Dovin’s Veto and the Stack

Asked by K4nkato 10 months ago

I’m confused about Dovin's Veto and targeting things on the stack.

Let’s say Player A casts Glistener Elf.

Player B casts Counterspell targeting Glistener Elf.

Player A casts Dovin's Veto targeting Counterspell.

Can’t Player B cast Force of Will targeting Glistener Elf and counter the Elf anyway?

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1

Yes, that's allowed. Spells and abilities that target something on the stack aren't required to target the object on top of the stack. They can choose any legal target.

June 15, 2023 7:33 a.m.

K4nkato says... #2

So Dovin's Veto gets its “Can’t Be Countered” value from countering something that cannot resolve? Say, if you’re in a UW control mirror and your opponent wants to play Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and you give it the veto?

June 15, 2023 8:44 a.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #3

I feel like I don't understand the follow-up question. A cast Teferi, Hero of Dominaria on the stack is a noncreature spell, so it's a legal target for Dovin's Veto.

To be more specific about the original question: When Force of Will resolves, Glistener Elf is countered and removed from the stack. Next Dovin's Veto will resolve and counter the Counterspell, removing it from the stack. After that there's nothing left to do.

June 15, 2023 11:37 a.m.

K4nkato says... #4

My question was more about framing my own understanding of how to use Dovin's Veto. I shouldn’t think of it as a protection spell, I should think of it as “Counter non creature win conditions first and other stuff second”. I talked myself through it a bit after posting, but I appreciate your time :)

June 15, 2023 10:27 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #5

Ah, right. I got my head twisted around the words "cannot resolve" and it threw off the rest of my understanding of what you were saying.

June 15, 2023 11:12 p.m.