Can I play Thrill of the Hunt on my opponent's turn and conquer a battlefield that I am already standing on?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can cast Thrill of the Hunt as a Reaction on an opponent's turn, banish a friendly unit, and have its owner play it to the same battlefield you were standing on. Because the spell grants permission to play the unit to any battlefield and the unit is pending on the chain while the spell resolves, you may finalize playing it to the battlefield you control; if that play causes the unit to Conquer, its Hunt Death/Conquer trigger will occur [823]. See assumptions below about ambiguity in the term “conquer” in your question.

You may play Thrill of the Hunt on an opponent's turn and choose to play the banished unit to the same battlefield you control. The spell’s play-effect lets the unit be played to any battlefield (ignoring normal location restrictions) and because the unit is being played as part of an item on the chain, you don’t lose control of that battlefield during the intermediate cleanup, so finalizing the play to that battlefield is legal [355.2; 355.2.a; 355.2.b; FAQ:unleashed#24]. If that play results in the unit Conquering, the unit’s Hunt trigger will occur (Hunt triggers on Conquer or Hold) [823].

You may cast Thrill of the Hunt as a Reaction at any time (the card allows it to be played any time, even before spells/abilities resolve). When Thrill of the Hunt resolves, it banishes a chosen friendly unit (moving it off the board) and then instructs that unit’s owner to play it to any battlefield, ignoring its cost — this is a play effect that grants permission to play the unit to locations beyond the default valid locations [355.2; 355.2.b]. When the unit is played this way, the controller finalizes the choice of which battlefield to place it on as part of the play process [355.2]; because the unit is pending on the chain while the spell resolves, control of the battlefield you were standing on is not lost during any intermediate cleanup, so you may choose that same battlefield as the play destination [FAQ:unleashed#24]. If the unit’s play causes it to Conquer (which would trigger any Hunt on the unit), the Hunt trigger will be generated and added to the chain as appropriate [823].

If by “standing on” you meant the battlefield is contested or controlled by the opponent (you don’t control it), you can still play the unit to that battlefield because Thrill of the Hunt allows playing to any battlefield; however, Conquer/Hunt only triggers when the unit actually Conquers or Holds per its rules — the provided context does not define Conquer in detail, so whether the play results in a Conquer depends on the exact Conquer definition not included here [823]. If the battlefield would be lost (become uncontrolled) before the spell is placed on the chain and nothing remains on the chain to prevent cleanup, you could not later choose that battlefield as a valid location when finalizing the unit. The FAQ explains control is preserved while items are on the chain; if no item remains on the chain to preserve control, the battlefield could become uncontrolled in cleanup and could be invalid for some plays [FAQ:unleashed#24]. If another effect changes who controls the battlefield between casting and finalizing the play (for example an intervening ability that explicitly changes control while the item is on the chain), that could alter whether the battlefield is valid or whether Conquer would occur — those interactions aren’t fully covered by the provided excerpts.

The short answer is yes: cast Thrill of the Hunt as a Reaction on your opponent’s turn, banish a friendly unit, and you may choose to play that unit back to the same battlefield you were on. Reasoning: when you play a unit you must choose a valid Location [355.2]. By default valid locations are your Base or a Battlefield you control [355.2.a], but some effects explicitly allow other locations to be valid; Thrill of the Hunt’s instruction that the unit is played to any battlefield is such an effect, making any battlefield a valid destination for that play [355.2.b]. The provided official clarification explains that spells/abilities that banish and play units keep the unit pending on the chain and thus prevent losing control of the originating battlefield during cleanup, so finalizing the play to that same battlefield is legal [FAQ:unleashed#24]. Finally, Hunt is a triggered keyword that reads "When I Conquer or Hold, my controller gains X XP," so if the play of the unit causes it to Conquer, the Hunt trigger will be generated [823]. Caveats: the provided context does not include the complete Conquer definition, so if your meaning of “conquer” was different (for example describing a different game-state change), the exact trigger outcome could differ. Also, if something else changes battlefield control while the effect is resolving (or if no item remains on the chain to preserve control), that could prevent choosing the battlefield. The ruling above follows the examples and principles in the provided rules and FAQ excerpts [355.2; 355.2.a; 355.2.b; 823; [FAQ:unleashed#24]; FAQ:unleashed#16].