Kalonian Hydra really likes counters. I mean, look at him. All those heads, and he just doubles in size whenever he attacks! He really likes counters.

You know who else likes counters, is green, and costs three mana? If you guessed Predator Ooze, pat yourself on the back! Just don’t pat the Predator Ooze, he bites.

Both Kalonian Hydra and Predator Ooze have abilities that trigger based on attacking. If you attack with both of them, their abilities will both trigger at the same time. However, Magic uses the stack to resolve abilities, and it’s impossible for two different abilities to resolve at the same time. Since the two triggers are both waiting to be put on the stack, and you control them both, you get to pick the order that they go onto the top of the stack.  The trigger that you put onto the stack first will end up on the bottom and will resolve last, since the stack is processed from top to bottom.

The best plan of action is to put the Kalonian Hydra’s ability onto the stack first, so that it will resolve last. The Ooze’s ability will then end up on top of the stack, and resolve first, giving it a shiny-new counter. When the Kalonian Hydra’s ability resolves, it will double the counter that Predator Ooze just received, along with all the other +1/+1 counters on your creatures. All your creatures win!

Today’s Rules Tip written by Paul Baranay