Twiddle vs. Prodigal Sorcerer...can Twiddle ever save you?

DESCRIPTION OF THE CARD(S)

Prodigal Sorcerer:

The Prodigal Sorcerer card is a Summon Wizard card that costs 2 generic mana and 1 blue mana to cast.

1) It has power and toughness of 1/1.

2) For a cost of:

Tapping of the Prodigal Sorcerer
the Prodigal Sorcerer does 1 damage to a target creature or player.

Twiddle:

The Twiddle card is an instant that costs 1 blue mana to cast.

1) It taps or untaps any one target creature, land or artifact.


Alex owns the Twiddle card. Bob owns the Prodigal Sorcerer card.

SCENARIO 1: Can Alex save himself (or his creature) by casting Twiddle to "tap" the Prodigal Sorcerer in response to Bob trying to use the Prodigal Sorcerer's's ability to do damage?

No.
Let's say Bob decides that he's going to invoke the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage. Here's the steps that describe the Life Cycle of the Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage:

1) Bob announces that he's going to "ping" (or "poke") with the Prodigal Sorcerer (i.e. that he's going to invoke the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage). Announcing the intention to use an ability (or cast a spell) means you also pay all costs (which must be already available.) During the announcement step, nothing can prevent the payment of the costs (Please note: There are things that prevent you from announcing the desire to play an ability. Without these, nothing stops the announcement, and thus nothing stops the payment of costs). This means that once Bob announces that he's going to "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer, he immediately taps the card, without an interruption. The Prodigal Sorcerer is now tapped.

2) Alex may now attempt to interrupt the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage. Since Twiddle is an instant and not an interrupt, he can't use it here.

3) The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is placed "in the stack" of spells/abilities that are awaiting resolution.

4) Alex may now choose to respond to Bob's placement of the Prodigal Sorcerer's ability on the stack with either (1) an instant, (2)a spell that may be played as an instant, (3) a spell that may be cast whenever you could cast an instant or (4) the ability of a permanent that can be played as an instant. So let's say he decides to respond at this point by casting Twiddle to tap the Prodigal Sorcerer. He first draws mana into his mana pool (a sub-step, and one to which Bob can't respond). Then he casts Twiddle and without an interruption from Bob, it goes "in the stack", awaiting resolution. Note that during the announcement of casting Twiddle, Alex had to pick two things: 1) A target (the Prodigal Sorcerer) and 2) Whether he's going to TAP or UNTAP that target (in this Scenario we'll assume he wanted to TAP. In Scenario 2, we'll see what happens if he chooses UNTAP).

FINAL RESULT:

The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is in the stack first. The Twiddle is in the stack last. Nothing else is in the stack, so the resolution (last to first) has the Twiddle tapping the (tapped) Prodigal Sorcerer. According to the rules about "tapping a tapped card", this mean the Twiddle "...does not 'fizzle', but it does 'fail' to do anything..."). Following this, the Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage resolves, and the chosen target takes 1 point of damage.

SCENARIO 2: Can Alex save himself by casting Twiddle to "untap" the Prodigal Sorcerer in response to Bob trying to use the Prodigal Sorcerer's's ability to do damage?

No.
Let's say Bob decides that he's going to invoke the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage. Here's the steps that describe the Life Cycle of the Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage:

1) Bob announces that he's going to "ping" (or "poke") with the Prodigal Sorcerer (i.e. that he's going to invoke the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage). Announcing the intention to use an ability (or cast a spell) means you also pay all costs (which must be already available.) During the announcement step, nothing can prevent the payment of the costs (Please note: There are things that prevent you from announcing the desire to play an ability. Without these, nothing stops the announcement, and thus nothing stops the payment of costs). This means that once Bob announces that he's going to "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer, he immediately taps the card, without an interruption. The Prodigal Sorcerer is now tapped.

2) Alex may now attempt to interrupt the ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage. Since Twiddle is an instant and not an interrupt, he can't use it here.

3) The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is placed "in the stack" of spells/abilities that are awaiting resolution.

4) Alex may now choose to respond to Bob's placement of the Prodigal Sorcerer's ability on the stack with either (1) an instant, (2)a spell that may be played as an instant, (3) a spell that may be cast whenever you could cast an instant or (4) the ability of a permanent that can be played as an instant. So let's say he decides to respond at this point by casting Twiddle to untap the Prodigal Sorcerer. He first draws mana into his mana pool (a sub-step, and one to which Bob can't respond). Then he casts Twiddle and without an interruption from Bob, it goes "in the stack", awaiting resolution. Note that during the announcement of casting Twiddle, Alex had to pick two things: 1) A target (the Prodigal Sorcerer) and 2) Whether he's going to TAP or UNTAP that target (in this Scenario we'll assume he wanted to UNTAP. In Scenario 1, we saw what happened if he chooses to TAP).

FINAL RESULT:

The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is in the stack first. The Twiddle is in the stack last. Nothing else is in the stack, so the resolution (last to first) has the Twiddle untapping the (tapped) Prodigal Sorcerer. According to the rules, "...Destroying or modifying the source of a spell/ability after it is announced will never cause the spell/ability to fail or change in any way. [Mirage Page 26]". Thus untapping the tapped Prodigal Sorcerer doesn't change the fact that the Prodigal Sorcerer's "ping" is in the stack. So now the Prodigal Sorcerer is untapped. The next thing to resolve is the "ping" of the Prodigal Sorcerer in the stack. It resolves, and the "ping" does 1 point of damage to the chosen target. (Strategic note: Untapping the Prodigal Sorcerer this way leaves it open to "ping" again, after this batch finishes resolving!!!!)

