Can you lightning bolt a planeswalker?
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The answer to the question Can you lightning bolt a planeswalker? is yes, you can target a planeswalker with Lightning Bolt, as the Oracle text for Lightning Bolt states “any target“, which includes creatures, players, and planeswalkers. This is possible because the Planeswalker Redirection rule has been removed, allowing Lightning Bolt to directly target planeswalkers and deal damage to them.
Understanding Planeswalkers and Damage
How Planeswalkers Interact with Spells and Abilities
Understanding how planeswalkers interact with various spells and abilities is crucial for mastering Magic: The Gathering. Planeswalkers are unique in that they are not creatures but can still be targeted by certain spells and abilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can You Shock Planeswalkers?
No, you cannot directly target a planeswalker with Shock. Instead, you must target the planeswalker’s controller, and then, upon resolution of the spell, the damage can be redirected to the planeswalker.
2. Can You Fireball a Planeswalker?
No, you cannot target a planeswalker directly with Fireball because Fireball targets a creature or player, and a planeswalker is neither. However, you can target the planeswalker’s controller and then redirect the damage.
3. Can Lightning Helix Hit Planeswalkers?
Yes, Lightning Helix can target planeswalkers because it can target any creature, player, or planeswalker.
4. Can You Flicker Planeswalkers?
Yes, you can use a planeswalker’s ability and then flicker it to use its ability again in the same turn.
5. What is the Legendary Planeswalker Rule?
All planeswalkers are legendary and subject to the legend rule, meaning if a player controls more than one legendary planeswalker with the same name, they must choose one and put the other into their graveyard.
6. Does Deathtouch One Shot Planeswalkers?
No, Deathtouch only affects creatures, not planeswalkers.
7. What if a Planeswalker is Indestructible?
An indestructible planeswalker will still lose loyalty counters when damaged, and if it has no loyalty counters, it will be put into its owner’s graveyard.
8. What Kills a Planeswalker?
Planeswalkers can be killed by dealing them enough damage to reduce their loyalty counters to zero, using destroy effects, or through counter and bounce effects.
9. Does Hexproof Stop Planeswalker Abilities?
Yes, hexproof prevents planeswalker abilities from targeting objects with hexproof that you do not control.
10. Can Lava Spike Hit Planeswalkers?
Yes, Lava Spike can deal damage to planeswalkers.
11. Does a Planeswalker Ability Resolve if it Dies?
Yes, a planeswalker’s ability will still resolve even if the planeswalker is destroyed or removed from the battlefield.
12. Can You Ninjutsu on a Planeswalker?
Yes, you can use ninjutsu to put a creature onto the battlefield attacking a planeswalker.
13. Can You Mutate Planeswalkers?
Yes, as long as one copy of the legendary creature is underneath another creature mutated onto it.
14. Can a Planeswalker Lose Their Spark?
Yes, a planeswalker can lose their spark, which can trap them on their current plane.
15. What Kills Indestructible MTG?
To destroy an indestructible creature, you can exile it, reduce its toughness to 0, make your opponent sacrifice it, counter it, enchant it, discard it from your opponent’s hand, send it to your opponent’s library, or bounce it back to your opponent’s hand.
Understanding the interactions between spells, abilities, and planeswalkers is key to mastering the complex world of Magic: The Gathering. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out, knowing how Lightning Bolt and other spells interact with planeswalkers can give you a significant edge in your games.