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True, as long as he does it in response to the attack and not after the attack phase.

False

declaring attacking creatures does not use the stack.

ie: once they've been declared as attackers, they're attackers. your opponent can respond with spells and abilities but the creatures are already considered as attacking at this point.

this works very similarly to tapping a creatures to activate an ability where tapping is part of the cost...once you tap and activate the ability ppl can respond but the cost(tapping the creature) has been paid and the ability is on the stack.

in both these cases this happens instantly before the stack is created or starts resolving.

Does combat damage result? Because I have always been told that the combat damage is null from this process.

tapping a creature that's already tapped doesn't have much impact on the game..it certainly doesn't affect damage.

something to note:

achieving the effect of 'tapping a creature to prevent it from attacking' IS possible, but it must be done in response to the end of the player's first main phase at the latest.

in casual magic the passing of priority between phases tends to be implied rather than explicitly stated which can lead to wanting to do what i described above without receiving a prompt to do so before the opponent starts declaring his attack.

How you deal with this is largely dependent on your group but a 'breakpoint' type system usually does the trick: as your opponent starts his turn you simply request that they prompt you at the end of their first main phase, giving you the chance to do any pre-combat tricks you have in mind.

some groups are much less precise in their turn structure and allow for all kinds of time travel("oh but i meant to do this before that can i go back and redo my turn?") but that's up to you and your friends. it tends to produce very sloppy players but not everyone has to take magic seriously.

The very best time to tap potential attackers is during the "Beginning of Combat Step." The first step of combat is usually glossed over because nothing usually happens during it (there are a few abilities that trigger "at the beginning of combat" that happen then), but it is there and it's before the Declare Attackers Step.

That way you're not acting during your opponent's main phase, when he could cast a sorcery or creature or something afterwords and then attack; by doing it during his combat phase, he has only instants and activated abilities to work with before declaring attackers.

When there's tapping effects around, it's considerate to declare that your combat phase is beginning and then pause before declaring attackers. If your opponent goes right from his main phase to declaring attackers, insist that you wanted to do something during his beginning of combat step and it will be easy to "rewind" to just before he declared attackers.

It's like Aneximines says

If the active player wants to proceed to the combat phase he announces "declare attackers". At this point he hasn't declared which of his creatures are going to attack yet, but he must pass priority before he is allowed to do so. So when someone announces "declare attackers" his opponent is allowed to respond by tapping creatures through some spell or ability so that these creatures can't attack. This is no longer the main phase, like Aneximines already stated.

I think Seras was confused thinking attackers were already declared.

i wasn't confused tho i did skip over the 'begin combat' step. :rolleyes:

this comes down mostly to play group but in my mind if you say the words "im declaring my attacks.." then clearly you are in the declare attackers step.

you just use those words as a prompt prior to the 'declare combat' step...meaning "im about to declare my attacks"

comes down to the same thing..i just find declaring the end of main phase to be clearer.

'rewinds' breeds horribly sloppy magic and it tends to escalate, especially in multiplayer games and especially if there's drinking going on. :P

[QUOTE=Seras]i wasn't confused tho i did skip over the 'begin combat' step. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

I figured as much. I just wanted to clarify that detail because, well, I'm a nerd and this is a rules forum.

[QUOTE=Seras]'rewinds' breeds horribly sloppy magic and it tends to escalate, especially in multiplayer games and especially if there's drinking going on. :P[/QUOTE]

Heheheh, yes, sloppiness is often directly proportionate to both the number of people involved and the amount of intoxicants they've consumed.

In this case, though, it isn't rewinding causing sloppiness, it's sloppiness causing rewinding.

The sloppiness here is the player who announces the commencement of his combat phase by tapping the creatures he intends to declare as attackers. That doesn't mean that his opponent just missed his chance to tap them first, though (this is a game of procedure, not of reflexes), so a brief rewind is the only equitable course of action.

[QUOTE=Aneximines]
The sloppiness here is the player who announces the commencement of his combat phase by tapping the creatures he intends to declare as attackers. That doesn't mean that his opponent just missed his chance to tap them first, though (this is a game of procedure, not of reflexes), so a brief rewind is the only equitable course of action.[/QUOTE]

In casual play we'll never go through the steps of passing priority every time it's needed, we take it for granted and allow minor rewinds because if we did not the game would be to slow and uptight. But if someone declares attackers by tapping creatures the rewind that happens usually isn't game altering. 99% of the time it's clear which creatures were going to attack anyway and the attacker didn't give away any kind of genius strategy. Also after the rewind and the respons by opponents the active player is allowed to change his mind and attack however he wishes depending on the altered board situation.

So usually there's no harm done. In tournament play we don't want to reveal our intentions or spoil a potential bluf so we go through the correct process. In casual play it's just not worth it because sometimes drinking beer is just more important then correct play :)

I avoid this problem altogether by verbally announcing each step and phase, pausing a moment (as Seth said, nobody waits to pass priority in casual games, it would just bog the game down with a bunch of "I pass.") and then proceeding when nobody performs any actions.

It's a good habit to get into, as it prevents many debacles and arguments. It's not too big of a deal once you're in the habit of it. Once other players start doing it too, it allows you to perform your actions without having to give away what you're about to do like "Please announce this step this turn" would.

If he tapped the creature after you declared it an attacker, it doesn't matter. Combat damage is dealt.

However, if he tapped it during before you attacked with it (e.g., main phase, end of main phase, Beginning of Combat Phase) then it can't attack at all.

I get people on this all the time. IE: I have a blinding mage on the field that has {W} and Tap: Tap target creature. My opponent declares attackers BUT there hasn't been given a time to respond to the changing of phases (In this example, Main phase to combat phase). It's a semi-dirty trick as now you know what they're going to attack with so you can tap it down before attackers are declared and now they're swinging without their big beater usually. Fairly certain that this is "legit" too as I've done it on very experience players and judges were watching lol...seems sorta weird as to how it works imo.

...and there's a great example of why rewinds are a bad idea.

it always gets abused

[QUOTE=Scotty1700] Fairly certain that this is "legit" too as I've done it on very experience players and judges were watching lol...seems sorta weird as to how it works imo.[/QUOTE]

I don't get out to many tournaments. Any, for that matter. But, we've 2 DCI judges that frequent our local hobby shop, and they both say that if a player fails to announce the turning of phases, it's their loss. I don't think it's actually legit, but what else are you going to do?