The beginning phase is the first phase of an individual turn and consists of three distinct steps executed in order.
Untap Step: Players cannot cast spells, activate abilities, or use mana abilities. Triggers are held until upkeep.
Upkeep & Draw Steps: Instants can be cast and abilities activated once the automatic turn steps complete.
Technical Breakdown
1. The Untap Step
- Phasing actions: All phased-in permanents with phasing controlled by the active player phase out. Simultaneously, all phased-out permanents that were controlled by the active player when they phased out phase in. This is a turn-based action that does not use the stack.
- Untapping permanents: The active player untaps all tapped permanents they control simultaneously. This is a turn-based action that does not use the stack.
- Static restrictions: If a static effect specifies that a permanent does not untap during its controller's untap step, that permanent remains tapped.
- No priority: No player receives priority during the untap step. Spells cannot be cast, and activated abilities (including mana abilities) cannot be activated.
- Delayed triggers: Any abilities that trigger during the untap step are held. They do not enter the stack until the upkeep step begins.
2. The Upkeep Step
- Stacking triggers: Any abilities that triggered during the untap step, along with any abilities that trigger "at the beginning of your upkeep," are placed onto the stack.
- Priority distribution: The active player receives priority first once all applicable triggers are on the stack.
- Permitted actions: Players may cast instants, cast spells with flash, or activate abilities only after priority has been formally granted.
- Timing restrictions: Normal sorceries, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers cannot be cast, nor can lands be played, unless an effect specifically grants them flash or modifies timing rules.
3. The Draw Step
- Turn-based card draw: The active player draws a card from their library. This is a mandatory turn-based action that does not use the stack and cannot be responded to by any player.
- First-turn exception: The player or team going first in a standard two-player game or a Two-Headed Giant game completely skips the draw step of their very first turn. The draw step is not skipped by the starting player in other multiplayer formats.
- Draw triggers: Any abilities that trigger "at the beginning of the draw step" or "whenever you draw a card" are placed onto the stack immediately following the turn-based draw.
- Final action window: The active player receives priority after the card is drawn and any associated triggers are placed on the stack. Instants may be cast and abilities activated before the game automatically transitions to the precombat main phase.
Beginning Phase Card Interactions
Various cards modify the structure of these steps, alter turn-based actions, or trigger specifically based on these timing intervals.
Creates an entirely new beginning phase (an untap step, an upkeep step, and a draw step) during the postcombat main phase. This lets a player untap lands and permanents, resolve upkeep triggers, and draw an additional card before their turn ends. (CR 502.2, 502.3)
These permanents alter the static rules of the untap step. Winter Orb restricts players to untapping only one land during their untap step, while Stasis forces players to skip their untap step entirely. (CR 502.2)
Abilities with the "Inspired" keyword trigger when the creature becomes untapped. Because the game forces all controlled permanents to untap simultaneously during the untap step, these abilities trigger immediately but are held until the upkeep step to be put on the stack. (CR 502.3)
Targets a player and grants them a second, consecutive upkeep step directly after their first. Any "at the beginning of your upkeep" triggers fire a second time during the turn. (CR 503.1)
Completely eliminates the upkeep step from the turn structure for all players. The game transitions directly from the untap step to the draw step, bypassing cumulative upkeep costs and detrimental upkeep triggers. (CR 503.1)
Functions entirely within the upkeep step. At the beginning of the suspended card's owner's upkeep, a time counter is removed. When the last counter comes off, the card is cast as a turn-based trigger during that step. (CR 702.62)
These cards alter or replace the fundamental turn-based action of the draw step. Necropotence states the active player skips their draw step entirely. Maralen stops players from drawing cards at all, replacing the draw step with a library search. (CR 504.1)
Triggers "at the beginning of each player's draw step." Because it is a triggered ability, it goes on the stack immediately after the active player has already performed their normal turn-based draw, forcing them to cycle their entire hand to the bottom of their library and redraw. (CR 504.2)
Exploits the precise moment a card is drawn. If a card with Miracle is the first card a player draws during a turn, they may reveal it immediately. This triggers a special priority window allowing them to cast the spell for its reduced Miracle cost during the draw step. (CR 702.94)
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