Sundering Titan vs e.g. Decimate

Asked by BS-T 6 years ago

I'm looking for an explanation, not on HOW Sundering Titan works because I've found plenty of answers on that, rather WHY it does what it does...

For something like Decimate which you simply can't cast without a legal target for each option (and yes in the case of both decimate and titan you can pick the same thing twice or more times) - but Titan goes off on 4 land types even when there are no e.g. Islands in play, how come?

Is it simply because you 'choose' the lands and don't 'target' them?

Tyrant-Thanatos says... Accepted answer #1

Yes. It is very simply because you choose the lands and don't target them. Any spells or abilities that target require that you have a valid target before they are put onto the stack, and upon resolving, require that their target(s) still be valid or they are otherwise countered. "Choose" on the other hand, has none of these restrictions, and in fact, you don't even have to make your choices until the ability resolves.

November 23, 2017 3:06 p.m. Edited.