If my opponent's unit has Deflect 2 and it has a gear attached, do I have to pay the Deflect cost when I target the gear itself with a spell?

Question

Accepted Answer

No. Deflect on a unit only adds a cost when a spell or ability chooses that unit. If you target the attached Gear itself, you only pay a Deflect cost if the Gear itself has Deflect (for example, was granted Deflect). Attached Gear’s printed rules are inactive while attached, but any granted Deflect on the Gear still applies. [809.1.c] [FAQ:unleashed#14]

You do not pay the unit's Deflect 2 when you target the attached Gear itself. You only pay Deflect when the spell or ability chooses the permanent that actually has Deflect. If the Gear itself has (or is granted) Deflect, then targeting that Gear will require you to pay its Deflect cost. [809.1.c] [809.3] [FAQ:unleashed#14]

Determine which permanent(s) the spell or ability is choosing. "Choose me" in Deflect refers to the specific permanent that is chosen, not other permanents attached to it. [809.1.c] If the chosen permanent has Deflect, add the Deflect Value as a Mandatory Additional Cost for each time it is chosen. [809.1.c] [809.3] If you are choosing the attached Gear itself and the Gear does not have Deflect, no Deflect cost from the host unit applies. If the Gear has been granted Deflect by some effect while attached, that granted Deflect is active and adds its Deflect cost when the Gear is chosen. [FAQ:unleashed#14]

If a spell or ability chooses both the unit and the Gear separately, you must pay the Deflect cost for each chosen permanent that has Deflect. [809.1.c] If an effect grants Deflect to the Gear while attached, that granted Deflect is active even though the Gear’s printed rules are inactive; targeting the Gear would then require paying that Deflect cost. [FAQ:unleashed#14] [809.3] If a spell targets the unit (which has Deflect) and as it resolves moves effects onto the Gear or otherwise affects the Gear without choosing it, you pay Deflect for choosing the unit but not for effects that do not choose the Gear. If a replacement or redirection effect changes what the spell chooses (for example, it ends up choosing a different permanent), apply Deflect only to the permanent(s) actually chosen after replacements.

Deflect is a characteristic of the permanent that has it and only applies to spells and abilities that choose that permanent. The rule text defines Deflect functionally as "Spells and abilities an opponent controls that choose me cost an amount of Power equal to [Deflect Value] more to play as an additional cost for each time they choose me." [809.1.c] That means the extra cost is tied to which permanent is being chosen. An attached Gear is a distinct attached card (the state of being Equipped is represented by an Attached card) [818.3.c]; targeting that Gear chooses the Gear, not its host unit. Therefore, targeting the Gear does not cause the host unit’s Deflect to apply. The only time you’d pay a Deflect cost when targeting the Gear is if the Gear itself has Deflect (for example, a card or effect granted Deflect to the Gear). The rules/FAQ explicitly note that an attached Equipment’s printed text is inactive while attached but that any granted keywords (including granted Deflect) remain active and will add cost to enemy spells and abilities that target the Equipment. [FAQ:unleashed#14] In short: pay Deflect for the permanent you choose; targeting the Gear only triggers Deflect if that Gear itself has Deflect. [809.1.c] [809.3] [FAQ:unleashed#14]