Union of the Third Path doesn't behave like an instant sometimes
This has happened to me before, but I thought that I overlooked something. Now it happened again in a different matchup and I can't explain why other than that it's a bug. Scenario is as follows:
I play azorius control vs soldiers in standard, it's my opponent's turn four, he has Thalia in play (in case it's relevant), I have two copies of Union of the Third Path in hand, among other things. The opponent attacks with enough power to almost kill me, I play one Union to gain life before damage, the attack goes off, I only lose like 1 hp as a result. My turn comes, I play a land and say go, planning to do the same thing as last turn and then wipe the board on the next turn. All my mana is untapped, I clearly have enough to play it. Opponent plays a creature in his first main phase and goes to attack for what would be lethal. Before I get the chance to do anything, such as play the instant in my hand to gain life and survive, the attack goes off and I lose. There is no reason I wouldn't be able to play an instant as a response to one of him a) casting a creature or b) going to combat or c) attacking or d) going to damage. This has happened at least twice now to me.
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[Deleted User] commented
If that creature played was Myrel, you only get the one chance to use your spell: in response to it being cast. Once on the field Myrel prevents you from doing pretty much anything during your opponent's turn.