Can you gain priority during a Hold step (after readying runes from Annie's ability) to use an action like Gust before the opponent scores?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. When the Scoring Step’s Hold task becomes outstanding, any triggered effects (such as Annie readying runes) that become pending on the chain give players an opportunity to play legally-timed cards. During that Window the player with priority may play Reactions like Gust before the scoring/hold effect finalizes. See [315] and [338] and the explanation in [FAQ:unleashed#2].

When the Turn Player’s Hold Task becomes outstanding during the Scoring Step, triggered abilities that put items on the chain (for example, an ability that readies runes) will be placed on the chain and queued for finalization. While those items are pending, players get priority and may play legally-timed cards (including Reactions such as Gust) in Step 2: Execute before the scoring/hold effect finalizes [315] [338] [FAQ:unleashed#2].

Scoring Step begins and the Hold Task becomes outstanding per [315]. Any triggered abilities or other effects that arise from that moment (for example, an ability from Annie that readies runes) are evaluated and, if they meet their trigger/conditions and the controller places them on the chain, they become Pending Items queued for finalization [FAQ:unleashed#2]. While those Pending Items are on the chain, players get Priority and may play legally-timed cards or activate legally-timed abilities in Step 2: Execute; a Reaction card like Gust is a legally-timed card and may be played now [338]. If Gust is played, it is added to the chain as a Pending Item and will resolve in the normal order with other items on the chain, before the Hold/Scoring finalizes [338]. After all players pass priority and the chain finalizes, the Hold/Scoring task will complete and scoring effects resolve.

If the effect that readies runes from Annie does not create a pending chain item (for example, if it is worded to resolve immediately without becoming a triggered ability placed on the chain), then there may be no opportunity to gain priority in between and you could not play a Reaction in that gap. Also, if some game-state condition creates a Closed State that forbids playing cards at that precise moment, Reactions could be illegal per [338.1.a.1]; the provided Core Rules excerpt does not contain the full Closed State definition, so this is covered in assumptions.

The Scoring Step explicitly makes the Hold Task outstanding, which is the game instruction that begins scoring-related processing [315]. When game effects trigger or create additional instructions at that time (for example, an ability that says “When you hold, ready runes”), those triggers, once their conditions are met and the controller chooses to place them on the chain, become Pending Items and are queued for finalization [FAQ:unleashed#2]. While Pending Items are on the chain, the game proceeds to Step 2: Execute, where the player with priority may play legally-timed cards or activate legally-timed abilities [338]. A Reaction is explicitly a legally-timed card (it can be played any time, even before spells and abilities resolve), so Gust can be played in that priority window and will be added to the chain as a Pending Item [338]. Therefore, in the typical case where Annie’s ready-runes effect becomes a triggered/pending item, an opponent can gain priority during that Hold step and cast Gust before the scoring/hold finalizes. Caveats: if the readying effect does not create a pending chain item or a Closed State or other timing restriction prevents playing cards at that instant (the provided excerpts do not give the full Closed State text), then you would not be able to play a Reaction in between; those situations are noted as assumptions/edge cases.