Do Auras Count as Targeting a Creature in Magic: The Gathering?
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The short answer is yes, but only when they’re cast as spells. Auras target a creature (or other permanent or player) when you cast them from your hand. Once they’re on the battlefield, attached to a permanent, they no longer target. This distinction is crucial for understanding how Auras interact with abilities like hexproof and shroud.
Auras are a type of enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that directly modify or enhance another permanent or player. They’re a classic “risk versus reward” card type, offering powerful buffs but also making the enchanted permanent a bigger target for removal. Understanding the nuances of how Auras target (or don’t target) is fundamental to playing them effectively.
Understanding the Targeting Rules for Auras
When you cast an Aura from your hand, it’s considered an Aura spell on the stack. This is the only time an Aura actually targets. The enchant ability of the Aura, indicated by the word “enchant” on the card, defines what the Aura can target. For example, an Aura with “enchant creature” can only target creatures. The target is chosen as the spell is cast.
However, once the Aura resolves and enters the battlefield attached to its chosen target, it’s no longer targeting anything. It’s simply an enchantment modifying the permanent it’s attached to. This is a key difference. Abilities that prevent targeting, like hexproof, only stop spells and abilities from targeting the permanent. Once an Aura is already attached, hexproof doesn’t make it fall off.
How Auras Enter the Battlefield Matters
The way an Aura enters the battlefield greatly impacts whether it targets. If an Aura is put onto the battlefield without being cast, such as by an ability that says “put an Aura from your graveyard onto the battlefield attached to a creature,” it does not target. Instead, the Aura is simply attached to a legal permanent.
This is important because you can attach an Aura this way to a creature with hexproof or even shroud, even though you couldn’t target that creature with the Aura if you were casting it as a spell. However, it is still “chosen” as the valid object to be attached to.
Protection vs. Hexproof vs. Shroud
Understanding the differences between protection, hexproof, and shroud is vital when dealing with Auras.
- Protection: This ability has a few components, preventing damage, preventing being blocked, and it also prevents being enchanted, equipped or targeted by spells from whatever is protected against. An Aura will fall off a creature when they gain protection.
- Hexproof: This ability only prevents the permanent from being targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control. As previously stated, once an Aura is attached, hexproof doesn’t affect it.
- Shroud: This ability prevents the permanent from being targeted by any spells or abilities, including your own. Like hexproof, it doesn’t cause existing Auras to fall off.
FAQs About Auras and Targeting
1. Can I cast an Aura on a creature with hexproof?
No, if you are your opponent. Hexproof prevents your opponents from targeting the creature with spells they control, and Aura spells target when you cast them.
2. If I attach an Aura to a creature, and then my opponent gives that creature hexproof, does the Aura fall off?
No. Hexproof only prevents targeting. Once the Aura is attached, it’s no longer targeting the creature.
3. Can I attach an Aura to a creature with shroud?
Not if you’re casting it. Shroud prevents targeting by any spell or ability, including your own. However, if you can put the Aura onto the battlefield attached to the creature without casting it, you can bypass shroud.
4. What happens if the creature an Aura is enchanting dies?
The Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. When the enchanted permanent leaves the battlefield, the Aura becomes detached and ceases to exist as a valid object, and then ceases to exist.
5. Can I enchant my own creatures with shroud?
Not by casting an aura spell, but by other means. Auras do not have a target when not on the stack, and therefore you can enchant a creature with shroud with something such as an ability or another card.
6. What happens if a creature with an Aura on it gains protection from enchantments?
The Aura falls off and is put into the graveyard.
7. Can I move an Aura from one creature to another?
Generally, no, not directly. However, some cards have abilities that allow you to move Auras from one permanent to another. Without such an ability, the Aura remains attached to its original target (until that permanent leaves the battlefield).
8. Do triggered abilities of Auras target?
It depends on the specific ability. If the triggered ability says “target,” then it targets. If it doesn’t mention “target,” it doesn’t target. For example, an Aura that says “Whenever enchanted creature attacks, you gain 1 life” does not target. However, an Aura that says “Whenever enchanted creature attacks, you may target another creature” does.
9. What happens if an Aura enters the battlefield and has no legal target?
If the Aura is entering the battlefield and there is no legal object or player for it to enchant, the Aura remains in its current zone, unless that zone is the stack. In that case, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard instead of entering the battlefield.
10. Can I put multiple Auras on the same creature?
Yes, unless the Auras have conflicting abilities or effects that prevent it. There’s no inherent limit to the number of Auras a creature can have.
11. If I cast an Aura targeting a creature, and my opponent responds by giving that creature shroud, what happens?
The Aura spell will be countered upon resolution because its target has become illegal. It will then go to the graveyard.
12. Are Auras considered spells all the time?
No. Auras are only considered Aura spells when they are on the stack, i.e., when they are being cast. Once they resolve and enter the battlefield, they are simply enchantments (specifically, Aura enchantments).
13. Can I destroy an Aura with a “destroy target enchantment” spell?
Yes. Auras are enchantments, so they can be targeted and destroyed by spells or abilities that destroy enchantments.
14. What happens if a creature with an Aura is exiled?
In this case it means that any auras that were attached to the creature exiled remain on the battlefield not attached to anything. They will be sent to the graveyard the next time state-based actions are checked.
15. Does countering an Aura spell prevent it from entering the battlefield?
Yes. Countering a spell, including an Aura spell, sends it directly to the graveyard from the stack, preventing it from resolving and entering the battlefield.
Strategic Implications of Aura Targeting
The targeting rules for Auras have significant strategic implications. You need to consider whether your opponent has ways to prevent targeting, like hexproof or shroud, or ways to punish you for enchanting a creature, such as removal spells.
Auras can create powerful synergies and combos, but they also make the enchanted creature a high-priority target. Choosing the right target and timing your Aura spells carefully is crucial for success. Furthermore, understanding alternative ways to get Auras onto the battlefield without casting them can give you an edge in certain matchups, especially against decks that rely on hexproof or shroud.
The complexities of Magic: The Gathering contribute to its engaging nature, and the strategic use of Auras is a perfect example. The Games Learning Society explores how games can promote learning and engagement, and mastering these intricate rules definitely aligns with that mission. To learn more about how games foster education, visit GamesLearningSociety.org.
Mastering the rules surrounding Auras and their targeting mechanics will undoubtedly improve your game and your understanding of Magic: The Gathering.