Category Archives: Costs

Plasm Capture vs. X spells

Posted on May 13, 2013 by bimmerbot

Let me tell you a little secret. X, if it’s not on the stack, is treated as 0. While an X spell is ON the stack, X stops being a variable and starts being a number (Note: the quality of … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Characteristics, Costs | Tagged | Comments Off

Thalia and Omniscience

Posted on April 1, 2013 by tnunez

Omniscience is a scary thing to have sitting across the table from you no matter what the format. I cringe when I see it in Commander because it usually means there’s a whole freight train of hurt about to come … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs | Tagged , | Comments Off

Cipher vs. Thalia (yes, you have to pay 1)

Posted on March 6, 2013 by bimmerbot

Did you know there’s a proper set of steps for casting a spell? Most people just tap mana, throw the spell on stack and ask for permission to resolve it (darn those blue mages!). Just a very simple breakdown, below … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs, Static Abilities | Tagged , | Comments Off

Rakdos, Lord of Riots can only reduce colorless mana.

Posted on January 18, 2013 by bimmerbot

Rakdos, Lord of Riots has a fairly nifty ability. It says that for each 1 life that an opponent has lost this turn, your creature spells costs 1 less to cast. So, if your opponent has lost 6 life this … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs | Tagged | Comments Off

Rakdos Shred-Freak can’t block Knight of Glory (an explanation of hybrid mana symbols).

Posted on January 10, 2013 by bimmerbot

“Hybrid mana” is incredibly flexible. Each hybrid mana symbol in a card’s cost lets you choose which color of mana you’ll use to pay for each hybrid mana symbol. For example, Rakdos Shred-Freak‘s cost is {B/R}{B/R}, which can be paid … Continue reading →

Posted in Characteristics, Costs | Comments Off

Epic Experiment and Additional/Alternate Costs

Posted on November 7, 2012 by tnunez

If you cast a spell off of Epic Experiment, you won’t be able to pay any alternate costs for it [such as Overloading a Mizzium Mortars, or having your opponents gain life to cast Invigorate]. The reason for that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs | Tagged | Comments Off

How Epic Experiment does (and doesn’t) interact with Goblin Electromancer.

Posted on October 19, 2012 by bimmerbot

Epic Experiment is pretty epic, like a Genesis Wave for instants and sorceries. So, again we dredge up the way X spells work with Goblin Electromancer. You decide what X is before you actually pay for the spell, so Electromancer … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs | Tagged , , | Comments Off

You don’t have to sacrifice a creature when you copy Fling

Posted on October 18, 2012 by tnunez

Ah, good old Fling. The most common question I hear about Fling is the one I’m answering now, and it always gets worse when Fling is around with good ways to copy stuff. Nivix Guildmage provides a repeatable source of … Continue reading →

Posted in Copies, Costs | Tagged | Comments Off

You can’t use Overload with Flashback or Cascade.

Posted on October 8, 2012 by bimmerbot

New sets always bring new mechanics, and with the Izzet, I was looking forward to getting something for my Maelstrom Wanderer Commander deck. Imagine my disappointment when I saw Overload! See, when you use an ability like cascade or flashback … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs, Keywords | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Engineered Explosives and additional costs (e.g., Thalia or Trinisphere)

Posted on September 21, 2012 by bimmerbot

Sunburst is a fairly unique ability. As a permanent with Sunburst enters the battlefield, Sunburst checks to see what mana was paid when casting the spell, regardless of what the cost was for. So if you want to cast Engineered … Continue reading →

Posted in Casting / playing a spell or ability, Costs, Keywords | Tagged , , | Comments Off