Dec 26, 2013
This question appeared yesterday in my playgroup: If I target an already tapped creature with my Hands of Binding, how it will exactly work?
Hands of Binding just says “target creature,” not “target untapped creature”. In other words, as long as the target is a creature, it’s a legal target for Hands of Binding (whether the creature is tapped or not).
Now, when Hands of Binding resolves, it will perform as many of its effects as it can. It tries to tap the creature, but it’s already tapped so that part has no effect. Then it successfully makes the creature not untap during its controller’s next untap step. Then (if it’s the original Hands of Binding) you’ll get to cipher it onto a creature.