Making a Land a target for attacking
Asked by Vergil_Redgrail 7 years ago
An interesting scenario was posed to me last night, and I'm curious as to how this would work. A friend of mine was talking to his brother who had said he wished there was a way you could attack a land. My friend said "Oh, but there is."Basically, what if you had a Planeswalker that was enchanted with Song of the Dryads making it a Forest, and then enchanting that Forest with something like Spreading Seas, now making it an Island. If you destroyed the Song of the Dryads, would it become a Planeswalker that is also an Island, and can therefor be chosen as an attack target, would the Spreading Seas fall off since the card it's attached to is no longer a land, or would it just keep the Island subtype, but since it's not a Land type, the subtype is irrelevant? I'm curious about this.
hyperlocke says... #2
If Song of the Dryads is destroyed, the Planeswalker will revert to being a Planeswalker. It won't be a land anymore, so it's an illegal target for Spreading Seas. Spreading Seas will be put into its owner's graveyard as per this rule:
303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owners graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)
June 9, 2016 12:45 p.m.
Even if the Aura said "Enchant permanent; Enchanted permanent is an Island", you wouldn't get what you want, as that would basically result in the same effect as Song of the Dryad - it would overwrite any previous types, abilities and whatnot, particularily the planeswalker type that would allow you to attack the card in the first place.
And more generally speaking, in Magic The Gathering, you can only attack players. Planeswalkers are pseudo-players, which is why there is an exception, but unlike many other games, you can't even attack creatures... why anyone would want to attack lands is beyond me :)
June 9, 2016 1:01 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
@hyperlocke: Auras only target as spells. Once they're permanents, they're simply attached to the object they're enchanting. This is why an Aura can become attached to (or remain attached to) an object with shroud or hexproof.
@BlueScope: Your second paragraph is misleading. In Magic, you can attack planeswalkers or players. Planeswalkers are not players. Trying to say that you can attack planeswalkers because they're players or pseudo-players only confuses the matter and leads to other misunderstandings. It's better to stick with the simpler (and more correct) explanation.
June 9, 2016 5:16 p.m.
hyperlocke says... #6
@ Epochalyptik: Right, wrong choice of words. The Planeswalker will be an illegal object for Spreading Seas to enchant.
June 9, 2016 5:20 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #7
The true purpose of Song of the Dryads is to allow Thespian's Stage (and Vesuva) to turn into (someone else's) planeswalker.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Spreading Seas would fall off. Auras can't remain attached to objects they can't legally enchant. Your planeswalker is only a land because of Song of the Dryads. Removing Song of the Dryads removes the "land" type and causes Spreading Seas to be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.
Note also that attacking does not target.
June 9, 2016 12:43 p.m.