I'm in a four player commander game. My buddy casts his commander Etali, primal conqueror and my other buddy casts deflecting swat claiming that he was targeting Etali's ETB trigger, and turning all three "EACH players..." back on my buddy that cast Etali, effectively giving us all one of his dudes, instead of the opposite.
Then we argued. A lot.
Anyone got a ruling for this by chance? Is that legal? Did we do it right?
Weeks later - you could have gotten an answer much sooner if you had posted in the Rulings Forum.
No, you played it wrong.
First, in a four player game, Etali's ETB will reveal four cards, not three. This includes its own caster.
Second, the ETB does not target at all - notice the lack of the word "target." Because it says "each player exiles" and not "target player exiles" or "any number of target players exile," Deflecting Swat has nothing to change. It would still affect all players, and the controller of the ETB would still reap all of the benefits.
Then we argued. A lot.
Anyone got a ruling for this by chance? Is that legal? Did we do it right?
No, you played it wrong.
First, in a four player game, Etali's ETB will reveal four cards, not three. This includes its own caster.
Second, the ETB does not target at all - notice the lack of the word "target." Because it says "each player exiles" and not "target player exiles" or "any number of target players exile," Deflecting Swat has nothing to change. It would still affect all players, and the controller of the ETB would still reap all of the benefits.
2024 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter