Split cards are great; it’s like getting two cards in one! You get two names, two (or three) colors, and two sets of rules text… and when you use the Fuse ability, you can even get both at the same time!

Of course, one of the downsides of Fuse is that since your spell has two mana costs, you’ll have to pay both at the same time. For example, the mana cost of Far // Away is 3UB. When a split card isn’t on the stack, it goes back to having two separate mana costs, but anything that cares about its converted mana cost will see both those costs… at the same time.

So let’s say that you reveal Far & Away off Duskmantle Seer, causing you to lose life equal to the revealed card’s converted mana cost. Asking “What is the converted mana cost of this card?” gives two answers: Far’s converted mana cost is 2, and Away’s converted mana cost is 3. Mr. Duskmantle will henceforth do some quick math to determine that 2+3 is 5, making you lose a grand total of 5 life.

Today’s Rules Tip written by Jen Wong