Can my mana pool also count as the x on the cards
Asked by themanofhat 9 years ago
I'm pretty sure it's yes but I just felt the need to make sure that i wasn't doing something stupid. When I cast a card like Mistcutter Hydra and it has the one green mana and x mana. Can I use mana from my mana pool as the x to put a +1+1 counters on it?
Rhadamanthus says... #2
For some reason I get the feeling there's another question you're asking, but I'm not exactly sure what it is. Did that answer your question, or is there something else you still need to know about?
July 14, 2014 9:50 a.m.
Servo_Token says... Accepted answer #3
Simpler answer:
You may pay any amount of mana for a spell with X in its cost, unless that card tells you specifically that you cannot. Mind Grind
July 14, 2014 10:07 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #4
I feel that there is some sort of miscommunication happening here. The mana that you use to pay for all spells comes from your mana pool. When casting a spell the actual technical order of casting a spell is:
- Announce the spell and put it on the stack
- Announce modes, targets, and distributions as applicable
- Determine the cost of the spell by applying all cost reductions and additional costs
- The player casting the spell may activate mana abilities to add mana to their mana pool
- Costs are paid
- The spell is considered cast
- If any part of this process is unable to be completed the spell is returned to the zone it was being cast from and is not considered to have been cast
July 14, 2014 10:37 a.m.
Gidgetimer's explanation is quite good. Note that for the "The player casting the spell may activate mana abilities to add mana to their mana pool" step, this includes tapping lands for mana, in addition to tapping things like Llanowar Elves .
mumbles something about liking Ice Age through Urza lands because they actually spelled this out
July 14, 2014 10:49 a.m.
GJTanner87 says... #6
Also if you have mana in your mana pool and play a spell with X the value of X is considered the max it could be
July 14, 2014 10:58 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #7
For newer players who have never seen what Drilnoth is talking about here: Old Lands is a reference deck I made with how the lands used to look. All lands are still considered to have the text in their text box, they just don't print it there any more for aesthetic reasons.
July 14, 2014 11 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #8
That is incorrect GJTanner87, part of announcing modes,targets and distributions is announcing the value of X. I forgot to put that in the step, but the caster of the spell gets to choose the value of X.
Rule 601 in the comprehensive rules is 2 pages of how to cast a spell if anyone wants to look up the rule so that there can be no doubt. I condensed those 2 pages quite a bit so that my answer wasn't too long.
July 14, 2014 11:07 a.m.
The question is just asked in a really odd way that seems to imply that there's some other misunderstanding happening about how casting spells work.
themanofhat, I think we're 95% sure we've answered your question, but a rephrase as to exactly what you're asking might help if there's still confusion.
July 14, 2014 11:54 a.m.
themanofhat says... #10
My question was poorly asked but was answered. I was wondering if I could tap a card like Karametra's Acolyte and use the mana from that, let's say i have five devotion, to then put Mistcutter Hydra in as a 4/4. It just seemed too fast to be accurate and since I'm working on a green devotion deck that I will be able to use the acolyte to flood myself with mana i wanted to just make sure that I wasn't wrong on that.
July 14, 2014 12:36 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #11
Since you have an answer, make sure you select one to move the question to the answered section.
July 14, 2014 12:42 p.m.
GJTanner87 says... #12
Gidgetimer under the Magic Tournament Rules section 4.2 Tournament Shortcuts "If a player casts a spell or activates an ability with X in its mana cost without specifying the value of X, it is assumed to be for all mana currently available in his or her pool."
July 15, 2014 3:39 a.m.
GJTanner87 says... #13
I missed out, "do not announce X" from my original post
July 15, 2014 3:44 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #14
Yes you did miss saying "if you don't announce the value of X". What your original post said is directly contradicted by:
601.2b If the spell is modal the player announces the mode choice (see rule 700.2). If the player wishes to splice any cards onto the spell (see rule 702.46), he or she reveals those cards in his or her hand. If the spell has alternative or additional costs that will be paid as its being cast such as buyback or kicker costs (see rules 117.8 and 117.9), the player announces his or her intentions to pay any or all of those costs (see rule 601.2e). A player cant apply two alternative methods of casting or two alternative costs to a single spell. If the spell has a variable cost that will be paid as its being cast (such as an X in its mana cost; see rule 107.3), the player announces the value of that variable. If a cost that will be paid as the spell is being cast includes hybrid mana symbols, the player announces the nonhybrid equivalent cost he or she intends to pay. If a cost that will be paid as the spell is being cast includes Phyrexian mana symbols, the player announces whether he or she intends to pay 2 life or the corresponding colored mana cost for each of those symbols. Previously made choices (such as choosing to cast a spell with flashback from a graveyard or choosing to cast a creature with morph face down) may restrict the players options when making these choices.
Rhadamanthus says... #1
Mana used to pay costs for anything comes out of the mana pool. Let's say you tapped 2x Forest , 3x Island , and 1x Meteorite to add a total of 6 mana to your mana pool. When you're paying the cost to cast Mistcutter Hydra as a spell, you can use any or all of that mana to do it.
July 14, 2014 9:48 a.m.