Can bolt bend stop counter spells?

jaishivajai
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Post by jaishivajai » 4 years ago

Someone plays any card and someone else plays counterspell targeting that card. You cast bolt bend and change the target of the counterspell either to bolt bend itsself or the counterspell that is already on the stack. Will this work to stop the counterspell from hitting its intended target?

Essentially I'm asking, can bolt bend "counter" a counterspell that has been put on the stack?

Accepted Answer

by peteroupc » 4 years ago
In general, when Bolt Bend resolves with a legal target, if the targeted spell is one that itself can target any "spell", any "instant or sorcery spell", or any "spell with a single target" (such as Counterspell, Cancel, Wild Ricochet, or Swerve), you can change that spell's target to Bolt Bend, which will still be on the stack as you do so (C.R. 608.2b-c, 115.1a, 112.1). After that, Bolt Bend goes to the graveyard as the last step of resolving, making Bolt Bend an illegal target for the other spell (C.R. 608.2k, 608.2b). And a spell with targets will fail to resolve if all of them are illegal (C.R. 608.2b).

See also this thread, this thread and this thread.
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DrSeaMonster
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Post by DrSeaMonster » 4 years ago

I'm fairly sure that's how it works.
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peteroupc
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Post by peteroupc » 4 years ago

In general, when Bolt Bend resolves with a legal target, if the targeted spell is one that itself can target any "spell", any "instant or sorcery spell", or any "spell with a single target" (such as Counterspell, Cancel, Wild Ricochet, or Swerve), you can change that spell's target to Bolt Bend, which will still be on the stack as you do so (C.R. 608.2b-c, 115.1a, 112.1). After that, Bolt Bend goes to the graveyard as the last step of resolving, making Bolt Bend an illegal target for the other spell (C.R. 608.2k, 608.2b). And a spell with targets will fail to resolve if all of them are illegal (C.R. 608.2b).

See also this thread, this thread and this thread.

user_938036
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Post by user_938036 » 4 years ago

A small bit of clarification that is important. You can't target a spell with itself, you can't change the target of counterspell to counterspell; Bolt Bend has to retarget the counterspell to Bolt Bend.

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