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Target

Japanese

(たい) (しょう)
Verb: (たい) (しょう) とする (formerly (せん) (たく) する)

Japanese (ruby)

たいしょう
Verb: たいしょうとする (formerly せんたくする)

Japanese (base text)

対象
Verb: 対象とする (formerly 選択する)

Japanese (romanized)

taishō
Verb: taishō to suru (formerly sentaku suru)

English

target

Targeting ( (たい) (しょう) taishō, verb: (たい) (しょう) とする taishō to Suru) is a means of designating which specific cards are affected or used by card effects or attack.

Cards that target make players choose at the time of activation the specific card(s) that it will affect.

Mechanics[]

Attack[]

Japanese: 攻撃の対象 (Kōgeki no Taishō) ; Verb: 攻撃対象に選択する (Kōgeki Taishō ni Sentaku-suru).

When declaring an attack, an attack target must be chosen. The attacking monster will attack that attack target.

Replay[]

During replay, an attack target will be re-selected in case the turn player decides to continue the attack.

Card Effect[]

When using a card that targets, the target(s) are to be declared before players are allowed to chain to the effect. The target's locations is always specified: It can be the field, Graveyard, or the Banished cards. Effects do not and never target a card(s) in the hand, Main Deck, or Extra Deck.

If an effect (other than that of an Equip Spell Card) does not explicitly state "target" in its text, then the card does not "target". The card(s) to be affected are either chosen when the effect resolves, or the effect simply apply to all cards within the criteria in the first place.

Before PSCT[]

If the card's text says "target", then the effect always targets. If the card's text says "select", or "designate", and that card was printed before the introduction of Problem-Solving Card Text, then the effect usually targets, although there are some exceptions. When in doubt, check the card's rulings to see whether or not it targets. The introduction of Problem-Solving Card Text made all card effects that target, except Equip Spell Cards, specifically use the word "target" in their card text.

If a card targeted by an effect gains "cannot be targeted" effect during the same chain, the effect will still be applied as if "cannot be targeted" is not in effect.

Automatically Targeting[]

While targeting usually allows the player to make choices, some cards that do target do so without the player's input. Such cards include "Magic Cylinder", "Sakuretsu Armor", and "Dimensional Prison"

Example: Player A controls "Darkness Neosphere" and "Dark Highlander", and attacks Player B directly with "Darkness Neosphere". Player B activates "Magic Cylinder". At this time, "Magic Cylinder" automatically targets "Darkness Neosphere" and the Player B doesn't have to say what card he/she targets.

Invalid target[]

If a card is targeted by a card effect, and then another effect is chained to the original effect so that the target is not a legal target when resolving the original effect, then you do not get to "re-select" the target. The original effect resolves without effect (that is, it does nothing).

  • Example: Player A activates "Monster Reborn" and targets "Blue Eyes White Dragon" in his Graveyard. Player B chains the effect of "D.D. Crow" from his hand, targeting "Blue Eyes White Dragon". Since "Blue Eyes White Dragon" is banished, "Monster Reborn" resolves without effect since the target changed locations.
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