Declaring attack phase

[KobeBryan]

The person has an Emurkhal in play via Sneak Attack. He declares attackers, Can I at this point karakas the emmy before the annihilator trigger?

[Koby]

The person has an Emurkhal in play via Sneak Attack. He declares attackers, Can I at this point karakas the emmy before the annihilator trigger?

No, once Emrakul is declared an attacker (this action does not use the Stack - Declare Attack step of Combat Phase), the trigger will be on the stack regardless if Karakas returned him or not.

You would need to activate it during the Beginning of Combat Step of the Combat Phase. However, once you activate Karakas, the active player will regain priority and can activate Sneak Attack once more.

508. (http://www.yawgatog.com/resources/magic-rules/#R508) Declare Attackers Step

[KobeBryan]

No, once Emrakul is declared an attacker (this action does not use the Stack - Declare Attack step of Combat Phase), the trigger will be on the stack regardless if Karakas returned him or not.

You would need to activate it during the Beginning of Combat Step of the Combat Phase. However, once you activate Karakas, the active player will regain priority and can activate Sneak Attack once more.

508. (http://www.yawgatog.com/resources/magic-rules/#R508) Declare Attackers Step

No wonder you're playing this deck.

[Asthereal]

If the guy says 'I would like to go the the combat step', then you can Karakas the monster at the end of the pre-combat main phase, but he will just Sneak it back into play for another R and attack anyway.

[xfxf]

So is there a specific point in time when you can effectively bounce Emrakul without being annihilated while Sneak Attack is on the table?

[Esper3k]

So is there a specific point in time when you can effectively bounce Emrakul without being annihilated while Sneak Attack is on the table?

If they have at least R open, there isn't a time you can bounce Emrakul without them getting a chance to Sneak Attack it back into play.

[xfxf]

Get into play OK, they'll put it into play.. But about the annihilator trigger, is there a way to bypass it?

[Justin]

Get into play OK, they'll put it into play.. But about the annihilator trigger, is there a way to bypass it?

Not with Karakas if they have an extra Red. Once they've gone to the Declare Attackers Step and attack with Emrakul, the Annihilator trigger will go on the stack. Unless you Stifle it or something, you will end up sacrificng six permanents.

If you bounce Emrakul before attackers are declared, the Sneak Attack player can put it back on the battlefield for R and then move to the Declare Attackers Step. Once both players have passed priority and we have moved to this step, there is nothing you can do. The active player will declare his/her attackers and any relevant triggers will go on the stack. The action of declaring attackers does not use the stack, so at that point, you cannot bounce a potential attacker before they declare it.