The attacking player attacks with some creature. The defending player doesn’t block, so the attacking player plays [[Michelangelo, Improviser]] using his first ability (sneak). The defending player targets Michelangelo using a [[Maze of Ith]].
Can the defending player target Michelangelo using the Maze (probably yes, since it enters attacking), and is it possible early enough to prevent it from dealing damage (thus also preventing his second ability from triggering)?
I love Maze of Ith. One other trick that I learned when I started playing Lands is that there’s still an opportunity to untap your own creature after damage has been dealt as it’s still technically “attacking”:
You can activate Maze of Ith’s ability targeting an attacking creature you control during the combat damage step or the end of combat step, even though it will already have dealt combat damage. This will untap the creature. The damage it dealt will be unaffected.
I used this to untap my own Marit Lage token so it can block in my opponent’s turn.
Yes, you can use Maze on Sneak and Ninjutsu creatures after they enter and prevent them from doing combat damage that turn.
Worth calling out here is the opponent can still sneak/ninjutsu in response if they have another card that can in hand. If you suspect that the opponent plays more than one card with sneak/ninjutsu and has untapped mana, you might want to consider that possibility before targeting the creature.
As an example:
- Opponent declares some creature as an attacker.
- You declare no blockers.
- Opponent casts Michelangelo, returning the attacker to hand, and it resolves.
- You target it with Maze of Ith to remove it from combat. The ability is on the stack, but not yet resolved.
- Opponent casts Donatello, Gadget Master for his sneak cost, returning Michangelo to hand. It resolves.
- Maze of Ith’s target is invalid. The ability does nothing.
- Your opponent passes priority, then you pass priority. In the damage step, Donatello deals combat damage to you and triggers.
Basically, during the declare blockers step, sneak/ninjutsu lets you juggle creatures around at instant speed as long as you have the mana.
Yes you can use Maze of Ith against sneak or ninjitsu etc. The replacement creature enters attacking so it’s a valid target. You also do have an opportunity to respond after the sneak effect resolves but before combat moves to the damage phase.
Maze of Ith doesn’t block or remove from combat, it just stops combat damage, so as I understand it, sneak works as he is unblocked (presuming they didn’t also block him, of course.), the combat damage based ability does not as damage was prevented.
