How does Food Chain really works
Asked by AdvancedSteelGuard 5 years ago
Hive mind come to my aid in this dark and uncertain time.
I've been playing vs my friend Tazri food chain and he keeps doing something I'm not sure works.
He has Food Chain set up with Kalastria Healer, he then proceeded to cast General Tazri which resolves. Then he kept sacrificing Tazri and recasting it and gaining +1 mana each time but I kept wondering what about the commander tax? The +2 you pay to cast your commander each time is it part of his CMC? If so could you link me the ruling for it please.
And if it's not the case could anyone explain to me in details how the combo is suppost to work to make infinite mana please.
Thanks.
Gidgetimer says... #2
Also, and this is just my opinion, your friend shouldn't play a cEDH deck if they don't understand it, and definitely shouldn't be playing a cEDH deck at a casual table, which this sounds like it is.
January 4, 2019 4:18 p.m.
AdvancedSteelGuard says... #3
Gidgetimer not only is your comment doesn't help in any way whatsoever it's totally unnecessary.
Why wouldn't he be allowed to play a deck he likes just because it's considered competitive?
Also how is he supposed to test and practice with it if he can only play it in cEDH games ?
Please refrain yourself to comment on my post unless you have something constructive and helpful to write. Thank you
January 4, 2019 4:54 p.m.
AdvancedSteelGuard says... #4
cdkime thanks its very helpful. I'll let him know :)
January 4, 2019 4:55 p.m.
Chaotic_Justice says... #6
I just started working on my Tazri deck and cdkime, thanks for the pointer. I'm still venturing into the competitive meta, where up until recently the strongest deck I had was a killer Krenko deck. I was under the impression the same as AdvancedSteelGuards friend was but was still quite unsure. Thanks!
Caerwyn says... Accepted answer #1
The Commander Tax is an additional cost, defined by rule 903.8. Additional costs do not change a card's converted mana cost.
In fact, there are only a very, very limited number of situations where a card's converted mana cost can change.
Spells with X in their cost (such as Fireball) will treat X as 0 for the purpose of calculating CMC in all zones, except when on the stack. On the stack, X is whichever value was picked when you cast the spell. So, for Fireball, its CMC is 1 when in your hand, library, graveyard, exile, or ante zone; while on the stack, it can change (ex. if X = 5, the CMC would be 6).
Split spells, such as spells with Aftermath, Fuse, or vanilla split spells will have a CMC equal to their total casting cost when in any zone other than the stack. While on the stack, their CMC is equal to whichever side(s) of the card are being cast. So, for Destined / Lead, the CMC is 6 in most zones, and either 2 or 4 on the stack. Catch / Release is 9 in most zones, and can be 3, 6, or 9 when on the stack.
Your friend is missing a key combo piece - you need to get infinite mana before you start messing around recasting Tazri.
One way to do this is by having a creature you can cast from exile, such as Misthollow Griffin . You exile Griffin with Food Chain, netting you 5 mana. You recast Griffin from exile, and now have one floating mana. Repeate ad nausium, until you have an infinite amount of mana.
You can then exile Trazi with Food Chain and recast over and over again using the infinite mana you have already amassed. Each time, Trazi will trigger the ally's ability, burning for the win.
January 4, 2019 9:35 a.m.