If I have Emissary of Grudges on the battlefield and my secretly chosen player controls a creature with Annihilator which attacks me, can I activate Emissary of Grudges and choose a new target for that creature's Annihilator?
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3 Answers
No, there is no interaction. Emissary of Grudges can change a target, but the Annihilator ability does not target.
"Target" has a specific meaning in Magic. If an ability does not specifically include the word "target" somewhere, then there is no target for Emissary to change.
115.10a Just because an object or player is being affected by a spell or ability doesn’t make that object or player a target of that spell or ability. Unless that object or player is identified by the word “target” in the text of that spell or ability, or the rule for that keyword ability, it’s not a target.
Annihilator does not target anything:
702.85a Annihilator is a triggered ability. “Annihilator N” means “Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices N permanents.”
answered Jan 18, 2020 at 1:08
No, Emissary of Grudges does not interact with Annihilator.
Annihilator does not target a player, it just affects the defending player, which is the player that the creature attacked.
The full definition of Annihilator is in rule 702.85a:
Annihilator is a triggered ability. “Annihilator N” means “Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices N permanents.”
answered Jan 18, 2020 at 0:55
Additionally to the answers already given, a card that doesn't say "target", doesn't target anything (although there are cards and abilities that "target" implicitly, for example Aura spells and Equip abilities).
From the rules:
115.1d A triggered ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the “something” is a phrase that describes an object and/or player. The target(s) are chosen as the ability is put on the stack; see rule 603.3d.
and especially
115.10a Just because an object or player is being affected by a spell or ability doesn’t make that object or player a target of that spell or ability. Unless that object or player is identified by the word “target” in the text of that spell or ability, or the rule for that keyword ability, it’s not a target.
