Riftbound FAQ

Bone Skewer

Up-to-date: This page has been reviewed against the current core rules document (version 1.3).

Can units with "I can't be chosen by enemy spells and abilities." be chosen with Bone Skewer?

Yes, as the protection is inactive in hand and hand cards cannot be targeted in any case.

Passive abilities of permanents are only active while on the board,[365.1] so that protection — as seen on units like Ruin Runner and Baron Nashor — has no effect while the unit is in the opponent's hand. Beyond that, Bone Skewer never targets the chosen unit in the first place — cards in hand are never targets because the hand is not a public zone,[355.10.a] so there is no finalization step at which a unit there could be declared as a target.[355.5]

Can the opponent trigger an optional additional cost effect when playing a unit via Bone Skewer, even though its costs are ignored?

Yes, as declaring the intent to pay is what satisfies the condition, not the amount actually spent.

The phrase "any and all costs" in Bone Skewer's text is intentionally broader than the standard "ignoring its cost" wording. Standard cost-ignoring only zeroes out a card's base Energy and Power costs,[356.1.b.1] but "any and all" extends that to additional costs as well. Despite this, the opponent may still declare their intention to pay an optional additional cost during step 2 of playing the card — the decision to pay is made before costs are determined. Once declared, that additional cost is itself subject to "any and all costs" and is therefore already 0 when it comes time to pay.[356.4.f] An optional additional cost is considered paid based on the decision to pay, not the amount actually spent,[356.4.f.1] so the condition is fully satisfied. Any conditional effect tied to "if you paid the additional cost" therefore triggers normally.

Example

You play Bone Skewer and choose Nami, Headstrong from your opponent's hand. Your opponent is instructed to play Nami to the chosen battlefield, ignoring any and all costs. As part of that process, they declare their intention to pay the optional additional cost of Calm. That cost is already 0, so nothing is actually paid — but because they chose to pay it, the condition is met. Nami's triggered ability fires, stunning an enemy unit.

Can targeting protection prevent the stun from Bone Skewer?

No, as the unit to be stunned is determined automatically, not chosen, so no targeting occurs.

When Bone Skewer's triggered ability fires — "When they do, Stun it" — the "it" refers unambiguously to the unit the opponent just played as a result of Bone Skewer's effect. No choice is ever made about which unit is stunned; it is always and only that unit. Because the unit is programmatically determined rather than chosen, it is not a target.[355.10.d]

This means targeting protection — such as "I can't be chosen by enemy spells and abilities," as seen on Ruin Runner and Baron Nashor — does not prevent the stun. Deflect is similarly irrelevant, since Deflect is only added as a cost when a spell or ability chooses an opponent's permanent,[809.1.d] which is not the case here.

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