Come one, come all, to the Rules Tips Blog! We’ve got thrills, we’ve got chills, we’ve got rules knowledge at affordable prices! Today we’ll be diving into the hullabaloo of a Cult of Rakdos carnival, and it’s one hell of sight- one could even call it a Spectacle to behold.

The Rakdos mechanic for Ravnica Allegiance is called Spectacle. It’ll always appear on cards as Spectacle, followed by a cost; this is an alternative cost you can use to cast the spell as long as any of your opponents have lost life this turn. It doesn’t matter why or how– you can hit them with a creature, you can ping them with a burn spell- if your opponent happens to pay life into something of theirs, like a shockland, it’ll even turn Spectacle on! However, at the moment there’s no Instants or Flash spells with Spectacle, so it’s not super likely they’ll be enabling Spectacle on your turn themselves. Spectacle also doesn’t change the timing of when you can cast a spell, it just gives you an alternate cost you can choose to use.

So, we’ve got the razzle dazzle set up with Spectacle being online- what now? Some of the Spectacle cards reward an aggressive playstyle by being cheaper. Light Up the Stage drops down to costing only R with Spectacle, for example, which lets you keep the hits coming. Other cards end up costing more to make a Spectacle of, but they have a bigger effect for it; Rix Maadi Reveler costs more to use via Spectacle, but instead of simply rummaging for one card (as it does when cast normally!), it’ll dump your hopefully very light hand and draw you 3 new cards.

There’s not much more to Spectacle- it’s as straightforward as it is flashy. Keep the hits coming and you’ll have your opponents and your audiences rolling in the aisles- though it’s more from the fire than from the show being a laugh riot! Tune in tomorrow for more Prerelease Primers!

Today’s Rules Tip was written by Trevor Nunez