Spells with Storm mis-target, losing the game, if you run out of time, even if you already specified a target when put on the stack.
So, I run a deck that plays with Invasion of Alara and Displacer Kitten + Planeswalkers and Storm. Storm is specifically Grapeshot (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=598999) & Tendrils of agony (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=517584). So, when my somewhat infinite engine gets going it puts a ton of stuff on the stack due to Displacer Kitten flickering Invasion of Alara and various copying creatures like Surgical Metamorph, Phyrexian Metamorph (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=491350), and Clever Impersonator (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=470628). Anyway, the turns get ... long ... with a ton of stuff on the stack, and at some point a timer starts going so I try to wind down the stack and get through my spells and whatnot. But what I've found is that if you put cards with storm on the stack that need to target ... something ... or someone, if you run out of time it doesn't let you choose targets it just randomly picks a target and shoots EVERYTHING [all Storm "copies"] at that one thing. The problem here is that when you originally put the storm spell on the stack you do in fact choose a target (typically the opponent). But when you run out of time, rather than using the SAME target you originally specified, more often than not, it chooses you instead of the opponent you originally targeted, thus losing you the game you should have won handily due to like 2-30 copies of both Tendrils & Grapeshot getting copied onto the stack.
To me ... if you already SPECIFIED a target when you cast the spell originally, it should DEFAULT to using the SAME target for all subsequent COPIES of the spell, if you happen to run out of time (assuming the original target is still a valid target [the opponents typically have still been legal targets]).
Are you just punishing players arbitrarily for accidentally running out of timers (while trying to finish your play), or is this just a flat out bug, or is this some intentional RNG [random number generator] nonsense that that monkeys things up for no good reason?
Again, in my opinion, if you specified a target originally it should use that same target if it's still legal. If it's no longer legal, then fine, randomize what it picks to target, but not if the original target is still legal and was the original targeting directive.
I've attached a LOG file, I was that annoyed by the error. The last match in the log lost me the game by randomly targeting me with about 30 Grapeshot copies tossed onto the stack (even though I myself was physically clicking on the opponent while it was happening! It was just ignoring me and my clicks entirely.), even though my original grapeshot target was CLEARLY the opponent (and that's where all of my copies would have gone).
WHY ON EARTH would I intentionally target myself with 30 Storm copies of Grapeshot and lose the game, rather than targeting my opponent with 30 copies and winning the game? The simple answer is ... I wouldn't. Fix your nonsense. It's a ridiculous algorithm decision that should pretty literally never be made.
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MGmirkin#16543 commented
A-aand it did it again I Stormed my opponent with a "Tendrils of Agony," which hit like 20 times, then I cast Grapeshot as my timer was running down, went to target my opponent with it, got one or two clicks in, the timer ran out, and it Grapeshot **me** 40 times in the face leaving me back at 4 life (I was at 44 life after my Tendrils of Agony went off).
And my jerk of an opponent took advantage of it, refused to concede, and then killed me the next turn with his own tendrils of agony.
God I hate this stupid bug... I'm so over this bloody nonsense. Fix this rubbish. Stop shoving my own Grapeshots or Tendrils down my own throat when I'm CLEARLY targeting my opponent. This is stupid. And I shouldn't be losing matches STRICTLY because of this nonsense. #FFS