Can you pay extra mana for things cast without paying the mana cost?
Asked by belugawhaleonthefloor 9 years ago
For example, if i have Jace, Architect of Thought, and I do it's -8 ability to search my library. Could I choose Volcanic Geyser and pay an extra 5 mana to deal 5 damage to my opponent? Or would it just deal nothing?
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2
Always check the Gatherer rulings before asking a question.
10/1/2012: If a card has X in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as its value.
You declare the value of X when you cast Volcanic Geyser by paying its mana cost. You pay that cost as the final step in the casting process. If you cast Volcanic Geyser by paying an alternate cost (such as "without paying its mana cost"), then X defaults to 0. It's not like kicker costs; you can't pay additional mana to increase the X value. The X value is determined and announced as a formal part of the casting process.
erabel says... #1
If you cast a spell without paying its mana cost, X is always 0. You cannot opt to "pay into" spells like Volcanic Geyser if you cast them without paying their mana costs.
Granted, you're allowed to add mana to your mana pool as much as you want, but you can't use it to pay into your free Geyser.
November 20, 2014 3:44 p.m.