A lot of people have been playing Red/Green aggro decks after their strong showing recently, especially with the power behind Huntmaster of the Fells. So you’re likely to into a situation where both players have a Huntmaster that’s trying to transform during the same upkeep. How do you handle this?

For this, we have a simple rule called “APNAP” order. AP stands for Active Player, and NAP for Non-Active Player. The Active Player is the player whose turn it currently is, and the Nonactive Player[s] would be everyone else. If multiple things controlled by different players trigger simultaneously [such as the Huntmaster on either side of the board], the triggers go onto the stack in APNAP order. First, the Active Player will place his or her trigger on the stack. Then, the Non-Active Players, in turn order, do the same. So in a typical 2-player game, the NAP’s trigger will resolve first, and the AP’s second.

So, Trevor and Peter each control a Huntmaster. During Peter’s turn, neither player casts any spells. At the beginning of Trevor’s upkeep, both Huntmasters trigger (remember, they don’t transform until the triggered ability resolves). Trevor puts his trigger on the stack first, followed by Peter. Peter’s trigger resolves, and he transforms his Huntmaster. Now, since it transformed into Ravager of the Fells, it triggers the “When this transform into Ravager” ability, and THAT goes on the stack, still above Trevor’s transform trigger. The newly-transformed Ravager will quite probably target and kill Trevor’s Huntmaster while it’s still just a 2/2 non-fuzzy guy. So poor Trevor won’t get to transform his Huntmaster at all, since it’s not in play when Trevor’s transform trigger finally resolves and does nothing.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Trevor Nunez, Level 1 Judge from Roswell, NM