Snow Business
Asked by MoFi 7 years ago
On cards like Rimebound Dead, an ability can be paid for with a snow permanent like a Snow-Covered Swamp. My question is whether "can" means "must" in this case. Would something like a Gilded Lotus work to pay that cost or must it be a snow permanent?
Rhadamanthus says... #2
It can only be paid with mana from a Snow permanent.
Generally, the rules of Magic work by giving you permission to do certain things, either from a rule or from a card's effect. Anything else left unmentioned is understood to be not allowed. For example: this is why a player can't just choose to discard a card for no reason, even if they really want to. There's no rule giving them permission to do so. Section 107 of the Comprehensive Rules, "Numbers and Symbols", describes (among other things) what the various mana symbols mean and how you're allowed to pay for them when they're in a cost. This is all it has to say regarding the symbol:
107.4h The snow mana symbol S represents one generic mana in a cost. This generic mana can be paid with one mana of any type produced by a snow permanent (see rule 205.4f). Effects that reduce the amount of generic mana you pay dont affect S costs. (There is no such thing as "snow mana"; "snow" is not a type of mana.)
Since this is the only option the rules give for how to pay a cost containing , that's the only way a player is allowed to do it.
Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1
107.4h The snow mana symbol S represents one generic mana in a cost. This generic mana can be paid with one mana of any type produced by a snow permanent (see rule 205.4f). Effects that reduce the amount of generic mana you pay don't affect S costs. (There is no such thing as "snow mana; snow" is not a type of mana.)
You cannot pay mana produced by a nonsnow permanent such as Gilded Lotus, and you cannot use a snow permanent that does not produce mana such as Rimebound Dead to pay the cost. The reason it says "can" is nothing compels you to pay the cost, you can simply not pay the cost and not regenerate the dead.
April 11, 2017 1:03 p.m.