Most of the time, casting a spell is pretty straightforward — you play it from your hand, choose some targets, pay some mana, and presto change-o, you’re a wizard, Harry! Sometimes, however, it’s important to know exactly what steps you’re supposed to follow in order to actually cast that spell.
Let’s say that I have a Prophet of Kruphix on the battlefield and a Leafcrown Dryad in my hand. It’s my turn, and I declare that I’m attacking with my Prophet. My opponent decides to block with a 3/3 Centaur token — could this be the end for our faithful Prophet? Fortunately, the rules save me! Thanks to the Prophet’s ability, I can bestow Leafcrown Dryad on it during combat. Here’s why:
First, I announce that I’m casting Leafcrown Dryad. The Dryad is a creature card, so my Prophet gives me permission to skip the usual timing restrictions on casting creatures. I then announce my intention to pay Leafcrown Dryad’s bestow cost. Leafcrown Dryad turns into an Aura spell. Even though it’s not a creature card anymore, I’ve already started casting it, so that doesn’t matter anymore! The game only checks whether you have permission to cast a spell once, at the very beginning of the casting process. The casting process then finishes by having me choose a target for my Dryad Aura (I choose the Prophet, of course), giving me a chance to activate mana abilities, and finally paying the Dryad’s total cost.
And that’s what we call using the rules for fun and Prophet!
Today’s Rules Tip written by Paul Baranay