Verdeloth the ancient as commander
Asked by Rolighed 7 years ago
If i use Verdeloth the Ancient as my commander, can i use the commander tax for the kicker? Like if he died one time can i cast him for 8 with a X kicker with X=2 or is X=0, because of the commander tax?
Raging_Squiggle says... #2
The formula for casting spells is:
Mana cost + additional costs - cost reductions = mana to pay
Commander tax is an additional cost, as is kicker, albeit not a mandatory one.
So if he died once, and you want to pay the kicker where 
=
:
+ (commander tax) + (declared value for kicker) - 0 = 
June 7, 2016 7:24 p.m.
Okay thanks for the answer, so a quick follow up question. Is the same true for a commander with X in the mana cost, such as Maga, Traitor to Mortals
June 7, 2016 7:45 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #4
Yes. You declare the value for X, then you calculate the total cost using that value. There's no way to cheat the commander tax into being part of some other required payment.
Epochalyptik says... #1
No. The commander tax is its own additional cost. Kicker is another additional cost. You have to declare the kicker value, and the spell's total cost will be calculated using that declaration (plus the mana cost and the commander tax).
June 7, 2016 7:18 p.m.