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When your opponent casts a spell inMagic: The Gathering, you have an opportunity to respond with a spell or ability of your own. But what if they have a spell so fast that you can’t respond to it? In a split second, your creatures can die, your artifacts can be shattered, and your opponent can win the game.
Cards with split second have a unique niche in the level of difficulty interacting with them, but, contrary to popular belief, they don’t just force the stack to resolve. We’ll take the time to tell you what you may and can’t do with them.
What Is Split Second?
Split second isa keyword abilityoriginally introduced in 2006’s Time Spiral which occasionally pops up in Commander- and Modern-focused products. Spells with split secondprevent any player from playing spells or activating abilitiesas long as those spells are on the stack.
For that reason,it’s difficult to interact with split second spells. You can’t cast a Counterspell or Untimely Malfunction as long as they’re on the stack, and you can’t even sacrifice a targeted creature to Goblin Bombardment in response. For most active interaction,you’ll need to wait for the spell to resolve before you can do anything.
Mana abilities are the exceptionto the activated ability prohibition. you may absolutely tap your Birds of Paradise for mana in response to your opponent using Sudden Shock to kill it.
Spells with split second only prevent new spells and activated abilities from going on the stack until those spells resolve, butonce the spell with split second resolves, you’re free to interact normally with any other spellson the stack.
Split second blocks players from casting new spells and activating abilities, but it doesn’t affect mana abilities, triggered abilities, or special actions like morph. This gives you just a little bit of wiggle room to play around split second.
How To Use Split Second
Spells with split second function almost exactly the same as other spells, except that they severely limit your opponent’s options to interact with them. They can’t be countered or redirected by standard instants and activated abilities, so the only way your opponent can interact with them is with something already in play.
Cards with split second are not immune to being countered: Triggered abilities that counter spells, such asward, interact normally with split second spells.
Most split second spells are variants of otherwise mechanically similar spells, but the additional effect comes with an additional cost. The clearest analogs are Shock and Sudden Shock, which are both red instants that deal two damage to any target, but Sudden Shock has a mana cost one generic higher and the second split ability.
This means thatyou can fit split second cards into virtually any deck, either as a backup for a spell that you need, or as an alternative that your opponents can’t deal with. This is particularly important if you play in an environment where control decks have a heavy presence.
Unfortunately, with only a couple dozen split second spells available, and no synergistic payoffs for using them,they’re a niche tool they see limited use.
The Best Cards With Split Second
Spells with split second tend to cost a little more mana than their more interactive equivalents, sothe best ones are either mechanically unique spells or effects that you need to resolvewithout your opponents' interference.
Shadow The Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog is the only card thatgives other spells split second, which can throw a wrench into your opponents' game plan. On top of giving near immunity to counters, red and black have a ton of creature and artifact removal effects, and with Shadow giving them split second, you can get around most tricks that other colors can use to protect their permanents.
As long as you’re using mana rocks or Treasure as your mana sources,Shadow can significantly reduce the mental load of playing Magic, since you rarely need to worry about your opponents responding to your spells.
Krosan Grip
Krosan Grip is a variant of Naturalizefor when you really need an artifact or enchantment gone. It’s especially useful for shutting down combo engines with one or two artifact components, since your opponent can’t usually start their combo in response.
Since it only costs one mana more than Naturalize, and green is the color with the best mana acceleration,Krosan Grip can replace Naturalize in virtually every mono-green deck, and you’ll never feel the difference until split second wins you the game.
Inventory Management
Inventory Management is mechanically unique, and it’sa must-have for Boros (red/white)Voltron decks. If an opponent tries to destroy a creature with all of your Auras and Equipment attached to it, for two mana you’re able to move all of them to another creature, or spread them between several creatures.
It can also be used as a combat trick, allowing you to spread Auras and Equipment between several creatures, thenmove them to the ones that weren’t blocked, or even to save an important creature by moving your Lightning Greaves onto a creature being targeted by a removal spell.
