Yes — and understanding why is the single most useful rules upgrade a Commander player can make. Triggered abilities go on the stack just li...
Yes — and understanding why is the single most useful rules upgrade a Commander player can make. Triggered abilities go on the stack just like spells do: when the trigger condition happens, the ability is placed on the stack, and every player receives priority before it resolves. That window — after the trigger exists but before it does anything — is where removal, protection, and responses live.
The example card, read exactly
Strionic Resonator — Artifact (mana cost {2}):
{2}, {T}: Copy target triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets for the copy. (A triggered ability uses the words "when," "whenever," or "at.")
Rules answers live and die on exact wording, which is why every card named on this page can be checked in the MTGBrew card database before you rely on it at a table.
How it plays out, step by step
Walk it in order. A creature with an enters-the-battlefield trigger enters; the trigger goes on the stack. Nothing has happened yet except the creature arriving. Each player, starting with the active player, may now cast instants or activate abilities. If an opponent removes the source, the trigger still resolves — abilities on the stack exist independently of their source — unless the trigger specifically needs the source, for example a fight or a 'when this creature dies' condition. Last in resolves first, so a response cast after the trigger resolves before it. That is the whole mechanic: the stack is a queue, and priority is your turn to add to it.
When you build around interactions like this, the MTGBrew AI deck builder keeps the list honest — and the MTGBrew Learn guides collect more of these plain-English rules walk-throughs in one place.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
The short version
Walk it in order. Everything else in this article is the working-out — and at a real table, the working-out is what settles the argument, so walk the steps in order and let the text of the cards involved make the final call.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins and Mystical Tutor in Commander: What It Does and Which Decks Want It.
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