Ink-Treader Nephilim damage divided as I choose?

Asked by knowledgeabletyrant 7 years ago

What if I cast Arc Lightning targeting only Ink-Treader Nephilim? Let's say the spell copies for a 1/1. Could I deal 1 to that token and 2 to something or someone else because it's still targeting the 1/1?

GearNoir says... #1

These are only my guesses -

First, there could not be "something" else for you to hit, Ink-Treader will have already made a copy for that "something" else.

From Gatherer:

Ink-Treader Nephilim's ability is mandatory and will create a copy targeting each possible creature whether you want it to or not. You control all the copies of the spell (even if you didn't control the original spell), so you choose the order to put them on the stack.

This in combination with the card's text:

Each copy targets a different one of those creatures

These lead me to believe that the copy of Arc can only hit the target for which the spell was copied and can't be split.

May 1, 2016 8:30 p.m.

Denial048 says... Accepted answer #2

When you copy a spell, you copy it exactly as it is on the stack, in this case dealing all three damage to the one target. You cannot choose to split it

May 1, 2016 8:32 p.m.