Tideturner

Tideturner

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When you play me, you may choose a unit you control at another location. Move me to its location and it to my original location.

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When you play me, you may choose a friendly unit. Move me to its location and it to my original location.

Tideturner Targeting

Tideturner's trigger is optional. The controller of Tideturner may choose to trigger it when it is played and add it to the chain. It must have a legal target to be added to the chain.

Another card, Tideturner, is receiving similar errata and another clarification (see below).

Tideturner

Q: What do the Hidden changes mean for Tideturner? It seems like I'm supposed to be able to choose a unit at another location.

Tideturner is receiving minor errata, both to restrict its targeting to a unit you control and to make sure that it can target a unit at another location under these rules.

Tideturner

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When you play me, you may choose a unit you control at another location. Move me to its location and it to my original location.

359.3.e.5. If any of the spell's targets are no longer legal, those game objects, players, or zones are unaffected by the spell as it resolves. Any instructions related to an illegal target can't be followed. Example: A player plays Void Seeker, a spell that says "Deal 4 to a unit at a battlefield. Draw 1." The unit's controller uses a Reaction to move the unit to their base. Since the unit is no longer a legal target, it is not dealt any damage. Void Seeker's controller still draws 1. Example: A player plays Bellow's Breath targeting a unit in combat that reads in part "I can't be chosen by enemy spells and abilities unless I'm in combat." In reaction, that unit's controller plays Flash, moving the unit to their base. The unit is no longer in combat, so it is no longer a legal target for Bellow's Breath. The unit will be unaffected by Bellow's Breath as it resolves. Example: A player plays Hidden Blade from the facedown zone at a battlefield, targeting an enemy unit. In reaction to Hidden Blade, their opponent plays Tideturner from facedown at another battlefield, choosing to swap locations with the unit Hidden Blade targeted. When Hidden Blade resolves, the chosen unit is no longer at the appropriate battlefield, so any instructions related to that unit are ignored.

383.3.a. If a Triggered Ability says "you may"or "they may" as the first part of its Effect, the controller of its source will choose whether or not to perform the Triggered Ability during finalization. Example: Tideturner reads "When you play me, you may choose a unit you control at another location. Move me to its location and it to my original location." This "you may" appears as the first part of its effect, so the choice represents whether or not to perform the triggered ability.

811.1.d.3. If a play effect of a hidden permanent chooses any targets, those targets must be chosen from among options at the battlefield it was played to, unless the ability explicitly restricts targeting in a way that makes this impossible. Example: Blastcone Fae is a unit with Hidden and "When you play me, give a unit -2 [M] this turn, to a minimum of 1 [M]." Because this is a play effect, its target must be chosen from among units at the battlefield it was played to if Blastcone Fae was played from facedown. Example: Tideturner is a unit with Hidden and "When you play me, you may choose a unit you control at another location. Move me to its location and it to my original location." Because its play effect has a targeting restriction that can never be fulfilled by a unit at its battlefield, its target may be chosen freely from among the available options. Example: A spell reads in part "The next unit you play this turn can be played to any battlefield." After playing that spell, a player plays Blastcone Fae from facedown to a battlefield other than the one where it was hidden. Blastcone Fae's play effect must choose targets from among units at the battlefield Blastcone Fae was played to, not the one it was played from.