Duress vs Surgical Extraction

[Iron Buddha]

Storm player casts Duress,
I cast Surgical Extraction in response
Question: Is the card Duress already in the grave, so I can target it with my Surgical Extraction?

[r3dd09]

I cast Surgical Extraction in response


No, because you cast in response. The duress hasn't resolved yet.

[Malchar]

When a spell is cast it goes to a zone called the stack. When the spell resolves, you do the effect and then put it into the graveyard after that. There's no way to cast surgical extraction on a duress without giving your opponent the chance to make you discard the surgical to the duress's effect.

Also, in your example you can't even cast the surgical extraction unless you have a legal target.