casting cost of target spell.

This is a delayed trigger. It will trigger 'at the beginning of the next main phase (of the caster).' Not before. So you can stifle the ability when the trigger actually goes on the stack at the beginning of the caster's next main phase.

[LotusHead]

Okay, so I've got another Stifle-related question.

If i am not mistaken, you can Stifle the "Add X Mana at begining of next main phase" ability of Mana Drain, right? So if i were to do so, would i cast Stifle in response to Drain, or at the begining of the caster's next Main Phase?

Mana Drain:
Counters target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add X to your mana pool, where X is the casting cost of target spell.

This is a delayed trigger. It will trigger 'at the beginning of the next main phase (of the caster).' Not before. So you can stifle the ability when the trigger actually goes on the stack at the beginning of the caster's next main phase.

Drain Mana is a Mana Ability (even as a Triggered ability), yes? Abilities that Add Mana to Pool? Stifle doesn't work on Black Lotus, and some triggered abilities produce mana (Wild Growth?).

[Gandalf_The_White_1]

Okay, so I've got another Stifle-related question.

If i am not mistaken, you can Stifle the "Add X Mana at begining of next main phase" ability of Mana Drain, right? So if i were to do so, would i cast Stifle in response to Drain, or at the begining of the caster's next Main Phase?

Mana Drain:
Counters target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add X to your mana pool, where X is the casting cost of target spell.

This is a delayed trigger. It will trigger 'at the beginning of the next main phase (of the caster).' Not before. So you can stifle the ability when the trigger actually goes on the stack at the beginning of the caster's next main phase.

Drain Mana is a Mana Ability (even as a Triggered ability), yes? Abilities that Add Mana to Pool? Stifle doesn't work on Black Lotus, and some triggered abilities produce mana (Wild Growth?).

Mana drain can be stifled; triggered abilities are different from mana abilities.

[Komatteru]

There's a clarification to be made.  Here's what the Comp Rules have to say about Mana Abilities:

406.1. A mana ability is either (a) an activated ability that could put mana into a player’s mana pool when it resolves or (b) a triggered ability that triggers from a mana ability and could produce additional mana. A mana ability can generate other effects at the same time it produces mana.

406.2. Spells that put mana into a player’s mana pool aren’t mana abilities. They’re played and resolved exactly like any other spells. Triggered abilities that put mana into a player’s mana pool aren’t mana abilities if they trigger from events other than activating mana abilities. They go on the stack and resolve like any other triggered abilities.

406.3. A mana ability remains a mana ability even if the game state doesn’t allow it to produce mana.
Example: A permanent has an ability that reads “{T}: Add to your mana pool for each creature you control.” This is still a mana ability even if you control no creatures or if the permanent is already tapped.

406.4. A mana ability can be activated or triggered. Mana abilities are played and resolved like other abilities, but they don’t go on the stack, so they can’t be countered or responded to. See rule 411, “Playing Mana Abilities,” and rule 408.2, “Actions That Don’t Use the Stack.”

406.5. Abilities (other than mana abilities) that trigger on playing mana abilities do use the stack.

By 406.1, Mana Drain's trigger is not a mana ability, since it does not trigger from a mana ability.  Thus, it uses the Stack and can be countered by Stifle.  Mana that is produced by Heartbeat of Spring and Wild Growth triggers from another mana ability, and adds mana itself, so those things are mana abilities, do not use the stack, and cannot be countered by Stifle as such (hard to counter something when you can't target it).

The not using the stack thing is why "Mana abilities cannot be countered" is in reminder text, and not part of the rules text of Stifle.  It only reminds that you cannot counter a mana ability because you can't respond to them, so there's no chance to even play Stifle in there.

[wethepeople]

So if this works, when would i target the ability? When Drain is still on the stack, or do i wait until his/her main phase?

[Khahan]

So if this works, when would i target the ability? When Drain is still on the stack, or do i wait until his/her main phase?

At the beginning of the drain caster's next main phase.