I totally stumbled on a great teaching analogy the other day that I would like to share with a larger audience. If my reasoning is flawed let me know.

Adam, a student of mine, was really having trouble with a basic Magic concept. It's a concept that all players must understand and it is part of the game that distinguishes Magic the Gathering from most other games. That concept is the stack. While trying to explain how the stack can be abused with Tidehollow Sculler (see last weeks classroom) I found myself saying the following.

"Think like Neo in the Matrix."

What seemed a small example at the time has really expanded in my mind. Picture the scene where Neo is in a gun fight with an Agent. Neo first empties his clip at the Agent and he is able to dodge every bullet. Then the Agent responds in kind. At first Neo is able to dodge and move around each shot but the last bullet clips him on the leg. This would have been game over except for Trinity and her "Dodge this". How does this involve the stack?

The Game of Magic flows through Phases and Steps like we flow through Hours and Minutes. These concepts feel very linear and by design they are. Situations that involve the Stack halt this flow and cause it take a right turn for a short duration. Neo and the other characters in the Matrix can do this same thing for time. For you and I a bullet travels faster than we can see but in that scene we get to see the world through Neo's eyes and the bullets seems incredibly slow. It's not that there slow but instead Time is nearly halted.

The best players of our game can react to each action and view it as if time itself has halted and time is of no importance. Lands are tapped and out comes the first spell. Most of use just flow with the game and move on. Taking our turns and tapping our stuff in hopes of the win. I believe the pro's see a spell play and automatically vision the upcoming turns. They know their deck, their pretty sure of their opponents list, and the can calculate the chances of the game going their way. Most of the time they aren't really able to alter the normal flow and so they look just like you and me. But when those times occur that they do have influence and can bend the future by using the stack you can bet they will make it work.

When the best clash against each other we can see true abuses of the stack. Each player fires shots at the other only to see the other dodge and shot back. Some times the stack interactions get so complex that a single phase may have more spells and abilities played than the sum total of the three previous turns. That is the pinnacle of Magic and understanding it is critical to your success. So each player should hope to see the world like Neo. Phases and Steps are not linear they are merely opportunities to build a stack.

Teaching the Stack

I wish every player was able to play the Online version of the game when learning the rules. The picture representations of spells and abilities and how they stack teach the game in such a simple way. What I've taken to is using Post-It Notes in a similar fashion. Of course that slows the game down but when a player really wants to learn it is well worth the effort. Rarely does a student come to me and ask how the stack works. Instead I just sit and wait for those "teachable moments". Most of these moments come from games where two opponents start to bicker about the rules. When these arguments involve the stack I break out the notes.

With notes in hand I elaborate as long as I have an audience. First I lay out these rules:

1. There are two players. The player whose turn it is gets "Firsties"
2. The player with "Firsties" can put any spell (paper) on the stack.
3. Papers place on top of other papers must be generated by Instants or Abilities.
4. Papers made by players without "firsties" must also be generated by Instants or Abilities.
5. When no player wants to add to the pile then the spells resolve.

After those rules are established I go into some examples.

Simple Example

You have an untapped Birds of Paradise in play. On my turn I play a Lightning Bolt. At this point we have only one sticky note that says "bolt" on it. I can then choose to add any stackable spell or ability on top of the Bolt. I pass priority instead. If you pass as well Bolt resolves and Birds gets buried in a shoebox in the back yard.

However, you may have a Giant Growth in hand. Now when I pass you may play your Growth. Now we have two Stickies, one that says Bolt and the other says Growth on top of it. If we both pass at this point the spells would resolve and the Bird gets a steroid shot has laughs off my puny 3 damage.

But I also have a Burst Lightning so I don't pass. Instead I add another sticker that says Burst on top of the Growth which is on top of the Bolt. Now things get a little weird if we both pass. The Burst goes first and your Birds felt the brunt of the storm that ends its life. Then your attempted intervention has no one to boost and fizzles. My own Bolt reaches its destination only to find no critter to fry and fizzles as well.

Counter spell example.

You finally have the mana up to drop a Sphinx of Jwar Isle. You know that this means game since all I have played so far was targeted removal and the Shroud alone should get you my last life. Of course you don't have tons of extra mana available but you figure it's okay to be tapped out this turn. I respond with Mana Leak and all of you hopes are crushed.

