Does Sonna Harmonous have to select the runes to untap? | Runesight
Sep 25, 2026
Does Sonna Harmonous have to select the runes to untap?
Asked as: “does sonna harmonous must select the runes to uptap?”
Answered under Unleashed Rules FAQ and Clarifications
No — when Sona, Harmonious's ability triggers you (her controller) choose which up-to-4 friendly runes to ready during the triggered ability's finalization; those chosen runes are then readied when that chain item resolves.
Final Ruling
At the end of your turn, if Sona, Harmonious's trigger condition is met a chain is created for that triggered ability . Because the ability does not include a standalone “you may” next to the trigger/conditional, it is placed on the chain when it triggers . During finalization the controller chooses the legal runes to be readied (up to four) as part of making the choices/targets for the triggered ability . Those chosen runes become ready when that chain item resolves .
Citing
01At the end of your turn, the trigger condition for Sona, Harmonious is checked; if the condition is satisfied a Chain is created for her triggered ability .
02Because Sona, Harmonious's text (per the FAQ example) places “if I’m at a battlefield” as the condition and has no ‘you may’ there is no optional decision to put the ability on the chain — it will be placed when the condition is met .
03When that triggered ability is being finalized (the pending chain item), the controller makes any choices required by the effect — here, choose which friendly runes (up to four) to ready — as part of finalization/choosing targets and paying costs if any .
04After finalization completes and the chain item reaches resolution, the ability resolves and readies the runes that the controller selected during finalization .
05If there are fewer than four friendly runes available, you may choose fewer (up to the number available). If there are zero, the effect does nothing when it resolves.
If no friendly runes are on the board when you finalize/resolve, there are no valid choices; the ability resolves doing nothing. The provided rules excerpt does not add a separate 'must pick at least one' instruction.
If runes enter or leave the board after finalization but before resolution, the ability will ready the runes you chose during finalization if they still exist on the board when resolution occurs. The provided rules excerpts treat choices/targets as chosen during finalization , and resolution then executes those choices .
If the ability had included a separate “you may” directly next to the trigger/conditional, that would allow you to choose whether to put the triggered ability on the chain at all — but Sona, Harmonious’s example does not include that, so it does not apply here .
Assumptions
The ability text being discussed is exactly the example from the FAQ: “At the end of your turn, if I'm at a battlefield, ready up to 4 friendly runes.”
There are friendly runes on the board to choose from; if there are fewer than four, you may choose fewer (up to the available number). The Core Rules excerpt provided does not explicitly define "up to", so standard interpretation (choose any number from zero to the maximum) is used per the ability wording.
When Sona, Harmonious's end-of-turn trigger condition is met, that triggered ability creates a Chain item . The Unleashed FAQ explains that elements placed next to the trigger (conditionals, a nearby “you may”, or costs) determine which parts are the trigger/condition and which are the effect; in the FAQ's example Sona, Harmonious's wording places the battlefield check as the condition and “ready up to 4 friendly runes” as the effect . Because there is no standalone “you may” attached to the trigger/conditional in that template, there is no optional decision about whether to put the triggered ability on the chain — it will be placed when the condition is met . The FAQ further explains that when a triggered ability is finalized, the controller chooses legal targets and pays any costs during finalization; those choices become the targets/effect that will resolve later . Therefore, for Sona, Harmonious you select which friendly runes (if any, up to four) will be readied as part of finalizing the triggered ability . When that chain item resolves, the ability readies the runes you selected during finalization .
