Say someone use the last ability of Chandra Nalaar targeting me and I Aether Vial a True Believer in response. I know I'm safe, but does that mean Chandra targets my opponent instead?
No, once the ability has been put on the stack it cannot change (barring something like Redirect). What happens is you become an illegal target because of the shroud and because all targets for the ability are now illegal the ability is countered by the game rules (or fizzled as people sometimes say)
well the controller of chandra is still a legal target for "...target player..." or am i missing something about how you deal with things when a target becomes illegal and you now have to target yourself/your permanents instead
When a spell or ability that requires targets goes on the stack, only legal targets can be chosen for it (C.R. 601.2c, 603.3d). This is especially the case for triggered abilities that go on the stack automatically after they trigger; in this case especially, choosing the required number of targets isn't optional (C.R. 603.3d, which references C.R. 601.2c; see also C.R. 603.5, 603.3). After that, however, the targets can be changed only if an effect allows or requires a player to do so (for example, by using the words "Change the target..." or "You may choose new targets...") (C.R. 114.1; see also C.R. 114.7); just because a target becomes illegal doesn't let that target change to another legal target.
EDIT (Dec. 23): Clarification.
EDIT (Feb. 10, Jul. 27): Added rule citation.
EDIT (Feb. 8, 2018): Correctness edit.
EDIT (Apr. 29, 2018): One rule was renumbered with Dominaria.
well the controller of chandra is still a legal target for "...target player..." or am i missing something about how you deal with things when a target becomes illegal and you now have to target yourself/your permanents instead
The target was already chosen when the ability was put on the stack, and it's locked in. You don't get to change targets just because they become illegal afterwards. Illegal targets cannot be affected, and if all targets have become llegal, the spell/ability gets countered by the game rules when it tries to resolve.
well the controller of chandra is still a legal target for "...target player..." or am i missing something about how you deal with things when a target becomes illegal and you now have to target yourself/your permanents instead
If you already had shroud and your opponent activates an ability that targets a player, they would have to target themselves (assuming 1v1). If you become an illegal target after targets are chosen, then the spell or ability would be countered (unless it targeted multiple things and some are still valid).
If you already had shroud and your opponent activates an ability that targets a player, they would have to target themselves (assuming 1v1).
Only if they meant to. If they begin to activate Chandra's ability because they didn't notice that an effect is giving you shroud, then it will not be possible for them to finish the process of activating the ability the way they intended legally, and the game backs up to before they activated the ability. The game doesn't* force someone to choose a target they don't want to if the target they wanted to choose is illegal.
(Of course, it's possible that they'll want to ping themselves with Chandra anyway just to get the +1, but they don't have to just because they tried hitting you with it.)
*And as with everything, there are exceptions - if an effect causes a player to cast a spell, the instruction to do so isn't optional, the spell has targets, and the player doesn't have to activate mana abilities to cast it (e.g. the effect causes the spell to be cast without paying the mana cost) then the player will have to cast it and choose legal targets.
That is indeed true, there is no "gotcha" moment where your opponent would be forced to dome themselves with Chandra's ultimate if they forgot you were an invalid target, as they would presumably not activate the ability with themselves as the target in the first place. If they choose to anyways they would be the only legal option though.
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Thanks,
When a spell or ability that requires targets goes on the stack, only legal targets can be chosen for it (C.R. 601.2c, 603.3d). This is especially the case for triggered abilities that go on the stack automatically after they trigger; in this case especially, choosing the required number of targets isn't optional (C.R. 603.3d, which references C.R. 601.2c; see also C.R. 603.5, 603.3). After that, however, the targets can be changed only if an effect allows or requires a player to do so (for example, by using the words "Change the target..." or "You may choose new targets...") (C.R. 114.1; see also C.R. 114.7); just because a target becomes illegal doesn't let that target change to another legal target.
EDIT (Dec. 23): Clarification.
EDIT (Feb. 10, Jul. 27): Added rule citation.
EDIT (Feb. 8, 2018): Correctness edit.
EDIT (Apr. 29, 2018): One rule was renumbered with Dominaria.
The target was already chosen when the ability was put on the stack, and it's locked in. You don't get to change targets just because they become illegal afterwards. Illegal targets cannot be affected, and if all targets have become llegal, the spell/ability gets countered by the game rules when it tries to resolve.
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(Of course, it's possible that they'll want to ping themselves with Chandra anyway just to get the +1, but they don't have to just because they tried hitting you with it.)
*And as with everything, there are exceptions - if an effect causes a player to cast a spell, the instruction to do so isn't optional, the spell has targets, and the player doesn't have to activate mana abilities to cast it (e.g. the effect causes the spell to be cast without paying the mana cost) then the player will have to cast it and choose legal targets.