Playing commander with a muldrotha deck. Had a card trigger all my lands, including bojuka bog, come in tapped back to the field. The last surviving player had a witchbane orb, and was told that I had to target myself. This really messed up what I was trying to accomplish, and I am wondering if that is supposed to happen as its not something I would ever want to do to myself with that deck.
If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize, new user.
Playing commander with a muldrotha deck. Had a card trigger all my lands, including bojuka bog, come in tapped back to the field. The last surviving player had a witchbane orb, and was told that I had to target myself.
While putting the "When Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield, exile all cards from target player's graveyard." ability on the stack, you had to choose a target player.
603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the
next time a player would receive priority. See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes
the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other
characteristics. It remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed
from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.
603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the
process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d. If a choice is required when the triggered
ability goes on the stack but no legal choices can be made for it, or if a rule or a continuous
effect otherwise makes the ability illegal, the ability is simply removed from the stack.
601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell
requires. A spell may require some targets only if an alternative or additional cost (such as a
kicker cost) or a particular mode was chosen for it; otherwise, the spell is cast as though it did
not require those targets. Similarly, a spell may require alternative targets only if an alternative
or additional cost was chosen for it. If the spell has a variable number of targets, the player
announces how many targets they will choose before they announce those targets. In some
cases, the number of targets will be defined by the spell’s text. Once the number of targets the
spell has is determined, that number doesn’t change, even if the information used to determine
the number of targets does. The same target can’t be chosen multiple times for any one instance
of the word “target” on the spell. However, if the spell uses the word “target” in multiple places,
the same object or player can be chosen once for each instance of the word “target” (as long as
it fits the targeting criteria). If any effects say that an object or player must be chosen as a target,
the player chooses targets so that they obey the maximum possible number of such effects
without violating any rules or effects that say that an object or player can’t be chosen as a target.
The chosen objects and/or players each become a target of that spell. (Any abilities that trigger
when those objects and/or players become the target of a spell trigger at this point; they’ll wait
to be put on the stack until the spell has finished being cast.)
The opponent with hexproof can't be the target of your ability.
702.11c “Hexproof” on a player means “You can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents
control.”
If that means that you were the only possible target, oh well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Why bother with mere rulings when so many answers can be found in the Rules?
Bojuka ETB trigger isn't optional (there is no "may" in the wording) if the only opponent left has Hexproof, you cannot target them. If you play Bojuka Bog under these conditions then, yes, you have to target yourself.
If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize, new user.
[c]Witchbane Orb[/c] -> Witchbane Orb
While putting the "When Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield, exile all cards from target player's graveyard." ability on the stack, you had to choose a target player.
The opponent with hexproof can't be the target of your ability.
If that means that you were the only possible target, oh well.
Witchbane Orb
Bojuka ETB trigger isn't optional (there is no "may" in the wording) if the only opponent left has Hexproof, you cannot target them. If you play Bojuka Bog under these conditions then, yes, you have to target yourself.