How the stack works
Spells and abilities do not take effect the moment you cast or activate them. They go on the stack and wait, giving every player a chance to respond, and they resolve one at a time in reverse order — the last thing added is the first thing to happen.
Almost every “can I respond to that?” question is answered by two ideas: how priority passes, and what is on top.
The short answer
- Casting a spell or activating an ability puts it on top of the stack
- The top object resolves first, so the last thing cast happens first
- Objects resolve one at a time, with players getting priority between each
- Instants and activated abilities can be cast or activated any time you have priority
- Sorcery-speed actions need your main phase, an empty stack and priority
- The stack only moves when all players pass in succession
- Static abilities, mana abilities and turn-based actions do not use the stack
Last in, first out
Each new spell or ability goes on top of everything already on the stack. When the stack finally resolves, it works down from the top, so the most recently added object resolves first.
This is why a counterspell cast in response resolves before the spell it is countering, and why the player who responds last gets their effect first.
The stack keeps track of the order that spells and/or abilities were added to it. Each time an object is put on the stack, it’s put on top of all objects already there.
When all players pass in succession, the top (last-added) spell or ability on the stack resolves. If the stack is empty when all players pass, the current step or phase ends and the next begins.
Priority: when you are allowed to act
Priority is the game’s way of deciding whose turn it is to do something. The player with priority may cast spells, activate abilities and take special actions; everyone else waits.
The active player gets priority first in most steps, and again after anything resolves. Casting a spell does not hand priority to your opponent — you keep it, which is how you can respond to your own spell before anyone else does.
Crucially, the stack only advances when every player passes in a row. One player doing something resets that, and the process starts again from the new top of the stack.
The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.
Instant speed versus sorcery speed
An instant can be cast whenever you have priority, which includes during an opponent’s turn and in response to something on the stack. Activated abilities work the same way unless the card says otherwise.
Sorceries, creatures, artifacts, enchantments and planeswalkers are restricted: your own main phase, with the stack empty, while you hold priority. That combination is what people mean by “sorcery speed”.
A player may cast an instant spell any time they have priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during their main phase any time they have priority and the stack is empty.
A player may activate an activated ability any time they have priority.
What happens before anyone gets priority
Two things always happen before priority comes back around. First the game performs all state-based actions — creatures with lethal damage dying, a player at 0 life losing, a planeswalker at 0 loyalty going to the graveyard — repeating until none are left to perform. Then any waiting triggered abilities go on the stack.
This is why you cannot respond to a creature dying from damage, and why triggers always end up above the spell that caused them.
Each time a player would get priority, the game first performs all applicable state-based actions as a single event (see rule 704, “State-Based Actions”), then repeats this process until no state-based actions are performed. Then triggered abilities are put on the stack (see rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities”). These steps repeat in order until no further state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the player who would have received priority does so.
Things that never use the stack
Not everything can be responded to. Static abilities apply continuously and never go on the stack, so there is no window to interact with them. Mana abilities resolve immediately without using the stack at all.
Turn-based actions — untapping in your untap step, drawing for turn, declaring attackers and blockers — also happen without the stack. You can respond after they happen, but not to them.
Effects don’t go on the stack; they’re the result of spells and abilities resolving. Effects may create delayed triggered abilities, however, and these may go on the stack when they trigger (see rule 603.7).
Static abilities continuously generate effects and don’t go on the stack. (See rule 604, “Handling Static Abilities.”) This includes characteristic-defining abilities such as “[This object] is red” (see rule 604.3).
When several things go on at once
If one effect puts multiple objects on the stack simultaneously — several abilities triggering off the same event, for example — they are not ordered arbitrarily. The active player’s objects go on lowest, then each other player’s in turn order, and a player controlling several chooses the order among their own.
The practical result is that the non-active player’s triggers end up higher on the stack and therefore resolve first.
If an effect puts two or more objects on the stack at the same time, those controlled by the active player are put on lowest, followed by each other player’s objects in APNAP order (see rule 101.4). If a player controls more than one of these objects, that player chooses their relative order on the stack.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the last spell cast resolve first?
Because each new spell goes on top of the stack, and the stack resolves from the top down. The most recently added object is the first one to resolve.
Can I respond to my own spell?
Yes. Casting a spell does not pass priority — you keep it afterwards, so you can add something else to the stack before anyone else gets the chance.
Can you respond to a creature dying?
No. A creature with lethal damage dies as a state-based action, which happens before any player gets priority. You can respond to abilities that trigger on it dying, but not to the death itself.
Can you respond to a land being played?
No. Playing a land is a special action that does not use the stack. You get priority afterwards, once the land is already on the battlefield.
Can you respond to mana abilities?
No. Mana abilities resolve immediately without using the stack, so there is no window in which to respond.
When does the stack actually resolve?
Only when every player passes priority in succession without doing anything in between. One object then resolves, players get priority again, and the process repeats.
Rules referenced on this page
Quotations are from the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, published by Wizards of the Coast. Search the full rules for anything not covered here.
Related rules
How planeswalkers work
How planeswalker cards work in Magic: The Gathering — activating loyalty abilities, attacking a planeswalker, dealing damage to one, and the two planeswalker rules that no longer exist.
How the mulligan works
How mulligans work in Magic: The Gathering — the London mulligan step by step, how many cards you put back, and when the decision happens.