Mind Slaver and Cunning Wish

[Moxlotus]

If I slave my opponent and he has Cunning Wish (or any wish for that matter), can I look through his Sideboard?  And can I "fail to find any instants" even if there is?

On a related note, can i Slave my opponent, cast Demonic tutor, and fail to find ANY cards?

[ProZachar]

If I slave my opponent and he has Cunning Wish (or any wish for that matter), can I look through his Sideboard?  And can I "fail to find any instants" even if there is?

On a related note, can i Slave my opponent, cast Demonic tutor, and fail to find ANY cards?

If you search a non-public zone (ala Wishes and Tutors) for a card matching a specific criteria (Mystical Tutor, all wishes except Death Wish) then you can "fail to find".

If you search a non-public zone for "a" or "any" or "some number of" card(s) (Death Wish, Demonic/Vampiric tutors, Intuition) then you have to find however many the effect says to find.

Even if you've slavered someone, his/her instances of non-public zones still are considered non-public.

[Tristal]

In case it wasn't clear, yes and no.

[Komatteru]

My question is this: If my opponent Mindslavers me and casts Death Wish for me, can he choose not to look though my sideboard at all?  Is it possible to deny the existence of "owning cards outside the game"?  Clearly if he looks in my sideboard, he will find a card and must take one of them, but can he just choose not to look at all?

[Jebus]

My question is this: If my opponent Mindslavers me and casts Death Wish for me, can he choose not to look though my sideboard at all?  Is it possible to deny the existence of "owning cards outside the game"?  Clearly if he looks in my sideboard, he will find a card and must take one of them, but can he just choose not to look at all?

No.  He has to carry out the action.

What you suggest would be similar to playing Duress and not looking at the targeted player's hand.

[the Luke]

Actually, the answers to the question are "Yes, No, No."

You HAVE to find an Instant with Cunning Wish unless there is none to be found because it says "Choose" not "Search".  If the opponent claims to be unable to find an Instant, call a judge to verify that none were there.

(though I'm not a judge, I asked this question on #mtgjudge, and Rune Horvik answered.)

I wanted to Wish for nothing because then an opponent's duress would force me to discard a Mindslaver...