Molten Note

Sorcery

This deals damage to target creature equal to the amount of mana spent to cast this. Untap all creatures you control.

Flashback {6}{R}{W} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for the flashback cost. Then exile this.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (2)

legendofa on Mandatory infinite affinity and X …

5 months ago

DragonMaster420 You can choose X to be less than the full discount, but the discount is always applied.

In my example with Witherbloom, the Balancer, Molten Note, and a million creatures, you can cast Molten Note for X = 5. The {1}{0}{0}{0}{0}{0}{0} discount will still be applied, and it will deal 2 damage because you only spent 2 mana.

Let's say you cast Blaze instead of Molten Note, keeping everything else the same. If you choose X = 1,000,000 for Blaze, you pay {R} and it deals 1,000,000 damage. If you choose X = 1,000,005, you pay {5}{R} and it deals 1,000,005 damage. If you choose X = 5, you pay {R} and it deals 5 damage.

That's where I'm coming from when I say the discount is mandatory. It's always applied to whatever value you choose for X. If X is equal to or less than the cost reduction, the cost of paying X is removed. If X is more than the cost reduction, you pay the difference.

(Edit in response to edit) I think the original question is basically, can you choose to ignore the discount.

legendofa on Mandatory infinite affinity and X …

5 months ago

Short answer is, yes, it's mandatory.

Let's look at a couple of the new Secrets of Strixhaven cards. Molten Note deals damage to a creature "equal to the amount of mana spent to cast this spell." Witherbloom, the Balancer gives instants and sorceries affinity for creatures.

So, let's say you have a million creatures. With Witherbloom out, your instants and sorceries cost {1}{0}{0}{0}{0}{0}{0} less. If you cast Molten Note with X = 1,000,000, you would only actually spend {R}{W} on it, and it would deal 2 damage to a creature. If you chose X = 1,000,005, you would pay {5}{R}{W} and deal 7 damage to a creature.