Newbie Question: How does Empty the Pits work?
General forum
Posted on Nov. 15, 2014, 8:57 p.m. by BoStaffNinja
I've been wondering, how Empty the Pits work?
GlistenerAgent says... #3
Empty the Pits is the card in question.
First, you have to make four black mana. Once you've done so, you can go about determining X. When casting this card, you can treat each card in your graveyard in addition to each land you have as one mana. If you exile two cards from your graveyard, you've increased X by one since those two cards were two mana. Here's an example that might make this clearer:
You have 10 untapped lands (four of them are Swamps) and 15 cards in your graveyard. Once you tap those four Swamps for the colored part of Empty the Pits, you have access to 21 "mana". Since the cost is XXBBBB, you can only use 20 of that mana for the colorless portion (the extra mana doesn't make another zombie), allowing for a Empty the Pits for 10 2/2s.
November 15, 2014 9:05 p.m.
BoStaffNinja says... #4
Are the X 2/2's determined by how many lands you have on the battlefield or the cards you exile?
November 15, 2014 9:13 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #5
It's a combination. The mana spent to cast it (outside of the colored part) comes from the cards you exile in addition to the actual mana you pay.
November 15, 2014 9:15 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
@GlistenerAgent: Your explanation is slightly inaccurate.
When you cast a spell with X in its cost, you declare the value of X as one of the first steps in the casting process.
Cost calculation and payment is the final step in the casting process. Once you reach this step, you calculate the total cost of the spell by using the following formula:
Cost = [mana cost OR alternate casting cost] + [additional/increased costs] - [cost reductions]
The cost is paid completely and all at once.
Empty the Pits's cost will be 
. Whatever the value you named for X, you pay twice that much plus the quad black.
November 15, 2014 9:30 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
You are absolutely correct. I was trying to make it a little easier to understand in a more practical sense.
November 15, 2014 9:34 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
Also, specific rules questions should be asked in the Q&A, which is linked in the header. Next time, be more specific (in this case, you're asking how the double in Empty the Pits's cost works).
@GlistenerAgent: It's still worthwhile to remain accurate; the technical answer, properly explained, is not really any more difficult to understand, and it's much better to instill proper rules understanding when given the opportunity.
November 15, 2014 9:40 p.m.
BoStaffNinja says... #9
Thanks! Its my first time posting on the forums. I'll remember next time.
November 15, 2014 9:52 p.m.
NerdPounder says... #10
Also it's important that the cards are exiled as part of the cost, so make sure if someone else is casting it against you let them decide what to exile before you do any possible responses, that way they can't play differently with the information of your response. Also the cards getting exiled isn't contingent on the spell resolving. So, if someone Counterspells a delve spell, the cards you delve with are still exiled. You may have already known that I just thought I'd make sure =)
happyman379 says... #2
What do you mean?
November 15, 2014 9:05 p.m.