Last Updated: Unknown
352.10. A game object, player, or zone mentioned in the text of a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability is a target UNLESS any of the following are true:
352.10.a. It is in a zone whose information status is not Public. e.g., “Ready a legend” targets a legend, because the Legend Zone is Public. e.g., “Return a unit from your trash to your hand” targets a unit card in your trash, because your trash is Public. e.g., “You may play a unit from your hand, ignoring its costs” does not target a unit card in your hand, because your hand is not a public zone.
352.10.a.1. Public zones are Battlefield Zones, Bases, Trashes, Legend Zones, Champion Zones, and Facedown Zones.
352.10.b. It is included only as part of a targeting restriction for another choice. e.g., “Kill a unit at a battlefield” targets a unit, but not a battlefield, because the units are targets and “at a battlefield” is a restriction. e.g., “Kill all units at a battlefield” targets a battlefield, but not any units. e.g., “Move a unit to a battlefield” targets both a unit and a battlefield.
352.10.c. It is included only as part of a cost, trigger condition, or replacement effect. e.g., “As an additional cost to play me, kill a friendly unit” doesn’t target anything. e.g., “When a friendly unit dies, kill a gear” targets a gear, but not a friendly unit. e.g., “When you play me, the next time a friendly unit would die this turn, return it to your hand instead” doesn’t target anything. The replacement effect applies when any friendly unit dies. e.g., “Choose a friendly unit. The next time it would die this turn, return it to your hand instead” targets a friendly unit, because “choose a friendly unit” is not part of the replacement effect.
352.10.c.1. This includes costs within instructions, identified by phrases like “[do X] to [do Y].” The cost within that instruction is “[do X].” e.g., “When I hold, you may kill another friendly unit here to draw 1” does not target anything. e.g., “When you play me, you may spend a buff to move a friendly unit” targets the friendly unit, but not the buff.
352.10.d. It is programmatically selected based on its characteristics rather than chosen by the spell or ability’s controller. e.g., “Kill all units at a battlefield” targets a battlefield, but does not target any units. e.g., “Kill all units at battlefields” doesn’t target anything. e.g., “Destroy a unit. Its controller draws 2 cards” targets the unit, but not its controller. e.g., “Ready your legend” doesn’t target anything, because you can only have one legend. e.g., “Ready a friendly legend” targets a legend, because in a 2v2 game there are two friendly legends. e.g., “Recycle all cards in your trash” doesn’t target anything, because it affects all cards and you only have one trash.
352.10.d.1. This exception applies solely to objects for which no choice is ever possible.
352.10.d.2. This exception does not apply to objects that are the only valid choice at the moment a spell or ability is placed on the chain, but which would require a choice under other circumstances. e.g., “Kill a unit at a battlefield” always targets a unit, even if that unit is the only unit currently at a battlefield.