Imagine the following scenario in a three-player game.
Player 1: Kaalia of the Vast attacks player 2 and triggered ability goes on stack.
Player 2: I throw in Portal Mage and tell Kaalia to attack player 3.
Player 1 uses Kaalia's ability to throw in a random angel.
Would the random angel attack player 1, because that is the player that Kaalia attacked when the trigger went on the stack.
Or would it attack player 3, because that is the player Kaalia is attacking as the ability resolves?
We've asked it to judges; but so far I have seen conflicting answers from multiple sides.
It would be great if I could find the exact rules that deal with this.
It's worth noting that Kaalia doesn't use the words "defending player", but the most likely reference to this would be that the creature she brings in would be attacking player 2 (the original defending opponent), based on rule 802.2a:
Any rule, object, or effect that refers to a “defending player” refers to one specific defending
player, not to all of the defending players. If an ability of an attacking creature refers to a
defending player, or a spell or ability refers to both an attacking creature and a defending player,
then unless otherwise specified, the defending player it’s referring to is the player that creature
was attacking at the time it became an attacking creature that combat, or the controller of the
planeswalker that creature was attacking at the time it became an attacking creature that combat.
If a spell or ability could apply to multiple attacking creatures, the appropriate defending player
is individually determined for each of those attacking creatures. If there are multiple defending
players that could be chosen, the controller of the spell or ability chooses one.
I could see the ruling taking a slightly different turn because of some ambiguity in the specific card rulings here:
The official ruling for Portal Mage is:
If an ability targets something controlled by the “defending player” of an attacking creature and the defending player for that creature changes before that ability resolves, the ability will be countered because its target has become illegal.
Combined with the ruling on Kaalia:
If the opponent Kaalia attacked is no longer in the game when its ability resolves, you may put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon creature card onto the battlefield tapped, but it won't be attacking anyone and it won't be an attacking creature.
While Kaalia doesn't use the words "Defending Player", it's inconsistent wording where the intended meaning is clear. If there was an errata, it would probably make the ruling: you get the tapped creature, but it's not attacking anyone because the target became invalid. Personally, I think this would make more sense for game-state.
I can't see any interpretation of the rules that would have it attack player 3.
Because a final ruling requires clearing up the ambiguity in the card wordings and initial specific card rulings, it'll probably need review by someone who can adjust / write official clarification for the official rules to get a definitive answer. So, while my answer may not be perfect, it might be a bit before you get a really good answer. The rules appear to directly contradict each other here.
"Whenever (something) attacks" abilities trigger when the creature is declared as an attacker. The "that opponent" near the end of Kaalia of the Vast's ability is specifically referring to the "opponent" that Kaalia attacked to trigger the ability. Using Portal Mage to point Kaalia at a different player won't go back in time and change the fact of who she was first declared as attacking. When the ability resolves the creature will enter the battlefield attacking the original opponent from when the ability first triggered.
This is clarified by another ruling given in Portal Mage's Gatherer entry:
Quote from 8/25/2017 »
If you reselect which player or planeswalker an attacking creature is attacking, that creature is still considered to have attacked the player or planeswalker as declared, but it is now attacking the new player or planeswalker.
Player 1: Kaalia of the Vast attacks player 2 and triggered ability goes on stack.
Player 2: I throw in Portal Mage and tell Kaalia to attack player 3.
Player 1 uses Kaalia's ability to throw in a random angel.
Would the random angel attack player 1, because that is the player that Kaalia attacked when the trigger went on the stack.
Or would it attack player 3, because that is the player Kaalia is attacking as the ability resolves?
We've asked it to judges; but so far I have seen conflicting answers from multiple sides.
It would be great if I could find the exact rules that deal with this.
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=433254
It's worth noting that Kaalia doesn't use the words "defending player", but the most likely reference to this would be that the creature she brings in would be attacking player 2 (the original defending opponent), based on rule 802.2a:
I could see the ruling taking a slightly different turn because of some ambiguity in the specific card rulings here:
The official ruling for Portal Mage is:
Combined with the ruling on Kaalia:
While Kaalia doesn't use the words "Defending Player", it's inconsistent wording where the intended meaning is clear. If there was an errata, it would probably make the ruling: you get the tapped creature, but it's not attacking anyone because the target became invalid. Personally, I think this would make more sense for game-state.
I can't see any interpretation of the rules that would have it attack player 3.
Because a final ruling requires clearing up the ambiguity in the card wordings and initial specific card rulings, it'll probably need review by someone who can adjust / write official clarification for the official rules to get a definitive answer. So, while my answer may not be perfect, it might be a bit before you get a really good answer. The rules appear to directly contradict each other here.
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This is clarified by another ruling given in Portal Mage's Gatherer entry:
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