Dance of the Manse and number of targets

[Outcryqq]

Dance of the Manse

Had a game last night, player cast Dance of the Manse for x=6, but that player had only 5 legal artifact/non-aura enchantments in his graveyard.

Half the table said the player can't do it; that if x=6 then he must have 6 legal targets, and that he can choose to return up to 6 of those targets.

The other half of the table says the player doesn't have to have 6 legal targets in order to cast it for x=6; that the "up to" language is controlling on how many targets he chooses.

We've looked at the rulings and are still split. Hoping for a judge to help clarify.

Thanks in advance!

[GuJiaXian]

I'm not a judge, but the "other half" is right. The "up to" wording means that the player can target X or fewer cards.

[Argus]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Dance of the Manse

Had a game last night, player cast Dance of the Manse for x=6, but that player had only 5 legal artifact/non-aura enchantments in his graveyard.

Half the table said the player can't do it; that if x=6 then he must have 6 legal targets, and that he can choose to return up to 6 of those targets.

The other half of the table says the player doesn't have to have 6 legal targets in order to cast it for x=6; that the "up to" language is controlling on how many targets he chooses.

601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell requires. A spell may require some targets only if an alternative or additional cost (such as a kicker cost) or a particular mode was chosen for it; otherwise, the spell is cast as though it did not require those targets. Similarly, a spell may require alternative targets only if an alternative or additional cost was chosen for it. If the spell has a variable number of targets, the player announces how many targets they will choose before they announce those targets. In some cases, the number of targets will be defined by the spell's text. Once the number of targets the spell has is determined, that number doesn't change, even if the information used to determine the number of targets does. The same target can't be chosen multiple times for any one instance of the word "target" on the spell. However, if the spell uses the word "target" in multiple places, the same object or player can be chosen once for each instance of the word "target" (as long as it fits the targeting criteria). If any effects say that an object or player must be chosen as a target, the player chooses targets so that they obey the maximum possible number of such effects
without violating any rules or effects that say that an object or player can't be chosen as a target. The chosen objects and/or players each become a target of that spell. (Any abilities that trigger when those objects and/or players become the target of a spell trigger at this point; they'll wait to be put on the stack until the spell has finished being cast.)

The variable number of targets could easily be 5 (or less) in this case. Consider the rulings for Ravenous Gigantotherium, where "up to X target creatures" could mean as few as zero targets.

[Outcryqq]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Thanks for the input! And had this been asked recently, or are you referring to me asking the same question here and on salvation?

[Argus]

or are you referring to me asking the same question here and on salvation?

That.

I should also point out that there are a number of cards with the phrasing "up to one target ..."; some of them also have official rulings that zero is a valid quantity.

[Outcryqq]

Yup. I was in the "other half" camp.