I use this example because it's important to show that all spells use the stack and show how spells with options use it as well. This is how it looks on stickies. First we write down a note called Sphinx, then on top of that we place a note that says Leak, but then we also need to put a note that says "Pay 3?". When the notes resolve you first have the option of paying three mana. You can't so the choice basically fizzles. Now the Leak resolves and as part of its resolution the Sphinx paper gets crumpled up and a thrown away.

Now let's say you played something cheaper like a Scythe Tiger. I am blockerless and the shroud will deny all of my Doom Blades and Assassinates. So I go with Mana Leak again. You have the three mana open but instead choose to play a Negate targeting my Leak I play another Leak targeting the Negate. You and I both pass priority so the stack starts to resolve. Let's look at the Post-Its. Starting at the bottom we have Tiger/Leak/Pay 3/Negate/Leak/Pay 3. You choose not to pay three (even though you have it). The top Leak resolves removing itself and the Negate note from the stack. Then we encounter the second Pay 3. This one you tap out to pay to cancel the spell thinking you Tiger is safe. By paying three you then remove both the pay 3 and Leak papers on the stack. You think that Tiger is ready to pounce but wait……..I smile and reveal my Essence Scatter. Now the stack says Tiger/Scatter. Scatter resolves and the Tiger goes with it.

If you haven't seen or been in a game with a counter your counter war then you've been missing out. Some of the most epic Magic comes from the Control deck Mirror matches.

Communication Example

I also try to show an example that expresses the need to communicate your stack intentions.

This example actually took place in my own classroom. At the time it was a Nantuko Husk/Symbiotic Wurm/ Shock interaction. I've updated it to be Bloodthrone Vampire/ Mitotic Slime/ Lightning Bolt. We'll call our players Alex and Nate. It's Alex's turn and he has 5 land untapped and a Bloodthrone Vampire on the field and sits at 5 life. Nate is a Red Deck and has one card in hand with one untapped mountain and sits at a comfortable 12 life. The conversation goes as follows:

An argument ensued and I had to play Judge (I hate doing that). Using the papers we rebuilt the turn. Slime came first. Both players added nothing so it resolved. Declare Attacks and Blocks went through just as easily. When damage was going to be figured Alex puts 7 pieces of paper on the stack each saying +2 +2. Note that Alex doesn't need to release priority or even ask Nate if he has anything to play since Alex is the active player. Then when Alex was done Nate finally gets a chance to add his own piece of paper. It says Bolt. Now our stack looks like this (from Bottom to Top) +2 +2. /+2 +2. /+2 +2. /+2 +2. /+2 +2. /+2 +2. /+2 +2. / Bolt. Bolt resolve first killing the Vamp and all the +2's fizzle.

If Alex would have simply offered up priority after each sacing and made 7 different tiny stacks then the game would have been his. It's all in what you say sometimes and it's important to communicate the stack.

2 Steps Forward Example

From the above example I start to explain how you can actually use part of the stack and then add to it before it empties. For me this is the major hurdle in Stack comprehension. I have a lot of students that build stacks and understand their resolutions but it never occurs to them to interrupt the stack as it resolves.

I've recently started using the following combo to illustrate this scenario. You have an Echo Mage fully leveled, 5 Islands and 2 Mountains in play. In hand you hold a Fireball and a Reality Spasm. If it's your turn you have infinite damage available but you have to use the stack right. First tap 3 Islands and 2 Mountains to make a Reality Spasm for 3. Do not release Priority and use you remaining 2 Islands to tap and Activate Echo Mages ability to make two copies of Spasm. That puts our stack at Spasm 3 (original)/Spasm 3/ Spasm 3. Release Priority.

If the opponent has no responses then you let one copy resolve untapping 2 Islands and the Echo Mage. Check for responses again. If none, untap 3 more lands with the other copy of Spasm. Do not let the original Spasm resolve! Tap all lands and activate the Mage again. Creating two more copies. Now the stack looks like Spasm 3 (original)/Spasm 3/ Spasm 3 but we also have 3 Mana floating. Keep doing the partial resolution of the stack and you can create an infinitely large Fireball. Please remember that you have to let the whole stack resolve before you play the Fireball since it's a Sorcery and can't be placed on top of any other paper.

Note that if you had a Lightning Bolt in hand instead you can play it and copy it as well. Just alternate between Echo targets of Bolt and Spasm. You can even pull it off with a Cunning Sparkmage and a Spasm set for 4. The Sparkmage method requires Echo to only be at level 2.

The important thing is the fact the stack is always being partially resolved. You build it. Use part of it. And then build some more.

That's the class for today and I've probably barely touched the surface of things you can do with the stack. Hope you like it.

Class Dismissed.