Is there a functional difference in these two texts?
Asked by Unforgivn_II 8 years ago
So I was looking at cards that can't be countered and saw that there's a lack of uniformity between cards that say "can't be countered" and ones that say "can't be countered by spells and abilities". Its not like one is from one era and one is from another, as Loxodon Smiter has one and Slaughter Games has the other, and they were both printed in the same set. I assumed "can't be countered" implied by spells or abilities. Any insight on this? I would think they'd be the same but I can't think of any instances of where one would work differently than another
Unforgivn_II says... #2
Awesome, thanks. I suppose I took for granted that the rules technically counter the spell. Time to break Multani's Presence maybe?
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
"Can't be countered by spells or abilities" is used on instants, sorceries, auras, and abilities that require targets. This is because the game rules can counter those spells if they have no legal targets when they would resolve.
Spells and abilities that don't have targets and can't be countered are simply described with "can't be countered" because the game rules can't cause them to fizzle.
February 29, 2016 7:11 p.m.