Welcome to this month's Personal Tutor, where we'll discuss how to maximize our opportunities for player education. Our goal is to transcend the basic answer to create an informative answer that the players will really remember and teaches them something about policy, rather than just resolving this ruling. You may even find this process helps you improve your own understanding of the subject.

The Scenario:
Anni and Nova are playing in a Standard PPTQ. Nova calls you to the table. "So Anni is attacking me with Favored Hoplite. Before blocks she cast Gods Willing on her Hoplite and said red. So, in response to the heroic trigger, I cast Stoke the Flames on the Hoplite. Then she responded to that with Feat of Resistance and named red again. So Feat resolves, Stoke is countered. That's fine. But now she's saying she wants to change her Gods Willing to green even though she already picked red. Can she do that?"

The Basic Answer:
Yes, she can.

Beyond the basic answer, what is it that you want the player to learn from this experience? How might your answer lead or mislead the player regarding similar situations in the future? Keep it conversational, memorable, and concise!

L1s and Judge Candidates, feel free to give your answers immediately. L2s, please wait a day to add your input. L3+, please wait two days.

Oooh, an interesting one!

Well first I would explain to the player that the color choice is made during the resolution of the spell, and since it has not resolved yet they don't choose a color yet.

At least, in a Walgreens world anyway. In this scenario, the player has prematurely chosen a color, taking a shortcut. Normally, we would hold them to their choice, as long as no responses are made. I would explain to the player how shortcuts work, and since there was a response (the Stoke and subsequent stack) the shortcut AP took is sort of erased, and they may change their choice. I would also remind players, depending on the REL, that while shortcuts are very useful in making games go quickly, they should always try to be as clear as possible in their actions.

EDIT: hmm… do shortcuts apply to choices one would make during the resolution of a spell that hasn't resolved yet? Assuming there are no responses, would she be stuck with her first choice, red? I'll have to take another look at shortcut rules…

EDIT EDIT: yup, just read 4.2 -
If a player casts a spell or activates an ability and announces choices for it that are not normally made
until resolution, the player must adhere to those choices unless an opponent responds to that spell or
ability. If an opponent inquires about choices made during resolution, that player is assumed to be
passing priority and allowing that spell or ability to resolve.

Edited Sal Cortez (Jan. 2, 2015 07:06:46 AM)

Apologies to jump in before time.

Originally posted by Sal Cortez:

Well first I would explain to the player that the color choice is made during the resolution of the spell, and since it has not resolved yet they don't choose a color yet.
I would explain to the player how shortcuts work, and since there was a response (the Stoke and subsequent stack) the shortcut AP took is sort of erased, and they may change their choice. I would also remind players, depending on the REL, that while shortcuts are very useful in making games go quickly, they should always try to be as clear as possible in their actions.

Ok, and how would you explain that, Sal?

Quoting Josh from another Personal Tutor #13:

Joshua Feingold
Try to formulate a specific thing you might actually say to a player. Make it educational, but keep it concise. The point is not to match the answer we will give at the end. The point is to think about the way you are communicating and how you utilize your opportunities to teach players about the game.

Building off of Sal's approach to it, I think that my answer would be along the lines of the following.

“Yes, she can, since Gods Willing doesn't actually ask for a color choice to be made until it resolves. When someone casts a spell like that and they make a choice, they're essentially taking a shortcut, kind of like how people often move directly to declaring attackers. If you don't respond to the spell, they're stuck with that choice, but in this case you said ‘wait a minute, go back a step, I’d like to do something in response'. I'll let you both get back to playing, but feel free to approach me between rounds if you'd like more detail or have any questions.”

I'd make sure to be addressing both players as I speak since I feel like that's a good approach when taking an “educational” stance in a moment like this.

This is one of those cases where I do know that I still have to learn the fuzzy line between “teaching” and “coaching”. Most of my experience thus far is at regular REL, and I take every chance I can to explain things in a relatively full manner. At comp, though, it's a far different thing, and I'm curious how others might approach this answer with that in mind.

I'd explain the shortcut rules.

“well, what NAP was saying is that she wanted to name Red when it resolved - this is something she only does when the spell resolves. However, because you did things, things changed. She's no longer obligated to stick to what she wanted to intially name. As such, she still declares on resolution what she wants, and since things have changed, she can pick what it is.”

