Rebuttal
When do I choose whether to pay the power for Rebuttal?
You choose whether to pay ![[Power]](/images/rune_rainbow.svg)
when Rebuttal resolves, not while it is being finalized.
When Rebuttal is finalized, you choose the spell with energy cost no more than 4.[355.5] The optional power payment is not an additional cost to play Rebuttal; it is a cost within the spell's instructions.[204.2][204.3] Costs within a spell's instructions are paid during that spell's resolution.[204.3.b]
Opponents can therefore react to Rebuttal knowing which spell it chose, but without knowing whether you will pay to gain control of that spell or decline to pay and counter it.
Can Rebuttal redirect a spell played from Hidden to another location?
No — taking control of the spell and making new choices for it does not remove the targeting restriction imposed by Hidden.
Rebuttal allows its controller to remake a finalized spell's targets,[752.1] but every new choice must still be legal.[753.1] When a spell is played from Hidden, its targets must be chosen from among the options at the battlefield where it was hidden unless the spell's own targeting restriction makes that impossible.[811.1.d.2] Changing the spell's controller does not change where it was played from, so this restriction continues to apply.
Example
An opponent plays Hidden Blade from Hidden and chooses a unit at that battlefield. If you gain control of Hidden Blade with Rebuttal, you may choose another legal unit at the same battlefield. You cannot choose a unit at another battlefield, and you cannot choose a unit at base because Hidden Blade itself requires a unit "at a battlefield."
Whose "when you play a spell" abilities trigger for a spell Rebuttal takes control of?
The abilities controlled by the spell's new controller trigger when that spell resolves.
Abilities such as Ravenbloom Student's do not trigger when a spell is first placed on or finalized to the chain. They trigger when the act of playing that spell is completed by its resolution.[419.4.a] At that point, the player who gained control of the spell with Rebuttal is its controller.[191.2]
Example
You control Ravenbloom Student and use Rebuttal to gain control of an opponent's Gust. Your Student triggers when Rebuttal resolves. When Gust resolves afterward, your Student triggers again because you now control Gust. Your opponent's "when you play a spell" abilities do not trigger for Gust.
Do I draw a card if I take control of Back Off?
No — you did not play Back Off from your hand merely by taking control of it.
To play a card, a player places it on the chain and queues it for finalization.[419.1] Back Off's "if you played this from your hand" clause is a non-triggered condition, so it checks whether the card was finalized by that player.[419.4.b][329.3] Gaining control of an already-finalized spell does not repeat that process or change which player performed it.
When Back Off resolves under your control, "you" refers to you, but you did not play it from your hand, so you do not draw a card. The opponent who originally played Back Off does not draw either because they no longer control the resolving spell.
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Written by Christian I. (Near).
Last updated on .