SCENARIO 3: Can Alex save himself/his creature by casting Twiddle to "tap" the Prodigal Sorcerer before Bob "pings" with it?

Yes and No.
If Bob is not willing to "ping" with his Prodigal Sorcerer just yet, then Alex can certainly cast Twiddle on it and the Prodigal Sorcerer harmlessly taps (Note: The M:TG rules clearly state that "...Tapping a permanent with an effect will never trigger any ability on that permanent which has tapping as part of the activation cost...". Thus, while Alex does tap the Prodigal Sorcerer, it doesn't "ping" as a result of that.) But let's see what happens if Bob is willing to "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer, but Alex initiates things by casting Twiddle (to tap) first...

0) Alex draws mana into his mana pool from some mana source. Bob may not respond to this.

1) Alex announces that he's going to cast Twiddle in order to tap the Prodigal Sorcerer. Announcing the intention to use an ability (or cast a spell) means you also pay all costs (which must be already available. This is why Alex drew the mana into his mana pool before announcing). During the announcement, the target (if there is one, and for Twiddle there is) must be valid. Since the Prodigal Sorcerer is just sitting there in play, it is a valid target. Alex must also pick whether he's going to TAP or UNTAP the target at this time. (In this Scenario we'll assume he's going to TAP the Prodigal Sorcerer. In Scenario 4 we'll see what happens if he chooses to UNTAP it.)

2) Bob may now attempt to interrupt the Twiddle spell. Since "pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer is played as an instant and not an interrupt, he can't "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer here.

3) The Twiddle spell is placed "in the stack" of spells/abilities that are awaiting resolution.

4) Bob may now choose to respond to Alex's placement of the Twiddle spell in the stack with either (1) an instant, (2)a spell that may be played as an instant, (3) a spell that may be cast whenever you could cast an instant or (4) the ability of a permanent that can be played as an instant. "Pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer is an ability that is played as an instant. So let's say Bob decides to respond at this point by "pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer. He taps the Prodigal Sorcerer, and without an interruption from Alex, the "ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage" goes "in the stack", awaiting resolution.

FINAL RESULT:

The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is in the stack last. The Twiddle's effect is in the stack first. Stacked spells/abilities resolve last-to-first. So the "ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage" resolves, doing 1 damage to the target. Then the Twiddle resolves, tapping the (tapped) Prodigal Sorcerer. According to the rules about "tapping a tapped card", this mean the Twiddle "...does not 'fizzle', but it does 'fail' to do anything...").

SCENARIO 4: Can Alex save himself/his creature by casting Twiddle to "untap" the Prodigal Sorcerer before Bob "pings" with it?

No.
If Bob is not willing to "ping" with his Prodigal Sorcerer just yet, then Alex can certainly cast Twiddle on it and the Prodigal Sorcerer harmlessly remains untapped. (According to the rules on "untapping and untapped card", the Twiddle "...does not 'fizzle', but it does 'fail' to do anything..."). This hasn't saved him at all, as Bob can then "ping" with the (untapped) Prodigal Sorcerer later in the turn. But let's see what happens if Bob is willing to "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer, but Alex initiates things by casting Twiddle (to untap) first...

0) Alex draws mana into his mana pool from some mana source. Bob may not respond to this.

1) Alex announces that he's going to cast Twiddle in order to untap the Prodigal Sorcerer. Announcing the intention to use an ability (or cast a spell) means you also pay all costs (which must be already available. This is why Alex drew the mana into his mana pool before announcing). During the announcement, the target (if there is one, and for Twiddle there is) must be valid. Since the Prodigal Sorcerer is just sitting there in play, it is a valid target. Alex must also pick whether he's going to TAP or UNTAP the target at this time. (In this Scenario we'll assume he's going to UNTAP the Prodigal Sorcerer. In Scenario 3 we saw what happens if he chooses to TAP it.)

2) Bob may now attempt to interrupt the Twiddle spell. (Strategic Note: Bob shouldn't do ANYTHING AT ALL in this WHOLE batch. Having Alex UNTAP his Prodigal Sorcerer is harmless to him. But I'll follow this logic through to see if it matters). Since "pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer is played as an instant and not an interrupt, he can't "ping" with the Prodigal Sorcerer here.

3) The Twiddle spell is placed "in the stack" of spells/abilities that are awaiting resolution.

4) Bob may now choose to respond to Alex's placement of the Twiddle spell in the stack with either (1) an instant, (2)a spell that may be played as an instant, (3) a spell that may be cast whenever you could cast an instant or (4) the ability of a permanent that can be played as an instant. "Pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer is an ability that is played as an instant. So let's say Bob decides to respond at this point by "pinging" with the Prodigal Sorcerer. He taps the (currently untapped) Prodigal Sorcerer, and without an interruption from Alex, the "ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage" goes "in the stack", awaiting resolution.

FINAL RESULT:

The Prodigal Sorcerer's ability to do damage is in the stack last. The Twiddle's effect is in the stack first. Stacked spells/abilities resolve last-to-first. So the "ability of the Prodigal Sorcerer to do damage" resolves, doing 1 damage to the target. Then the Twiddle resolves, untapping the (tapped) Prodigal Sorcerer. According to the rules, "...Destroying or modifying the source of a spell/ability after it is announced will never cause the spell/ability to fail or change in any way. [Mirage Page 26]". Thus untapping the tapped Prodigal Sorcerer doesn't change the fact that the Prodigal Sorcerer's "ping" has already resolved. So now the Prodigal Sorcerer is untapped. (Strategic note: Untapping the Prodigal Sorcerer this way leaves it open to "ping" again, after this batch finishes resolving!!!!)