Gangplank, Naval
Does Gangplank's replacement effect stop the rest of a spell or ability from resolving?
No. A replacement effect only replaces the specific event or instruction that qualifies for it — everything else a spell or ability does still happens as written, whether it would stun Gangplank, decrease his might, or return him to hand.[370.1]
Example
A player plays Star-Crossed, targeting their own Empowered Gangplank as the friendly unit and an opponent's Elder Dragon as the enemy unit.
Returning Elder Dragon doesn't choose Gangplank, so his replacement effect has nothing to apply to there — it's returned to hand as normal. Returning Gangplank is the qualifying event: instead of going to hand, he gets +3 might. Star-Crossed still resolves in full; it simply produces a different result for the one instruction that involves Gangplank.
How does Gangplank's replacement effect interact with Switcheroo?
Only the modifier applied to Gangplank is a candidate for replacement — whatever happens to the other unit is untouched. See How does Switcheroo work? for why Swapping creates two separate modifiers from a single calculated difference.[433.1.a][433.1.b] Whichever of the two modifiers chooses Gangplank is the only one his replacement effect can apply to — if it's a decrease, it's replaced with +3 might instead; if it's an increase, it isn't one of the events his ability replaces, so it applies normally. Either way, the other unit's modifier resolves untouched, and the difference itself isn't recalculated afterward.
Example
An Empowered Gangplank at 6 might is swapped with a 1 might Determined Sentry at the same battlefield via Switcheroo.
The Swap action calculates a difference of 5, then creates two modifiers: -5 might for Gangplank and +5 might for Determined Sentry. Gangplank's replacement effect intercedes on his -5 might modifier — decreasing his might is one of the events it replaces — and turns it into +3 might instead. Determined Sentry's +5 might modifier never chose Gangplank, so it's unaffected.
Gangplank ends at 9 might (6 base + 3); Determined Sentry ends at 6 might (1 base + 5).
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Written by Christian I. (Near).
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