Consume Strength fizzles?
Asked by zerotimestatechamp 14 years ago
So I was playing a game against a person who is admittedly more experienced than me in a Apocalypse draft yesterday. I ended up winning 2-0 even though he won the draft but a particular couple plays have me wondering. First he had a Standard Bearer in play and I consider playing Consume Strength . I'd have to target it with the first +2/+2, but I get the option to target another creature with the -2/-2. Is that right? I ended up avoiding this situation entirely. This next scenario did occur. I Consume Strength targeting a creature he controls. In response, he sacrifices Goblin Legionnaire to kill his own creature that I had been targeting. Does this counter my entire Consume Strength ? Implying that I am unable to target my +2/+2 because there is an invalid target for the -2/-2?
With the flagbearer ability, you can chose either +2/+2 or -2/-2 for the Standard Bearer , I believe. It just says you have to target it.
as far as the Consume Strength , it cast fine, with 2 targets, but since it doesn't have 2 valid targets when it tries to resolve, it fizzles.
isn't there a newfangled official term for 'fizzle'? meh.
August 23, 2010 5:55 p.m.
Technically, when a spell tries to resolve without legal targets, it gets countered.
(As a side note, spells like Combust specifically state they can't be countered by spells or abilities, and in this case it's the game that counters the spell).
September 1, 2010 10:23 a.m.
Actually, in the second case the P/T boost of Consume Strength would have gone through. To be countered by the game rules (fizzling), a spell must have ALL of it's targets become illegal. You can't counter a Fireball or a Violent Ultimatum targeting heaps of your creatures by just sacrificing one of them.
Zanven says... Accepted answer #1
Yep. Basically due to the stack, his creature is gone before your spell resolves, meaning it has no valid target and fizzles, since, CS requires the first part to happen before you get your -2/-2.
August 23, 2010 3:08 p.m.