Does my Star Crossed resolve or not if I play it and my opponent plays Thrill of the Hunt on that unit?
To determine whether your Star-Crossed resolves, we must look at the rules regarding targeting and zone changes.
The Ruling
Yes, your Star-Crossed will still resolve, but its effect on the unit targeted by Thrill of the Hunt will fail.
According to Rule 359.3.e.8, if a spell has more than one target and one of them becomes unavailable, the spell resolves as much as possible, operating on the remaining valid targets. However, when a unit is moved to a non-board zone (like Banishment), it ceases to be the same game object (Rule 10035). Because Thrill of the Hunt moves the unit to a non-board zone and then plays it back as a "new" game object, the targeting relationship between your Star-Crossed and that specific unit is severed.
Sequence of Events
- You play Star-Crossed: You target your unit and an enemy unit. Star-Crossed is added to the chain.
- Opponent plays Thrill of the Hunt: They target the enemy unit you chose. This is added to the top of the chain as a [Reaction].
- Chain State (Top to Bottom):
- [Top] Thrill of the Hunt
- [Bottom] Star-Crossed
- Resolution (LIFO - Last-In, First-Out):
- Thrill of the Hunt resolves first: The unit is banished and played to a battlefield as a new game object. Because it moved to a non-board zone, the targeting relationship from Star-Crossed is severed.
- Star-Crossed resolves second: It checks for its targets.
- The enemy unit is no longer a legal target (it is a new object, not the one originally targeted).
- Your friendly unit remains a legal target.
- The spell proceeds to return your friendly unit to your hand, while the instruction to return the enemy unit is ignored as it mistargeted (Rule 359.3.e.5).
This is consistent with RiftJudge FAQ #10035, which explains that moving a unit to a non-board zone severs the targeting relationship.