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[QUOTE=Seth]- I have priority and declare attackers and pass priority, at this point I haven't activated my manland yet
- my opponent taps one of my creatures, can I react to this and activate my manland?[/quote]

You could, but if you've already declared attackers then it's too late to attack with it (and the creature that got tapped is still attacking).

[quote]bottom line, I don't get it. if my opponent would have passed priority without doing anything I would have been forced to declare attackers without activating my manland first but I don't see why I can not activate it in response to the stack being resolved.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure I understand exactly when this was taking place, but I think you've got the right idea.

If your opponent was tapping your creature early enough to keep it from attacking, such as during the Beginning of Combat Step, you would have time to animate your land before getting to the Declare Attackers Step. So, you would be able to attack with the land.

On the other hand, if you had already declared attackers, then it's too late to attack with the land but it's also too late for your opponent to use a tap effect to keep a creature from attacking.

maybe it's a problem/misunderstanding with how I declare phase transitions.

To begin the combat phase I say "declare attackers", which basically declares the end of my first main phase and passes priority to my opponent so he can still react before I actually tap the creatures that are going to attack. (should I call this, declare combat step instead of declare attackers?)

When he passes priority back I select my attackers. That's how I've been playing it casual as well as at tournaments and I've never run into any misunderstandings about what is happening until last night.

So I haven't declared any attackers yet but by saying 'can I declare my attackers' I allow my opponent to respond. And the issue was that in response to him tapping out one of my creatures with Puppet Strings I want to activate my manland. The benefit of this was that he had already used puttet strings and at this point could not use it again to tap my 7/7 manland. This all happened before I actually declared which creatures are going to attack, so at the start of the combat phase.

I think I'll need clear terminology to convince my fellow oldschool playgroup.

Also lets say I annouce the beginning of the combat phase, which is the one chance my opponent has to tap out my creatures, what if he passes priority back without doing anything. Do I have to announce attackers or can I still activate my manland first after which I have to pass priority again?

sorry for the complicated explenation.

[QUOTE=Seth]maybe it's a problem/misunderstanding with how I declare phase transitions.

To begin the combat phase I say "declare attackers", which basically declares the end of my first main phase and passes priority to my opponent so he can still react before I actually tap the creatures that are going to attack. (should I call this, declare combat step instead of declare attackers?)

When he passes priority back I select my attackers. That's how I've been playing it casual as well as at tournaments and I've never run into any misunderstandings about what is happening until last night.[/quote]

Okay, that makes sense.

It doesn't matter what you call it so long as the other players know what you're talking about.

By that metric, though, you may indeed want to start saying something else, as there seems to have been some confusion at the time of that game.

When there are tap effects around, I'll actually say "I'm entering my combat phase," and gesture at my opponent's Icy Manipulator or whatever questioningly, which is perhaps overwrought but it works.

[QUOTE]So I haven't declared any attackers yet but by saying 'can I declare my attackers' I allow my opponent to respond. And the issue was that in response to him tapping out one of my creatures with Puppet Strings I want to activate my manland. The benefit of this was that he had already used puttet strings and at this point could not use it again to tap my 7/7 manland. This all happened before I actually declared which creatures are going to attack, so at the start of the combat phase.[/QUOTE]

You're good. That works, and you'll be able to attack with the manland.

[QUOTE]I think I'll need clear terminology to convince my fellow oldschool playgroup.[/QUOTE]

At first, you could say "I'm entering my combat phase, does anyone want to do anything before I declare attackers?" which is too long to keep saying but eventually they'll get a feel for the proper timing of things and then you can settle down on a shorter and perhaps less banally technical-sounding phrase.

[QUOTE]Also lets say I annouce the beginning of the combat phase, which is the one chance my opponent has to tap out my creatures, what if he passes priority back without doing anything. Do I have to announce attackers or can I still activate my manland first after which I have to pass priority again?[/QUOTE]

You have to announce attackers.

If you pass, and your opponent passes, then both players have passed in succession over an empty stack, which means the current step (in this case the Beginning of Combat Step) ends. Then it's the Declare Attackers Step, and the very first thing that happens is that you declare attackers.

So, if your manland is the biggest threat he has to worry about, and you pass priority at that point without having animated it, his best move may indeed be to forgo using his Puppet Strings, as that will ensure that the manland will remain a noncreature.

It would be a sort of phantom use of the Strings, to counteract your phantom use of the manland. Politics gets strange sometimes.

well it feels good to have this sorted out, I knew I got it right but I'm sure it was a communications thing in my group.

thanks mate!

[QUOTE=Aneximines]It would be a sort of phantom use of the Strings, to counteract your phantom use of the manland. Politics gets strange sometimes.[/QUOTE]

My favorite quote of all-time. I'm not joking you. Nothing constructive to add. I just felt like adding that. Moving on (riveting thread though, the intricacies of the stack and priority are always very fascinating and even though I hadn't run into this specific problem ever before, I will definitely learn from reading this), thanks for asking this question Seth =)

I always use Declare Attack Step, thats what I would do.

[QUOTE=rileyandholly88]I always use Declare Attack Step, thats what I would do.[/QUOTE]

Next friday when I see my group and before we start I'm going to discuss it and I'll call it announcing combat phase, that should be clear. The only part where I had any doubts was what happenes when I pass and my opponent passes and what Aneximines said makes sense.