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If a player activated an Æther Vial with two counters on it to drop in a Meddling Mage and named a spell already on the stack, would the named spell resolve?

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A famous match once hinged on using a similar trick. It only worked due to an odd gap in the rules for madness, which has since been removed. – Sean McMillan Jan 12 '12 at 21:58
Brent, there seems to be a good answer here. Any chance you can mark it as accepted (click the tick)? – deworde Jan 13 '12 at 20:33
Sorry, still pretty new, I don't see where on my screen to mark this as accepted. – Brent Allen Hydorn Jan 17 '12 at 6:17
@BrentAllenHydorn: just below the answer's points there is a outline of a V, click there. – Lohoris Jan 17 '12 at 13:15

1 Answer

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The spell on the stack will resolve successfully, even if you name it with Meddling Mage.

The rulings for Meddling Mage say the following:

2/1/2006 If you somehow manage to cast this while other spells are on the stack, those spells won't be countered.

5/1/2009 Spells with the chosen name that somehow happen to already be on the stack when Meddling Mage enters the battlefield are not affected by Meddling Mage's ability.

To clarify the old "played" phrasing (which some people confuse with resolve), the Oracle text actually says:

The named card can't be cast.

Since the named spell has already been cast, the existing spell on the stack will still be on the stack after Meddling Mage has entered, and will still resolve.

If you did have a creature that was able to counter or exile a spell on the stack (as opposed to the "named card can't be cast" effect) like Spellstutter Sprite, you could put that into play with Æther Vial and have it work they way you're intending.

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