#declare attackers

[magicjudge]

Can Kitesail Corsair be declared as an attacker if the defending player controls Sandwurm Convergence?

Yes, it can.

A creature doesn’t become an attacking creature until the very end of the process of declaring attackers. Sandwurm Convergence and other attacking restrictions are considered earlier in the process and so Kitesail Corsair gets around the wrath of the hungry sandwurms somehow.

[magicjudge]

Sorry if this seems basic but when attacking in the attack phase is there and order to it or do all creatures attack at the same time?

You choose all of the creatures that are attacking at the same time, then when you’ve decided which creatures are attacking and which opponent or planeswalker each one is attacking, all of those creatures then become attacking creature simultaneously.

[magicjudge]

My opponent has a crewed smuggler copter and I have a planeswalker in play. My opponent attacks with the copter and resolves the copter's trigger. I say I take the damage, my opponent says he was attacking my PW. What happens (competitive REL)?

Your opponent has to declare if they’re attacking you or your planeswalker when they attack with Copter. If they don’t specify, then it’s attacking you.

[magicjudge]

If a creature is put into play tapped and attacking, has it attacked for turn? Say I have a Scourge of the Throne and a Yore-tiller Nephilim. Both attack, with Yore-tiller bringing back Aurelia, the Warleader before the Scourge untaps my attacking creatures and makes another combat. If Aurelia attacks in the next combat, does her ability trigger and grant me another additional combat phase?

A creature that enters the battlefield attacking is an attacking creature, but it hasn’t attacked. 

A creature attacks when it is declared as an attacker at the beginning of the declare attackers step and a creature that enters the battlefield attacking wasn’t declared as an attacker. Abilities that trigger when a creature attacks won’t trigger for that creature.

[magicjudge]

question about tapping creatures in combat. my mate tapped to attack and made a creature unblock-able then in response i cast Pressure Point to tap his creature so it couldn't attack but he said his creature is already tapped because of combat that i couldn't do that. Surely he has to declare what creatures are attacking first then i have the chance to respond?

Your opponent only declares which creatures are attacking as they’re declared as attackers. Your don’t get the opportunity to tap those creatures once they’re actually declared as attackers. Your last chance to tap a creature before it can attack is in the beginning of combat step, but at that point there’s no foreknowledge of which creatures will attack.

If your opponent made their creature unable to be blocked once it was already attacking, then trying to tap it won’t remove it from combat or the like.

[magicjudge]

I'm a little rusty in my two-headed giant. If I attack player a, can player b block for him?

You don’t attack a specific opponent in 2HG. Rather, you attack the entire defending team (or a planeswalker one of them controls). Either defending player can assign blockers for creatures that are attacking them or a planeswalker one of them controls.

If a creature attacks the opposing team in 2HG and isn’t blocked, then you choose one of the two players to assign the damage to when combat damage is dealt.

[magicjudge]

When do you pay for Ghostly Prison? Can you pay for it during the pre-combat main phase?

The cost imposed by Ghostly Prison is a cost to attack. 

Any costs to attack or block are paid when you declare attackers or blockers, as appropriate. The cost can only be paid at that time and there’s no way to pre-pay. (This means that you can’t use spare mana from previous steps or phases to pay for it.)

[magicjudge]

In a 3-player game, opponent A goaded my creature and opponent B controls Ghostly Prison. What are my options?

When a creature is goaded, two attacking requirements are created for it until the next turn of the goad effect’s controller:

The creature must attack each combat if able.

The creature must attack a player other than the goad effect’s controller if able.

When a player declares attackers, they have to fulfill as many attacking requirements as possible without violating any attacking restrictions. 

Ghostly Prison creates an attacking restriction unless the creature’s controller chooses to pay 2. This payment can’t be forced in any way, so if the creature’s controller chooses not to pay, then attacking Ghostly Prison’s controller isn’t allowed.

Let’s assume that each of A and B also control a planeswalker and look at the various ways the goaded creature can attack:

If you don’t attack at all with the creature, you’re fulfilling neither of the attacking requirements.

If you attack player A, you’re fulfilling the first requirement but not the second.

If you attack player A’s planeswalker, you’re fulfilling the first requirement but not the second.

If you attack player B and don’t pay for Ghostly Prison, you’re violating an attacking restriction but fulfilling both requirements.

If you attack player B and pay for Ghostly Prison, you’re fulfilling both requirements.

If you attack player B’s planeswalker (for which you don’t have to pay for Ghostly Prison), you’re fulfilling the first requirement but not the second.

Attacking player B and not paying for Ghostly Prison isn’t an option because it violates an attacking restriction, so this option is discarded.

There’s only one option that fulfills both requirements without violating any restrictions, but to fulfill it, you have to choose to pay for Ghostly Prison, which you’re not required to do. You’re absolutely allowed to choose to pay and then attack B if you want to, though.

Not attacking at all isn’t an option because all of the other options fulfill more attacking requirements than this, so it’s not a legal choice.

All of the other remaining choices each fulfill one of the two requirements and so if you don’t want to pay for Ghostly Prison you have to choose to attack any planeswalker or player A.