diff --git a/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/gui/MenuScroller.java b/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/gui/MenuScroller.java
index b20fb3261f3..17f7ab323d6 100644
--- a/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/gui/MenuScroller.java
+++ b/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/gui/MenuScroller.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import java.awt.Point;
 import java.awt.Toolkit;
 import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
 import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
+import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
 import java.awt.event.MouseWheelEvent;
 import java.awt.event.MouseWheelListener;
 
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ public class MenuScroller {
      *
      * @return the number of items to display at a time
      */
-    public int getscrollCount() {
+    public int getScrollCount() {
         return scrollCount;
     }
 
@@ -603,10 +604,20 @@ public class MenuScroller {
     }
 
     private class MouseScrollListener implements MouseWheelListener {
-        public void mouseWheelMoved(MouseWheelEvent mwe){
-            firstIndex += mwe.getWheelRotation();
-            refreshMenu();
+        public void mouseWheelMoved(MouseWheelEvent mwe) {
+            int rot = mwe.getWheelRotation();
+            if (rot == 0) {
+                return;
+            }
+            // anything to scroll? otherwise select items directly
+            if (menu.getComponentCount() <= scrollCount + topFixedCount + bottomFixedCount) {
+                setMenuSelectedIndex(menu, Math.abs(rot), rot < 0);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            firstIndex += rot;
             mwe.consume();
+            refreshMenu();
         }
     }
 
@@ -631,4 +642,14 @@ public class MenuScroller {
 
         return scrollCount;
     }
+
+    public static void setMenuSelectedIndex(final JPopupMenu menu, final int index, boolean scrollUp) {
+        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { //use invoke later to ensure first enabled item selected by default
+            public void run() {
+                for (int i = 0; i < index; i++) {
+                    menu.dispatchEvent(new KeyEvent(menu, KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, 0, 0, scrollUp ? KeyEvent.VK_UP : KeyEvent.VK_DOWN, KeyEvent.CHAR_UNDEFINED));
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
 }
diff --git a/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/screens/match/CMatchUI.java b/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/screens/match/CMatchUI.java
index 8071e9b35da..01ebb5a7c96 100644
--- a/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/screens/match/CMatchUI.java
+++ b/forge-gui-desktop/src/main/java/forge/screens/match/CMatchUI.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
 import javax.swing.JPanel;
 import javax.swing.JPopupMenu;
 import javax.swing.KeyStroke;
-import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
 import javax.swing.event.PopupMenuEvent;
 import javax.swing.event.PopupMenuListener;
 
@@ -918,9 +917,6 @@ public final class CMatchUI
 
         //show menu if mouse was trigger for ability
         final JPopupMenu menu = new JPopupMenu(Localizer.getInstance().getMessage("lblAbilities"));
-        //add scroll area when too big
-        // TODO: do we need a user setting for the scrollCount?
-        MenuScroller.setScrollerFor(menu, 8, 125, 3, 1);
 
         boolean enabled;
         int firstEnabled = -1;
@@ -949,6 +945,10 @@ public final class CMatchUI
         }
 
         if (firstEnabled >= 0) { //only show menu if at least one ability can be played
+            //add scroll area when too big
+            // TODO: do we need a user setting for the scrollCount?
+            MenuScroller.setScrollerFor(menu, 8, 125, 3, 1);
+
             final CardPanel panel = findCardPanel(hostCard);
             final Component menuParent;
             final int x, y;
@@ -983,14 +983,8 @@ public final class CMatchUI
             menu.show(menuParent, x, y);
             openAbilityMenu = menu;
 
-            final int _firstEnabled = firstEnabled;
-            SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { //use invoke later to ensure first enabled ability selected by default
-                @Override public final void run() {
-                    for (int i = 0; i <= _firstEnabled; i++) {
-                        menu.dispatchEvent(new KeyEvent(menu, KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, 0, 0, KeyEvent.VK_DOWN, KeyEvent.CHAR_UNDEFINED));
-                    }
-                }
-            });
+            // TODO seems 1 would now always lead to the first enabled one?
+            MenuScroller.setMenuSelectedIndex(menu, firstEnabled, false);
         }
 
         return null; //delay ability until choice made