Planeswakers Rulings?
Asked by sirtrojan 11 years ago
Can i add/remove counters on a planeswaker as soon as i cast it? Also can a card like Deal Damage deal damage to my Planeswalker directly isntead of me or a target creature?
im a little confused about the second question, mostly because of the the wording off the MTG websites ruling on planeswalker where it says
"Other sources can deal damage to planeswalkers. If a spell or ability you control would deal damage to an opponent, you may have it deal that damage to a planeswalker that opponent controls instead. So while you can't target a planeswalker with a Shock, you can have a Shock that targets your opponent deal 2 damage to one of his or her planeswalkers instead of to the player. You can't split the damage from one source between a player and a planeswalker. Damage dealt to a planeswalker results in that many loyalty counters being removed from it."
Absinthman says... Accepted answer #2
I understand it can be a little confusing. Let me explain.
1. You can use the abilities of planeswalkers on the turn they entered the battlefield.
2. The reason why this rule is phrased like that is because you can't target planeswalkers with cards like Shock
. Shock says "to target creature or player". It doesn't say "to target planeswalker". The reason is that many of these direct damage cards come from the time when there were no planeswalkers. When Wizards introduced planeswalkers, they had two options: either change all those cards to include "to target planeswalker" in their text, or implement a rule that allows to redirect noncombat damage dealt to your opponent by sources you control to planeswalkers they control. The second route was deemed easier to implement, so the rule was established. It works like this: When you cast said Shock, you target your opponent. You don't say anything about damaging their planeswalker yet. When your oppoenen says that Shock has resolves successfully, you say that you wish to redirect damage to their planeswalker. There are several things that you must remember:
a) Only damage dealt to players (not creatures) can be redirected to planeswalkers.
b) The controller of that source of damage chooses whether the damage will or won't be redirected.
c) The controller of the source of damage and the controller of the planeswalker, can't be the same player. You can't have your own Sulfuric Vortex
deal damage to your planeswalker instead of you.
July 18, 2013 9:33 a.m.
You can activate loyalty abilities as soon as you cast the planeswalker.
What the ruling means is you can choose a player to deal damage to, and then before the damage is dealt to the player, you can redirect the damage to a planeswalker that player controls.
July 18, 2013 9:35 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #5
To clarify, you are casting Deal Damage with your opponent as the target, but when it resolves you are choosing to have that damage redirected towards the planeswalker he controls.
July 18, 2013 9:36 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
Well, the planeswalker is not yet a permanent when you cast it. Once it resolves and enters the battlefield, you get priority (assuming you are the active player). Therefore, you have the opportunity to activate one of the planeswalker's loyalty abilities before an opponent can do anything. Even if your opponent responds to the ability by destroying or otherwise removing your planeswalker, the ability will still be on the stack and will still resolve normally.
Regarding the planeswalker redirection rule: spells like Lightning Bolt and Shock can't target a planeswalker. However, there is a rule that allows you to target your opponent, then redirect the damage on resolution to a single planeswalker that player controls instead. Damage that is redirected this way is dealt only to that planeswalker; it can't be split between your opponent and a planeswalker or between multiple planeswalkers. Also, you can't redirect noncombat damage to a planeswalker you control. You may only redirect noncombat damage you would deal to an opponent to a planeswalker he or she controls instead.
Schuesseled says... #1
When the damage from Deal Damage resolves you may have it redirected to hit the planeswalker instead, i.e. you cast it and say i'm dealing 4 damage to Ajani Goldmane there.
You can activate planeswalker's abilities any time you could cast a sorcery, so on your own main phase, with an empty stack.
If you are wondering wether someone can burn your planeswalker before you could +1 him the answer is no, you get priority first after the planeswalker resolves then hits the field, so as long as the first thing you do is activate the ability, everything is hunkdory.
July 18, 2013 9:33 a.m.