Italian Magic Judges

Spellskite has a quite special ability, that involves one of the most interesting and confusing parts of the rules; you know what I mean if you have ever played or judged a tournament with the major representative of this category: Misdirection.

We might even say that the powerful instant spell from Mercadian Masques has been reprinted under the shape of a creature in New Phyrexia. Let's take a look at the differences.

Spellskite can be used on abilities too; then, there is a small difference about the target: Misdirection can target "spells with single target", while Spellskite can target any spell or any ability, even if it has no target; let's imagine I want to lose life for a future life points exchange with Soul Conduit.

If Spellskite is not a legal target for the spell or ability, Spellskite has no effect and no target will be changed. Let's see some examples:

• The Equip ability can target only creatures controlled by the player who controls the equipment. Even if you can target the Equip ability of your opponent's Sword of War and Peace, you won't get the Sword onto your Spellskite, because your opponent couldn't have targeted your Spellskite.
  Note that equipments controlled by your opponent can be attached to your creatures, but not by using the Equip ability. One of the very few ways to get your opponent's equipments is by casting Magnetic Theft:

• If a spell has more than one target, they need to be different, unless the word "target" appears multiple times. Take a look at Seeds of Strength, which was printed just after this rule was created, it's the perfect example (no, it wasn't a typo, and no, it's not like "Three target creatures get +1/+1"):

Because the word "target" is repeated three times, the same creature can be chosen three times; if your opponent casts Seed of Strength, you can activate your Spellskite ability three times and change all the three targets to your Spellskite.
An opposite example is Whiplash Trap:


Because the word "target" appears only one, its two targets must be different; you will be able to change only one of them to your Spellskite.
The rule "one instance of the word target" = "you can change only one target" works also when the spell can have "up to X targets". If a Forked Bolt is cast with two targets, you will be able to change only one.

• A frequent case in the current Standard is the interaction between Spellskite and Arc Trail:

It's clearly written that the targets must be different; even if I activate my Spellskite ability twice, I won't be able to save my two smaller creatures; the first ability that will resolve will change one of the two targets (my choice) to my Spellskite, but the second will have no effect; my opponent couldn't have cast his Arc Trail to deal 3 damage to my Spellskite, so there is no way to have Arc Trail deal 3 damage to Spellskite.
Hint: If your opponent has 2 life points and controls a Spellskite, you can cast Arc Trail to deal 2 damage to the player and 1 damage to the Spellskite; this way, he won't be able to use Spellskite to change the target and survive.

• Auras actually target when they are cast and put on the stack; the definition of what they can target is in their ability: "enchant [something]". If your opponent could have cast his Aura targeting your Spellskite, you will be able to change its target and the Aura will enter the battlefield attached to your Spellskite (your opponent will be the controller of that Aura). This is different from putting an Aura directly on the battlefield, for example with Sovereigns of Lost Alara: in this case, the Aura isn't a spell and doesn't target anything and therefore can't be targeted by Spellskite's ability.


• If Spellskite is protected, for example by a Sword of Body and Mind, you won't be able to change the target of a green or blue spell; you can activate the ability, but it will do nothing when it resolves, because the Spellskite won't be a legal target for the green or blue spell (sorry, having a Spellskite with protection would have been a too powerful way to counter spells ^__^).

You can read the original article in Italian here.
You can read the full article on Blackborder here.