Lands for mana

[Philatio]

I'm about 95% certain this is how it works, but I want to make sure.

     Say I'm playing combo and toss a Time Spiral or a Frantic Search out there.  Can I wait to see if it resolves, then tap my lands for mana before it begins to resolve, in order to avoid mana burn if it gets countered?

     I'm pretty sure I can, but I want to make certain before I take the deck to a tourney and screw myself.

[Jacob Orlove]

You can't do that. You can only tap lands for mana when you have priority, and if you pass priority and they pass it back, then the top spell on the stack immediately resolves.

[Zhalfirin]

Minor nitpick: you can tap lands for mana (or use other mana-abilities like that of birds of paradise) during the resolution of a spell/ability if it calls for a mana payment (e.g. mana leak).

[Philatio]

I'm a little confused about the "only when you can play and instant" thing, though.  I can't play an instant during the announcement of a spell (see the errata on LED), but I CAN tap my lands for mana during the announcement, to pay the cost.

[Matt]

You have priority during announcement (if you didn't it would be difficult to ever play anything ), but not during resolution.

[Jebus]

You have priority during announcement (if you didn't it would be difficult to ever play anything ), but not during resolution.

Actually, no one has priority while a spell is being announced and played.

Special exceptions are made for playing mana abilities during announcement for playing mana abilities and also for playing mana abilities when called for during resolution of a spell or ability.