
Swerve
Card Information
Type: Instant
Mana Cost:
CMC: 2
Part of the Reserved List: No
Color Identity:
Set: Shards of Alara (ALA)
Rarity: Uncommon
Collector Number: 200
Oracle Text
Change the target of target spell with a single target.
Format Legalities
Card Rulings
- March 1, 2010
An Aura spell on the stack targets the object or player which it will enchant upon entering. Thus, an Aura spell is a "spell with a single target", which means you may use Swerve to change that target. Doing so will cause it to enter enchanting the new target rather than the original one.
Source: wotc - October 1, 2008
If a spell targets the same player or object multiple times, you can't target it with Swerve.
Source: wotc - October 1, 2008
Swerve targets only the spell whose target will be changed. It doesn't directly affect the original target of that spell or the new target of that spell.
Source: wotc - October 1, 2008
If you cast Swerve on a spell that targets a spell on the stack (like Cancel does, for example), you can't change that spell's target to itself. You can, however, change that spell's target to Swerve. If you do, that spell won't resolve when it tries to resolve because Swerve will have left the stack by then.
Source: wotc - October 1, 2008
You don't choose the new target for the spell until Swerve resolves. You must change the target if possible. However, you can't change the target to an illegal target. If there are no legal targets, the target isn't changed. It doesn't matter if the original target of that spell has somehow become illegal.
Source: wotc - October 1, 2008
If a spell targets multiple things, you can't target it with Swerve, even if all but one of those targets has become illegal.
Source: wotc
Price History

To study a single card is to glimpse the heart of a spell - a frozen moment of ambition, artistry, and arcane intent. Within each glyph lies a spark: a story untold, a duel turned, a destiny altered. Treat it not as mere parchment, dear seeker, but as a shard of the Multiverse itself.