Short answer first, then the reasoning — that is how rules questions deserve to be answered, in plain English and from real card text. The ...
Short answer first, then the reasoning — that is how rules questions deserve to be answered, in plain English and from real card text.
The short answer
The stack is where spells and abilities wait to resolve, and it empties from the top: the last thing put on it resolves first. Work through one example. You attack with your commander. Your opponent casts a removal spell targeting it — that spell goes on the stack. You respond with a protection spell — yours goes on top. Nobody else responds, so your protection spell resolves first, your commander gains protection, the removal spell's target is now illegal, and when it tries to resolve it is removed from the stack without effect. Passing priority is how this dance is run: after anything is added to the stack, each player in turn order may add more before the top item resolves. Nothing resolves while anyone still wants to respond — which is why 'in response' is the most important phrase in Magic.
A real card, for reference
Spell Pierce (mana cost {U}; Instant; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Aetherdrift):
Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.
Keep the reference card's wording in mind when you apply the explanation above — in Magic, the exact printed text of the cards involved always outranks any general summary, including this one. When a table disagrees, read the cards aloud, apply the explanation step by step, and you will reach the right answer almost every time.
Build and check your list with the MTGBrew Learn guides, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Sensei's Divining Top in Commander: What It Does and Which Decks Want It — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Sensei's Divining Top in Commander: What It Does and Which Decks Want It and Isshin, Two Heavens as One Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins.
Keep building on it
The wins rarely come from a single spectacular play. They come from the deck doing its ordinary thing one turn earlier than the table expects, then doing it again while opponents are still setting up. Build for that ordinary game first: enough lands to make your drops, enough ramp to reach your key spells on schedule, and enough card flow that one removal spell slows you down instead of ending you.
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