Target

A target is a chosen recipient of the effects of a spell or ability. A spell can require you to target a creature, for instance. The text mentioning the target will usually say what sort of thing may be targeted.

Specific rules apply when a spell has a target(s). Learning these rules is one of the earliest tasks for beginner players as they improve their expertise with game mechanics.

Key ideas
The targeting process is always signified by the word "target". This may appear in the card text, or in the definition of a keyword ability on the card. A card does not have targets just because it damages or destroys a creature, allows a player to choose something, or refers to "you" or "your opponent" unless it uses the word "target"!

Spells and abilities requiring targets may only be played if valid targets can be chosen. For instance, a spell that says "target black creature" can only be played if there is a black creature to play it on. But, a spell that says it affects a creature "if it is black" can be played even if there is no black creature (that part of the effect would simply do nothing).

Targets must be chosen as the spell is being cast, unlike many other choices made when a spell resolves. Opponents may therefore react to the spell with knowledge of the intended targets before it actually has any effect, and targets may not be changed after seeing these reactions.

A targeted spell will not resolve if its targets are invalid. If all targets are invalid, no part of the spell has any effect, even if some parts of the spell would've affected something other than the targets. This is informally known as fizzling. A spell with one or more valid targets remaining will still resolve, but any of its effects that relate to the invalid targets will not happen.

Related mechanics
One of the most common interactions with targeting is when a target is "bounced" from the battlefield before the spell resolves, such as with Unsummon. This causes the spell to "lose track" of the target, even with an effect that only removes the target temporarily, like flickering. Subsequently, it will fail to resolve due to invalid targets.

Also common are abilities such as Hexproof, Shroud, and Protection which prevent targeting. These abilities can sometimes be granted to targets of a spell on the stack, making them invalid targets and causing that spell to fail.

Preventing a spell or ability from resolving by removing its targets or making them invalid is an alternative to countering the spell. For some time, such a spell was said to be "countered by the game rules", but under current rules, it simply "does not resolve" and is removed from the stack.

The conditions of certain triggered abilities may be based on something being targeted by a spell, or a certain kind of spell, or a spell having a certain kind or number of targets.

Most effects that copy a spell allows choosing new targets.

Perhaps the rarest targeting-related abilities are those that change another spell's target, such as Shunt.

Common misconceptions
Due to the specific timings and requirements involved with targeting, there are few points beginners may misunderstand, but are important in understanding cards or tactics.

Targets must still be declared for abilities that "may" do something. Since targets are chosen on casting, and the choice of whether or not to perform the action is made upon resolution, the controller must still choose a target even if they plan to choose not to take the optional action(s), and the ability cannot be used at all if there is no available target. This is, in contrast, to "up to X targets" abilities, described below.

Some abilities that mention targets CAN be cast untargeted. The two ways this usually happens are:
 * When its text specifies "up to" a certain number of targets, its controller can choose 0 targets at the time it is cast, making it an untargeted spell or ability. Any of its effects not relating to targets will still happen normally. This is common on planeswalker abilities which add loyalty since it allows the ability to be used for the gain in loyalty even if there are no suitable targets for the rest of its effects.
 * When it is a modal spell or ability. Its controller chooses the mode at the time of casting, and if the chosen mode has no targets, it is treated as a completely untargeted spell.

The same target can be chosen for multiple instances of the word target, but not for a single instance of the word phrased as a multiple. For example, Bounty of Might allows one creature to be chosen for all three abilities; or different creatures for all three; or two the same and one different, because there are three instances of the word "target" and each is chosen separately. However, Swelter says "two target creatures" and therefore must have two separate valid targets; it cannot deal all 4 damage to one creature.

Any target
undefined

Spell redirection
undefined There are some spells that can redirect a target. Spell redirection (Change the target of target spell with a single target.) is primary in both blue and red.