Targeting is defined in the rules reference as any effect where a unit(or other game element) is chosen as the receiver of an effect.

So does that mean that cards like power from pain count as targeted even though they don't say," target unit"?

In most other games I play it only counts as targeted if that phrase is present.

I primarily ask because there are a few tau cards that seem fairly limited in usefullness if the effect must say "target unit" to count as targeted.

Thank you for helping me clear this up.

If it doesn't say target then the card is not targeting anything.

The definition of target is on page 15 of the RRG:

To which Tau cards are you referring to ?

I can't remember the name but it's a support that allows u to cancel the effects of a card that targets a unit with attachments on it.

I've been playing a tau/eldar deck n it seems like all the cards that have effects that I would REALLY want to cancel are non-targeted. There r some, don't get me wrong, but for the dependence the tau have on their attachments it seems like the card is much more limited then it should b.

letting you cancel anything that affected that unit would have been too powerful

This is the card you are referring to

Communications relay is the card you're thinking of. PfP(Power from Pain) doesn't target a unit, at best it would target the player (and I really don't want to know about any attachments you might have). The fact that it forces you to choose who to knock off is, in my opinion a lack of targeting by definition. It's a pretty indiscriminate weapon. There are ways of getting around it, like intentionally putting low cost, but useful units further down the line (like Earth Caste Engineer). After you get the attachment/drone from the engineer you could then use him for the command icon, but since it's one icon for one cost it wouldn't be all that upsetting if he went out from PfP. Shadowsun can put stealth teams into play as units or attachments I believe, and while they're more useful as attachments it would give you a buffer against PfP since it would be a free unit that you could recur. Just a thought.

I swear that Toq just waits until we're about ready to answer and then swoops in

I swear that Toq just waits until we're about ready to answer and then swoops in

Except I posted 28 minutes before you did.

Huh, then apparently my connection is an issue because I refreshed it before I started tying my response (and I swear it didn't take 28 minutes).

The short hand, really, is that if an effect has a target, it will use the word "target."

The reason Power from Pain seems like it should be considered to have a target is because there is an implicit choice. Your opponent does have to pick which unit s/he will sacrifice, so it looks like there is a card "chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect." That's a target, right? But the card doesn't use the word "target," and that makes all the difference because the definition calls "target" a game "term." This means that the word itself invokes reference to the definition of "target" in the rules, not every single choice a player makes.

So, every "target" is a choice, but not every choice is a "target."

Said another way, the effect "Action: Discard a card at random from your opponent's hand" has no target, but "Action: Discard a target random card from your opponent's hand" does - even though the two effects would seem to resolve exactly the same.

Huh, then apparently my connection is an issue because I refreshed it before I started tying my response (and I swear it didn't take 28 minutes).

Caching maybe?

Toq and Ktom are full-on ninjas tho he probably went back in time and posted before you.

If I had the ability to time travel I would use it for more important things, like going forward in time and getting my GenCon core sets to me sooner.

Along this topic of Power From Pain, I'm also to assume the literal wording of the card when it says "army unit" that I can't sacrifice tokens like guardsmen or snotlings to it?

Along this topic of Power From Pain, I'm also to assume the literal wording of the card when it says "army unit" that I can't sacrifice tokens like guardsmen or snotlings to it?

Correct. Since "unit" can refer to warlords, armies and tokens, you have to take any modifier before the word "unit" (e.g., "army," "non-warlord," etc.) very seriously. The literal interpretation is, indeed, the correct one.

So if the definition of "Target" is: indicates that a game element (most often a card) must be chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect, does that mean that any game element that IS chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect has been targeted/is a target?

For instance, Drop Pod Assault says: Search the top 6 cards of your deck for a [space Marine] unit with printed cost 3 or lower. Put that unit into play....

The card (game element) you put into play seems to have been chosen as the subject of an effect.

So if the definition of "Target" is: indicates that a game element (most often a card) must be chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect, does that mean that any game element that IS chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect has been targeted/is a target?

For instance, Drop Pod Assault says: Search the top 6 cards of your deck for a [space Marine] unit with printed cost 3 or lower. Put that unit into play....

The card (game element) you put into play seems to have been chosen as the subject of an effect.

No, because Drop Pod Assault doesn't say Put 'target' unit into play.

does that mean that any game element that IS chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect has been targeted/is a target?

The question is answered in an earlier post. The word "target" is needed to invoke the definition. Implicit choices are therefore not specific targets.

Communications relay is the card you're thinking of. PfP(Power from Pain) doesn't target a unit, at best it would target the player (and I really don't want to know about any attachments you might have). The fact that it forces you to choose who to knock off is, in my opinion a lack of targeting by definition. It's a pretty indiscriminate weapon. There are ways of getting around it, like intentionally putting low cost, but useful units further down the line (like Earth Caste Engineer). After you get the attachment/drone from the engineer you could then use him for the command icon, but since it's one icon for one cost it wouldn't be all that upsetting if he went out from PfP. Shadowsun can put stealth teams into play as units or attachments I believe, and while they're more useful as attachments it would give you a buffer against PfP since it would be a free unit that you could recur. Just a thought.

Sadly, Shadowsun's Reaction only lets you put a Stealth Cadre into play "attached" to a unit. She can't bring them from the discard pile back as a guy ready to attack. Still, if you get hit with PFP as Tau, sacrificing a SSC might be the best way to go because you can at least get them back in SOME form, which is generally not true of other Tau units. Also note, that PFP says you as the player sacrifice the unit, so "When this unit is destroyed" effects do not trigger on cards like the Eldar's Shrouded Harlequin. PFP is such a strong card...

Sadly, Shadowsun's Reaction only lets you put a Stealth Cadre into play "attached" to a unit.

Ah, you're right. My bad. I missed the "attached" wording.

Yeah, I can see PFP being a major pain if timed right.