Tokens created by a spell or triggered ability such as Blade Splicer’s golem token or Lingering Souls’ spirit tokens have no defined mana cost, and therefore have a converted mana cost (“CMC”) of zero. A Ratchet Bomb activated with zero charge counters is more than adequate to wipe out a field of tokens generated in this manner.

When a token is a copy of something, however, this isn’t always the case. Mana cost is copied for the token, and it will have the appropriate corresponding converted mana cost. For example, if you were to create a copy of your Grave Titan with Cackling Counterpart, the token’s converted mana cost would be 6, just like the original Titan. A Ratchet Bomb set off with zero charge counters would not destroy it. Also, if you sacrifice that token to activate Birthing Pod, you will search for a creature with converted mana cost of 7 (rather than 1, like if you sacrificed a golem token). Similarly, a Phantasmal Image that is a copy of Grave Titan will have a CMC of 6 as well, rather than the printed 2.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Peter Golightly, Level 1 Judge from Austin, TX