At a competitive rules enforcement level event Adam controls a Thrun, the Last Troll. Nadine controls a Garruk Relentless with 2 loyalty counters. Adam declares Thrun as an attacker and Nadine has no responses.
Nadine moves to mark down a life change and Adam stops her, saying he was attacking Garruk.
Nadine calls a judge. What is the appropriate infraction, penalty, and any additional fix?
View Answer
“A player is assumed to be attacking another player and not any planeswalkers that player may control unless the attacking player specifies otherwise.”
Which is what has happened here. There is a small misunderstanding and a bit of confusion is caused, however we have a default for what a player means when they are (unintentionally) unclear in this way.
There is a common misunderstanding that this is Player Communication Violation, but it is not. Remember that Adam is not actually violating Player Communication Policy, just a bit confused about how combat works.
Note that Garruk Relentless should have transformed because of his state trigger.