A few Spellskite examples..
Asked by Bakayarro 8 years ago
I'm running my legacy goblin deck against an artifact deck i'm building and it raised a few Spellskite questions. How effective would Spellskite be against Goblin War Strike or Goblin Grenade? I'm thinking goblin war strike specifically targets a player and Spellskite is therefore not a legal target and cannot redirect the spell. With Grenade I'm not so sure. Does it depend on whether the spell is cast targeting a player or a creature? Or could he redirect either way?
My issue with the Goblin Grenade is the Creature -Or- Player verbiage. I was reading an article that specifically brought up Electrolyze where the card gives the choice of having one -or- two targets. If the card is cast with one target then it's straight forward. But if its cast with two targets it limits how the Spellskite can interact. Namely that the spell MUST have two (different) targets and so Spellskite can only be one of them even if you could activate his ability multiple times. So looking back at the Goblin Grenade (or any other spell that targets Creatures or Players).. does the -Or- in this spell have a similar effect of limiting the Skite depending on what is chosen by the caster?
April 12, 2016 4 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #3
The clause "target creature or player" doesn't imply any underlying restrictions or multiple targets being chosen. It very simply means: "this spell or ability is able to target a single creature, or a single player."
The reason you can redirect Goblin Grenade to Spellskite is because it has the capability to target a creature whereas Goblin War Strike can only target a player.
Also, for spells with multiple targets:
If the spell or ability has multiple instances of the word target, you choose which target youre changing to Spellskite when Spellskites ability resolves. (this includes cards like Fireball that lets you target any number of creatures and/or players.)
April 12, 2016 4:20 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
That example has a different concept at its core.
Spellskite can only change one target of the target spell or ability to itself. If a spell or ability has multiple different targets, Spellskite can only change one of those targets. The exception is when the targets are represented by different lines, such as on Common Bond (compared to, say, Arc Trail).
For spells like Lightning Bolt or Goblin Grenade, it doesn't matter whether the original target was a creature or a player. The spell doesn't become "locked in" on that kind of object. Only if you have a modal spell (spells that say "choose one/etc." with options listed after) does it matter, and only because Spellskite cannot change the mode of the target spell or ability.
April 12, 2016 4:22 p.m.
I definitely see the difference between Common Bond and Arc Trail, that's very clear. But neither one has an -or- statement the way Electrolyze does where the player can decide how the spell is going to behave. But I guess I'm starting to see the difference between the -or- in a Lightning Bolt vs. the Electrolyze example.. Electrolyze is effectively saying, "this spell can be either this way, or that way". Where as the Goblin Grenade or Lightning Bolt is more of parameter or a range for the spell if you will. I can tell I'm going to have some debates erupt when I play little guy with my casual group.
April 12, 2016 7:01 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
As I said, spells like Electrolyze and Lightning Bolt do not lock you in to [targeting creatures] or [targeting players].
Compare those spells to Barbed Lightning cast without entwine. If you cast Barbed Lightning choosing only the second mode (3 damage to target player), Spellskite's ability can't change the target to Spellskite because it doesn't allow you to choose a new mode for Barbed Lightning.
Raging_Squiggle says... Accepted answer #1
If Spellskite is an illegal target for a spell or ability, you can still activate the ability all you want, but the target will remain unchanged.
If Spellskite is a legal target option for the spell or ability, and you activate his ability, you can certainly change the target of Goblin Grenade to itself.
It doesn't matter what the spell or ability was originally targeting. If Spellskite is a legal target option, you can redirect the spell or ability to target itself.
April 12, 2016 3:43 p.m.