#illegal targets

[magicjudge]

I'm curious how spellskite and protection work with each other, specifically with giver of runes. Can I redirect a spell to spellskite and then give it protection from the color of that spell and have it be unaffected? If that doesn't work to counteract the spell, is there an order of operations that does?

That works correctly. 

You need to change the target first and then grant protection to Spellskite. This will cause the spell to not affect Spellskite (and to have no effect if it has no other targets).

Giving Spellskite protection before you try to change the target won’t work because the target won’t be able to change to Spellskite as it would be an illegal target.

[magicjudge]

Hi Judge! For a spell on the stack, if its targets all become invalid does it stay until it moves to resolve? I didn't see a state based action that cleaned them up but could have missed something. Such as if my removal spell is blanked by the target being sacrificed but I have on-stack interaction (a redirect, Nivmagus Elemental, Spell Queller, etc at my own spell). Thanks!

Spells only leave the stack when they go to resolve or when a spell or ability moves them from the stack, such as a counterspell effect.

A spell that was cast with legal targets but whose targets all become illegal stays on the stack until it goes to resolve, at which point it will fail to resolve and be removed from the stack.

What all this means is that you can feed a spell that has lost its targets to your Spell Queller or Niv-Magus Elemental without having to worry about state-based actions taking it away from you.

[magicjudge]

If I cast a Clear Shot targeting my Norin the Wary and an opponent's 3/3, what happens exactly? PS, you're awesome!

A whole lot of nothing much.

Norin’s triggered ability has exiled him until the end step by the time we get to trying to resolve Clear Shot. 

Clear Shot will still resolve since it still has one legal target, which is your opponent’s creature. However, it won’t be able to give Norin +1/+1 since he’s no longer on the battlefield. Clear Shot also can’t cause an illegal target to deal damage, so no damage will be dealt to your opponent’s creature.

(If the situation were reversed, and you cast Clear Shot targeting your own creature and an opponent’s Norin the Wary, then your creature would end up just getting +1/+1 from the spell when it resolved.)

[magicjudge]

If you blink out a creature when it's the target of a spell, does the spell disappear or does it keep targeting said creature?

Neither.

The blinked creature returns to the battlefield as a new object. This means that it’s not the same creature that the spell was targeting and the spell won’t be able to affect it if/when it resolves.

When the spell goes to resolve, the creature it was targeting is no longer on the battlefield and thus not a legal target. If that was the spell’s only target (or all of the spell’s other targets are also illegal now), then the spell will be countered instead of resolving. If the spell had other targets and at least one of those targets is still legal, then the spell will resolve and do as much as it can to the remaining legal targets.

For example, if your opponent casts Searing Blaze targeting both you and a creature you control, and then you blink that creature with your Eldrazi Displacer, the blinked creature won’t be a legal target for Searing Blaze but since Searing Blaze also targets you and you’re still a legal target for it, it will still resolve and deal damage to you.

[magicjudge]

Preface: I realize this is a fairly broad question that likely doesn't have a comprehensive answer, but I'm looking for the best you're willing to put the time into explaining; What is the determining verbiage for whether or not a spell, with multiple effects, that has one of the targets of it's effects made invalid before resolution, resolves? I.e, if the target of my slip through space dies, do I get a card? If so, is it because of the line break? Because of the period? Would a comma work?

It has nothing to do with punctuation or line breaks.

A spell with a single target will be countered and thus have none of its effects happen if its target is no longer legal when the spell tries to resolve.

For example, you cast Slip Through Space targeting your creature, but that creature dies to a Fiery Temper before Slip Through Space can resolve. When Slip Through Space goes to resolve, it sees that none of its targets are legal so it’s countered instead of resolving. You don’t get to draw a card.

A spell with multiple targets will be countered this way only if all of its targets are no longer legal when it resolves. If any of the targets are still legal, the spell will resolve and do as much as it can, though it won’t be able to affect the illegal targets.

For example, you cast Expose Evil targeting two of your opponent’s creatures. One of the targets is a Wild-Field Scarecrow, which your opponent sacrifices to activate its ability before Expose Evil resolves. When Expose Evil goes to resolve, it only has one legal target, but because it still has a legal target left, it resolves and does as much as it can. The remaining target becomes tapped and you investigate.

[magicjudge]

Interaction we came across last night; my opponent awakens Ruinous Path against my Edlrazi Displacer, I play Center Soul giving protection from Black. Does my opponent still get to awaken?

Yes.

When Ruinous Path is cast for its Awaken cost, it targets both the creature or planeswalker it would destroy and the land it would awaken. It will only be countered on resolution if both of those targets are illegal at that time.

In the situation you describe, the land is still a legal target so the land will get four counters and become an elemental creature even though Ruinous Path won’t destroy your Displacer.