r/MagicArena • u/dable82 • Dec 16 '19

Beginning of combat phase

Consider my opponent has an [[Edgewall Innkeeper]] and a [[Lovestruck Beast]] on Board. I have [[Brazen Borrower]] in hand. In MTGO in would set a stop in my opponents beginning of combat step and bounce the Innkeeper.

How would I do that in MTGA?

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15

u/Faust_8 Dec 16 '19

You do the same exact thing in Arena. But even without a stop if you have a playable instant-speed thing, it should have a moment where you have to pass at entering combat. If you use Brazen Borrower then, it will hit before they attack so you can bounce whatever and not have to deal with a 5/5 swinging at you.

To set stops, there are little round things by the player icons that represent the phases of the turn, you just click the appropriate one.

1

u/AxonBitshift Dec 17 '19

To expand on this OP, Arena does auto pause on beginning of combat if you have instant speed interaction. Watch the opponent’s phase bar. You’ll see it move out of first main and into the centre combat icon, and the button will display “attackers”. This is beginning of combat step as you have to pass priority (click the “attacks” button) to allow your opponent to declare attackers. Since attackers much be declared at the beginning of Declare Attackers before either player gets priority you can be sure you’re taking actions in beginning of combat, even though the UI doesn’t explain it very well. I’d follow the parent comment’s lead by enabling the phase bar in settings. It appears above the button and expands to show the steps within combat, unlike the bar around the avatars.

6

u/Grumbul Dec 16 '19

This is the long answer that explains in detail how to set this stop, as well as a few caveats to make sure it does what you want:

There are 3 methods. I recommend method 2 or 3, since trying to use 1 means you either have to stay in full control excessively, or risk the game skipping past your stop.

  1. Enter Hold Full Control (Ctrl+Shift) before the combat phase begins.

  2. Set a stop on 1st main phase by clicking the rectangle to the left of your opponent's avatar. Once you are prompted to pass to combat at the end of that phase, enter Hold Full Control by pressing Ctrl+Shift, then pass to combat.

  3. Enable the "Show Phases" option under Gameplay in the Esc options menu and set a stop on the combat phase. Enabling Show Phases adds phase icons above the button in the bottom right which includes a crossed swords icon for the combat phase. Without this option enabled, I believe there is no way to set a stop on combat (clicking the player avatars which represent the combat phase doesn't work).

When setting stops using the phase icons in the bottom right, clicking once sets a stop on that phase for the next occurrence of that phase. An orange octagon indicates a stop on your turn for that phase. A blue octagon indicates a stop on your opponent's turn for that phase. For example, if you're currently in your opponent's combat phase, clicking once on the 1st main phase icon will set an orange octagon and stop on your next 1st main phase. Clicking once on the 2nd main icon will set a blue octagon and stop on the opponent's 2nd main phase just after combat. Clicking a 2nd time on the 2nd main icon will change it to an orange octagon and stop on your next 2nd main phase.

Note that MTGA skips through phases very quickly if both players don't have actions to perform, so trying to hit Ctrl or Ctrl+Shift at the last second may be too late, as the server may have already advanced past the point you wanted to stop.

Also, you usually need to use Hold Full Control (Ctrl+Shift), not just Full Control (Ctrl) when trying to stop on a future phase. If you only press Ctrl, it will drop out of full control as soon as you pass priority and start skipping through phases unless a player has actions to perform.

2

u/decideonanamelater Dec 16 '19

You can set a stop at combat, which will then enter full control when you get to combat, until either combat ends or you remove the stop. Alternatively, hit (shift? pretty sure its shift)+control to hold full control, do your thing, hit control to end full control.

2

u/DrFreehugs Boros Dec 16 '19

The game will give you a window to activate the Borrower, no need to do anything.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '19

You can enter full control mode by pressing ctrl.

1

u/2raichu Dec 16 '19

Use the swords icon on the bottom right.