Source
r/magicduels•
ellusionalpha

Rules question - Gatherer no help

question

I was playing a Prowess deck and cast [[Expedite]] on one of my creatures. My creature was subsequently flickered by an [[Eldrazi Displacer]] making it an illegal target. I did not get to draw a card.

I thought that "Target creature gains haste until end of turn. Draw a card." meant both effects would happen, even if the spell no longer has a target - after all, the two effects are on separate lines.

Is this true, making this a Duels bug, or does the entire spell fizzle if the target is no longer valid?

Edit: This has been answered, look at replies by madwarper and Valkyriess in the comments!

Posted Jan 6, 2017, 2:12 AM UTC · edited

415
Valkyriess•

For a spell to resolve with targets, at least one of the targets must be legal. Expedite only has one target (a creature) so if it becomes illegal, the spell fizzles or is countered. If Expedite read:

"Target creature gains haste until end of turn. Target player draws a card." and you selected yourself to draw a card, then the spell would have resolved with at least 1 target.

The rules text on Tidy Conclusion verify this. You don't gain any life if the target becomes illegal.

3
ellusionalphaOP•

Aha - that's the kind of Gatherer information I was looking for but did not find. It's almost entirely analogous, and the ruling is clear. Much appreciated.

1
MTGCardFetcher•

Expedite - (G) (MC) (MW) (CD)
Eldrazi Displacer - (G) (MC) (MW) (CD)
^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call

1
WrightJustice•

Dunno the inner workings of rules but essentially the whole spell needs to go through to get the draw, like the effects are basically stapled together and you lose both if the target disappears.
If it was a modal spell with 2 separate options where you choose to target a creature to give haste and a player to draw a card then the draw would be fine in the given scenario.

1
ellusionalphaOP•

Okay, good enough - thanks!

1
madwarper•

Merely being modal wouldn't necessarily be enough. If the spell only had one target and that one target was illegal when the spell resolved, the spell would be countered.

In order for the spell with target(s) to not be countered, it would need to at least one of its targets to remain legal. Thus, rather than just "Draw a card." cantrip, it would need to say "Target player draws a card."

1
WrightJustice•

Right, I did say it would have to be targeting a player for the draw.

1
ChiefKryder•

Look at the way the card is written; do this, then do that. So it goes, "Target creature gains haste. Draw a card."

If it said, "Draw a card. Target creature gains haste.", then we would have drawn a card no matter what happens to the creature.

0
madwarper•

That's wrong.

It doesn't matter which order the card is worded; It has ONE target. That ONE target has become illegal. The Spell, in its entirety, is countered.

608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. [...]

701.5a To counter a spell or ability means to cancel it, removing it from the stack. It doesn’t resolve and none of its effects occur. A countered spell is put into its owner’s graveyard.

3
ChiefKryder•

Actually, if it is worded, "Draw a card. Target creature does the macarena.", YOU WILL DRAW A CARD. Whether the creature does a silly dance, well, that's not my concern.

That being said, I know of no card that actually says that in that order, probably so the rules are effective.

1
madwarper•

Actually, you're still wrong. Furthermore, you would be better served by reading the Rules, rather than writing in allcaps.

If you Splice a [[Glacial Ray]] onto [[Path of Anger's Flame]], the Path's rules text would be as follows;

Creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.

~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

If the Creature or Player that was targeted for the 2 damage is illegal when the Path Spell would resolve, the Spell is countered. Your Creatures do not get +2/+0. No damage is dealt.

6
WrightJustice•

Oh, yeah, right. I didn't think of that but that definitely would be a thing that works. Then again, if madwarper is right I guess rearranging the order of text wouldn't matter.

1
ChiefKryder•

Thing is, it is never written like that, at least not recently. Moot point.

0
[deleted]•

[removed]

1