A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 16 November 2008
I was curious about whether you're able to play Misdirection targetting an action which does not have any targetting in it's effects. For example, my opponent plays Stay Your Blade, can I react by playing Misdirection?
Misdirection Political Gozoku Reaction: Before another player would choose targets for one of his action’s effects during a battle, target one of your Courtier or Gozoku Personalities: You choose the targets instead.
Stay Your Blade Battle: Bow and move home one of your target opposed Samurai Personalities: Draw three cards.
I'm aware that this would not actually change the effects in the slightest, I'm just wondering if it's posible to do it simply for the political action.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 16 November 2008
I was curious about whether you're able to play Misdirection targetting an action which does not have any targetting in it's effects.
http://rules.l5r.com/Rulings_M#Misdirection: "Misdirection can be played even if there is no targeting in the constraints block or no targeting in the effects block. "
A player, 17 November 2008
"Political Gozoku Reaction: Before another player would choose targets for one of his actions’ effects during a battle, target one of your Courtier or Gozoku Personalities: You choose the targets instead."
http://rules.l5r.com/Card_features#Abilities "Constraints block: An ability may contain a second colon, at some point after the designator’s colon, which separates the constraints block from the effects block. If it does not have this second colon, there is only an effects block. The constraints block contains one or more of the following elements.
A. Reaction trigger. Like triggered traits, Reactions have a trigger that describes a point in time when they can be taken. Example: “After the start of a turn:” “Before a Personality is destroyed:” “When producing Gold:” "
http://rules.l5r.com/Rulings_M#Misdirection "Misdirection can be played even if there is no targeting in the constraints block or no targeting in the effects block"
Isn't the reaction trigger "Before another player would choose targets for one of his actions' effects during a battle"? If there are no targets to choose, wouldn't that mean Misdirection has no trigger to react to?
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 17 November 2008
"Political Gozoku Reaction: Before another player would choose targets for one of his actions’ effects during a battle, target one of your Courtier or Gozoku Personalities: You choose the targets instead."
http://rules.l5r.com/Card_features#Abilities "Constraints block: An ability may contain a second colon, at some point after the designator’s colon, which separates the constraints block from the effects block. If it does not have this second colon, there is only an effects block. The constraints block contains one or more of the following elements.
A. Reaction trigger. Like triggered traits, Reactions have a trigger that describes a point in time when they can be taken. Example: “After the start of a turn:” “Before a Personality is destroyed:” “When producing Gold:” "
http://rules.l5r.com/Rulings_M#Misdirection "Misdirection can be played even if there is no targeting in the constraints block or no targeting in the effects block"
Isn't the reaction trigger "Before another player would choose targets for one of his actions' effects during a battle"? If there are no targets to choose, wouldn't that mean Misdirection has no trigger to react to?
The trigger for Misdirection is open to interpretation when viewed with all the potential card intereactions, which is why there's an entry in the Rules wiki. So the ruling is in the archive stays as is.
I am not going to go into detailed explanations, but will say that there are many, many Rules Junta posts discussing Misdirection behind the scenes. They are kept there for the same reason the nuclear reactions are kept behind thick concrete walls and deadly microbes are kept in hermetically sealed buildings.
Maybe some of the other rules team members will venture more detailed explanations.