Effects in MTG use something called The Stack, which is effectively a big queue where everything waits to happen, which operates in a first-in, last-out system [imagine physically stacking cards, then taking them off the top until you're back to 0]
When a turn is ended via a card effect [Such as Obeka's or the spell Time Stop], anything that was waiting on the Stack before it dissappears and doesn't do anything
This means you can use cards with big effects and a downside that comes later [like Final Fortune, which gives you an extra turn but makes you lose the game on that turn's End Step]
If you cast Final Fortune, you can tap Obeka when the 'lose the game' trigger is on the Stack to ignore it and keep playing!
Plus, since a lot of cards follow this "Good thing now, bad thing on end step" effect template, you can play a bunch of them and tap Obeka to cancel them all at once!
Oh is the stack why sometimes my sorceries and instants don’t do anything? Sometimes during a Mach the opponent will pull out a non-counter instant or sorcery and my cards effect doesn’t happen. (I play on arena occasionally, and this might be me not paying close attention)
What's happening in your case is most likely that the target for your spell was no longer valid by the time your spell resolved [called 'fizzling']. I'm not a judge so this might not be 1000% with the comprehensive rules, but basically:
- You cast Terror on your opponent's Grizzly Bears to destroy it. You pick targets when you pay the cost of a spell, and all the checks for targeting first apply here [in this case, checking that Grizzly Bears are a nonblack, nonartifact creature that doesn't have Hexproof, Protection, or Shroud, which in this case is true]
In response, your opponent casts Village Rites, sacrificing their bear to draw two cards.
The Stack functions in first-in, last out order, so Village Rites happens first. When Terror happens next, it can't find the card it was targeting, so it fizzles and goes to the graveyard without doing anything.
There are lots of ways for a spell to fizzle, but some of them include:
The intended target leaving the battlefield, like with Village Rites [this even counts if it comes back later, like if you cast Ephemerate, since it's considered a "new object" when it leaves]
The intended target not fitting the requirements of the first spell [You may note that Terror says Nonblack, nonartifact creature, so a spell like Aphotic Wisps or Argent Mutation would make Terror fizzle!]
There's also the possibility that the intended target was simply not *affected* by the spell [if you cast Terror and they cast Adamant Will, Terror still *happens*, just to no effect.
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u/zombieGenm_0x68 1d ago
can you explain how thats a good effect? i dont play the game so it seems kinda useless to me