"Choosing a color for gods willing and other similar spells is something that's done while the spell resolves. If Anni named a color when she cast it, that just means she assumed you had no responses and proposed a shortcut. Because you did respond and interrupt the shortcut, Anni is allowed to change her proposal about anything that happens after the interruption."

Edited Michael Shiver (Jan. 3, 2015 04:06:25 AM)

Without having read the other answers, the best I could get was this:

“When a spell tells you to make a choice other than a target, you make that choice when the spell resolves, not when you first cast it. When a player casts a spell and makes a choice right away, he's using a tournament shortcut. You can accept the shortcut, and let the spell resolve with the choice he made; or, you can reject the shortcut to respond, in which case he gets to make the choice when the spell finally resolves.”

“Yes, she can. Choices like the one for Gods Willing are made when the spell or ability resolves. By announcing red when she cast it, Anni basically said ‘I intend to choose red, given the state of the game right now.’ And if you don't respond, she has to stick with that choice. That's a shortcut for speed. But you chose to respond, so now the game state is different, and we're not going to hold her to a premature choice made before the game state changed. So when the Gods Willing resolves, she still gets to choose a colour, which may be different from the one she announced before.”

I'll take a crack at it. =)

“Yes you can change it. Technically you don't make that decision until after Gods Willing resolves although the way you did it works fine most of the time. Now, you can't choose green as you cast a spell and then if Nova lets it go say ‘haha tricked you I actually choose red!’ but when Nova responds and the game changes like it did here, you can change the decision that you made earlier.”

If I thought they were interested I'd explain something like: “The only decisions you make when casting a spell are targets, things that say ‘choose one’ or ‘choose two’, and how to divide when it says ‘divide’ on the card.”

“That's fine. There are several things you choose when casting a spell, like charm modes, targets, damage division, etc. You can't change those. Everything else? The choice doesn't happen until the spell actually resolves, and this is one of those things. There's a tournament shortcut that says if you make a decision about one of those things earlier than necessary and your opponent responds, you get to change the choice. But if your opponent does nothing, you're locked in. So, Red it is.”

Alexander, on your second explanation, how accurate is that? Does that answer have the potential to confuse players down the line?

“So, the short answer is yes, she can do that.

When you cast a spell like Gods Willing or Feat of Resistance, you don't actually make any choices right away. When the spell resolves, the creature will get protection from a color of your choice - that's when the color of protection is chosen, during resolution.

Now, most of the time, players will play a spell, and immediately announce what color they want protection from. It's technically a bit out-of-order, but it helps make things smoother. When Anni says ‘Gods willing, Naming Red’, this is basically shorthand for, ‘I cast Gods Willing, and I intend to name Red when it resolves’. She's just announcing the choice she *will* make.

As part of the tournament rules, if she announces a choice when casting the spell, and you have no responses, then those choices are locked in. On the other hand, if you do have a response, sometimes the nature of that response means the original shortcutted announcement might not make sense any more. In these cases, the choice is put off until when was originally supposed to be made - the resolution of the spell.

In this case, since you played Stoke the Flames in response to Gods Willing, her choice for Red is no longer locked in, but waits to be made until the resolution of the spell. When it resolves, she can choose green.”


Thoughts? Too long? not technically precise enough?

I'd go for the “too long” option.
You would still have to issue extra time if you extend, so keeping it
concise but understandable is key. And, you won't lose the player's
attention in the middle of your speech.

I think I will say something like

“*choose* is not the same as *target*. When you choose something, you do it
when the spell resolves, not when you cast it. It's OK to state it at that
time, but if your opponent responds to that spell, you can then change your
choice when it resolves”


EDIT for the sake of layout. Don't get used to quote using my email app

Edited Julio Sosa (Jan. 6, 2015 08:15:45 PM)

I think your answer is a little misleading Julio, since mode selection is templated as “Choose one –” (at least in English)

True, I completely forgot modal spells. Great observation Chris!
El ene 6, 2015 6:33 PM, “Chris Nowak” <forum-15165-90e5@apps.magicjudges.org>
escribió: