assume i have a zhonyas hidden, my opponent hollows breath's that battlefield and then plays elder. Do i have a window to play the zhonya's? If so, can my opponent target the saved unit with elder's ability afterwards
Yes, you get the window — but it only covers the Hollow Breath kill, not the Elder Dragon that follows.
Facedown cards have Reaction, so you flip Zhonya's in reaction to Hollow Breath while it's on the chain. Zhonya's is a gear permanent, so it resolves immediately and its replacement effect is live before Hollow Breath resolves; when Hollow Breath would kill your unit, Zhonya's kills itself instead, and the unit is healed, exhausted, and recalled to Base (Rule 369).
Afterwards, yes — your opponent can absolutely target the saved unit with Elder Dragon. Elder's play effect chooses "up to one enemy unit at each location," and your Base is one of those locations, so the recalled unit is a legal choice there. Because Elder's passive makes any of its controller's damage lethal, the 1 damage kills it, and Zhonya's is already used up (it died as its own replacement cost). Nothing about the save grants protection.
The location trick only works in the other order: if Elder's play effect has already locked in the unit at the battlefield and you recall it before that ability resolves, it stops fulfilling the targeting restriction and is unaffected (2026-04-29 Elder Dragon clarification). Once it's sitting at Base before Elder is played, it's fair game.
Note: I couldn't find a card named "Hollow Breath" in the database — if it's a spell that deals damage/kills at that battlefield, the ruling above holds as written.
References
Uncertain answer — derived from the references below
Rules
Core Rules 2026-07-16 > Section 300: Playing the Game > Rule 370.2
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Bellows Breath instead of Hollow Breath and expanding on the ruling of the play.
Yes, you get the window. Facedown cards have Reaction, so you flip Zhonya's in reaction to Bellows Breath while it's on the chain. Zhonya's is a gear permanent, so it resolves immediately and its replacement effect is live before Bellow Breath resolves; when Bellow Breath would kill your unit, Zhonya's kills itself instead, and the unit is healed, exhausted, and recalled to Base (Rule 369). If it doesn't kill your unit, damage just stays marked. Afterwards, yes — your opponent can absolutely target the saved unit with Elder Dragon. Elder's play effect chooses "up to one enemy unit at each location," and your Base is one of those locations, so the recalled unit is a legal choice there. Because Elder's passive makes any of its controller's damage lethal, the 1 damage kills it, and Zhonya's is already used up (it died as its own replacement cost). Nothing about the save grants protection. If your unit would have survived the Bellows Breath and have the 1 damage still marked, it would die when Elder Dragon enters play. Since Elder Dragon entered play, it's 'when you play me' ability is added as pending to the chain and since Elder Dragon left the chain we run a cleanup. In this cleanup your unit dies due to Elder Dragons passive and still having 1 damage marked from the opponents Bellows Breath. Zhonya's saves your unit and recalls it healed to base. Now we finalize the Elder Dragon 'when you play me' ability. Your saved unit now in base can be chosen as a target at a location. Your base is a legal location. The location trick only works in the other order: if Elder's play effect has already locked in the unit at the battlefield and you recall it before that ability resolves, it stops fulfilling the targeting restriction and is unaffected (2026-04-29 Elder Dragon clarification). Once it's sitting at Base before Elder is played, it's fair game. Note: I couldn't find a card named "Hollow Breath" in the database — if it's a spell that deals damage/kills at that battlefield, the ruling above holds as written.
It's not stated when they want to play zhonya's so I added another window they can play it
Yes, you get the window. Facedown cards have Reaction, so you flip Zhonya's in reaction to Bellows Breath while it's on the chain. Zhonya's is a gear permanent, so it resolves immediately and its replacement effect is live before Bellow Breath resolves; when Bellow Breath would kill your unit, Zhonya's kills itself instead, and the unit is healed, exhausted, and recalled to Base (Rule 369). If it doesn't kill your unit, damage just stays marked. Afterwards, yes — your opponent can absolutely target the saved unit with Elder Dragon. Elder's play effect chooses "up to one enemy unit at each location," and your Base is one of those locations, so the recalled unit is a legal choice there. Because Elder's passive makes any of its controller's damage lethal, the 1 damage kills it, and Zhonya's is already used up (it died as its own replacement cost). Nothing about the save grants protection. If your unit would have survived the Bellows Breath and have the 1 damage still marked, it would die when Elder Dragon enters play. Since Elder Dragon entered play, it's 'when you play me' ability is added as pending to the chain and since Elder Dragon left the chain we run a cleanup. In this cleanup your unit dies due to Elder Dragons passive and still having 1 damage marked from the opponents Bellows Breath. If you played your Zhonya's in reaction to Bellows' breath, it saves your unit and recalls it healed to base. Now we finalize the Elder Dragon 'when you play me' ability. Your saved unit now in base can be chosen as a target at a location. Your base is a legal location. If you however did not play it before that and all your units at battlefields are killed, you will still have a window when Elder Dragon's When you play me ability goes on the chain. It's not an optional triggered ability so it will go on the chain, its controller has to finalize it. Afterwards because the chain is still not empty at this point, you can play your zhonya's and potentially save a unit in another location or just save your gear from being trashed. The location trick only works in the other order: if Elder's play effect has already locked in the unit at the battlefield and you recall it before that ability resolves, it stops fulfilling the targeting restriction and is unaffected (2026-04-29 Elder Dragon clarification). Once it's sitting at Base before Elder is played, it's fair game. Note: I couldn't find a card named "Hollow Breath" in the database — if it's a spell that deals damage/kills at that battlefield, the ruling above holds as written.
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