Alternate Costs/Melek, Izzet Paragon
Asked by codebread 11 years ago
My understanding is that spells can only use one alternate cost upon casting. For example, I couldn't overload Cyclonic Rift or bestow Chromanticore if I'm using Omniscience to cast them. This is true, correct? If that is the case, is Melek, Izzet Paragon using an alternate cost when he casts the top of the library, or is overloading and other alternative costs still doable.
Also, Possibility Storm is casting from exile and not the library, right.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2
You are correct.
Omniscience specifies an alternate cost, "without paying its mana cost," which means you can't pay other alternate costs if you choose to cast the spell without paying its mana cost.
Melek, Izzet Paragon merely changes the zones from which you can cast instants and sorceries; it doesn't impose any costs on the casting process, so you make casting choices as you normally would.
You are also correct about Possibility Storm . The cards are exiled, which means they are no longer in the library. If Possibility Storm instead read "reveal" instead of "exile," then you would cast the revealed card from your library.
February 23, 2014 6:57 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
@billpasdmf: Technically speaking, your answer has a few inaccuracies. It's not the fact that you have to pay to cast spells that allows you to pay alternate costs with Melek. It's the fact that Melek doesn't set up a mandatory alternate cost. You still pay alternate costs when you choose them, so your wording is a little misleading.
Also, you don't treat spells cast without paying their mana cost as though they were cast for their mana costs. There are some effects that specifically depend on how the costs were paid.
Lastly, there is a difference between casting a card from a zone from which you normally couldn't have, and casting a card from your hand.
Again, these are all technical things. In this case, those details aren't really significant, but there are situations in which they could be relevant.
billpasdmf says... #1
In the case of Omniscience you wouldn't be able pay other additional costs (overload, bestow, kicker, etc) Whenever something says you may cast a spell w/out paying it's mana cost, you just treat it as if you were casting it normally for it's vanilla casting cost. Melek, on the other hand, would allow you to add any additional costs (overload, kicker, etc) b/c you have to pay to cast the spells anyway. You can think of it as adding the top card of you library to your hand, provided it is an instant or sorcery. And yes Possibility Storm casts cards from exile.
February 23, 2014 6:54 p.m.