Void Winnower casting restrictions, specifically "X"
Asked by kanofudo 8 years ago
On Wednesday Wizards released an article with the full rulings on BFZ cards. I love these articles as they show fun interation and showing all of the things the judges thought of.
When I got to Void Winnower I was distraught to see that even though "X is 0" is written right there on the card this ruling was there:
"For spells with X in their mana costs, use the value chosen for X to determine if the spell's converted mana cost is even or not. For example, your opponent could cast Endless One (with mana cost X) with X equal to 5, but not with X equal to 6."
I thought this effect would keep a spell from being put onto the stack by checking the CMC in the hand. How does X=any even number get around the affect of Void Winnower
Named_Tawyny says... #3
However, once the Endless One is a permanent on the battlefield, its CMC would be 0, so it wouldn't be able to block.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Void Winnower does not say "X is 0." It says "Zero is even."
When you cast a spell, you announce all decisions for that spell, including X values. Only after that do you check whether the spell is legal to cast. Remember that the value of
in a mana cost for a spell on the stack is based on the declared value for X, even though it is considered 0 in all other zones.
September 25, 2015 5:20 p.m.