Does a planeswalker count as an opponent?
Asked by dude1818 13 years ago
I know that they are legal for target player (e.g. Lightning Bolt ), but would a card that dealt damage to an opponent (e.g. [[Piranha Marsh) damage my opponent's planeswalker?
MagnorCriol says... Accepted answer #2
Well, yes and no.
First off, the March can't hit a PW. This is because when you damage a PW, you actually target the player, and then if it's allowed to go through (not countered or prevented) you can choose to redirect the damage you'd do to the player to their PW instead. Because the Marsh says loses life instead of damage, you can't redirect it to the PW.
You CAN target PWs with things that just want a permanent (for example, Vampire Hexmage ) but you don't actually target them with a damage spell, like Lightning Bolt . Note that the Bolt says "target creature or player," and a PW is neither of those things (except Gideon Jura at times, but that's beside the point).
PWs also don't count as opponents, per se, so things that care about the number of opponents on the battlefield won't notice them. Nor will cards like Breath of Malfegor count them separately (though it is damage, so you can redirect it to them instead of their controlling player).
January 15, 2011 8:42 p.m.
MagnorCriol says... #3
tl;dr
--To hit a PW, you target an opponent and redirect damage to them.
--Life loss isn't the same as damage and can't be redirected to them.
--And effects that say "each opponent" don't care about PWs.
January 15, 2011 8:43 p.m.
Thank you MagnorCriol for clearing up the particular examples.
mafteechr says... #1
Yes.
306.7. If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead.
January 15, 2011 8:37 p.m.