No priority after ETB
Platform: Both Android and Windows.
Timeframe: This entire past week.
Board state: Irrelevant.
Action: The opponent plays a creature (doesn't matter which), and I allow it to ETB.
Expectation: Absent any ETB triggers, priority should pass to me to respond before the opponent's next card is played.
Actual result: Priority is skipped and my opponent can jump directly to playing spell #2, instead of my having the opportunity to respond to the ETB of of the creature.
Frequency: Literally, every game.
The last occurrence was, fortunately, the first game where it made a difference in the result. Unfortunately, it's not clear how to save a log in the Android version. Why is this happening?
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Rezzahan#77802 commented
It does work like that in paper, too. People not adhering to the rules is not the rules' fault. Also, when a nonactive player announces such, the active player can stop them, because he has priority. And do not forget, that ETB triggers go on the stack before the active player gets priority, so cannot take a sorcery timing action in that case.
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Covale'rahien#01903 commented
Then why doesn't it work that way in paper?
"In response to ETB, I'm going to blow it up" is a sentence uttered at least once in every EDH, FNM, or Grand Prix match I've ever played or watched. This includes instances where the judge was actively watching. -
Rezzahan#77802 commented
Because of the rules, specifically those that govern who has priority.
1) The player who casts a spell or activated an ability or took a special action gets priority afterwards to respond first.
2) The active player gets priority first during any step or phase where players get priority (so not untap, and usually not cleanup).
3) After an object on the stack resolved, the active player gets priority.The last one is the crucial one here. If the stack is also empty after the object resolved, the active player may even proceed with another action that requires sorcery timing. The nonactive player does not get an opportunity to act before the active player does.