Two Dangerous Wagers in han…: seems pretty useless, right? Well, not necessarily. Dangerous Wager is an instant, so you can cast it in response to an opponent’s spell; but what many players don’t realize is that you can cast spells in response to your own spells as well! After a player casts a spell, priority is given back to that player. Most of the time, this doesn’t do much, so players will pass and wait for their opponent to let the spell resolve. However, if you announce you’re “retaining priority,” you can pile up spells on the stack without your opponent being able to do anything in between (though none of them will actually resolve until the opponent receives and passes priority for each spell).

So how does this help us with Dangerous Wager? You can cast one, then retain priority and cast the other immediately after it. The second Wager will resolve, and you’ll discard any cards remaining in your hand and draw two cards. You won’t discard the first Wager because it’s on the stack, not in your hand. Then, after a spell or ability on the stack resolves, players get priority to cast spells and activate abilities again. If any of those two cards drawn are instants or permanents with flash, you can cast them while the first Wager is still on the stack, and you won’t have to discard them later!

However, keep in mind that you can’t get 4 cards in hand this way; any cards you drew off the second Wager that are still in your hand when the first Wager resolves must be discarded.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Jen Wong, Level 1 judge from Irvine, CA