Copying spells with X in mana cost
Asked by The_Epic_Dog 5 years ago
I heard somewhere that copying spells varies greatly depending on when you copy it. 1. If you copy a spell with X in it's mana cost while it's on the stack, does X= 0 or X? 2. If you copy a spell with X in it's mana cost while it's anywhere else, what is X? 3. Same questions but with kicker, additional costs, multi-kicker, etc. 4. If you copy Zacama, Primal Calamity while it's on the stack, do you get the untap trigger?
Slight addendums:
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Copies are only cast if the effect says they are cast. Reverberate , for example, does not say to cast the copy. Isochron Scepter does. Usually copies that are cast are because the effect is copying a card (such as the one exiled by the Scepter), rather than a spell on the stack.
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If you copy a kicked spell, your copy is also kicked. You can't pay additional costs of the spells you copy, but whatever their attributes are on the stack (kicker or multikicker paid, overloaded, modes chosen, etc.), your copy has those same attributes. So if you Reverberate someone's kicked Rite of Replication or overloaded Cyclonic Rift , your copy is also kicked/overloaded.
January 28, 2019 9:12 p.m.
And clarification on X: X=0 in all zones except the stack itself.
If you copy a spell with X in its cost while it's on the stack, X will be whatever value was set for it at casting (so a Heat Ray with X=5, as mentioned, will have X=5 on the stack).
In all other zones, though, that X is 0, so if you're copying the card from someone's graveyard or hand, it's 0. From exile, it's 0 (so don't put it on an Isochron Scepter ). Mistcutter Hydra on the battlefield has a CMC of 1 because X=0, no matter how many counters are currently on it.
January 28, 2019 9:18 p.m.
I stand corrected on the copying kicked spells part. Thanks, Kogarashi.
Pieguy396 says... Accepted answer #1
1) Copies are not cast, but copies of X-spells retain the X-value of the original. If you cast Heat Ray with X=5, then Reverberate it, the copy will deal 5 damage just like the original.
2) Spells don't exist anywhere but the stack, so this question doesn't really make sense. If you're asking what happens if you Clone a Mistcutter Hydra , for example, the Clone will not get the +1/+1 counters that are on the Hydra.
3) You cannot pay additional costs of copied spells, so you will not gain any kicker or multikicker bonuses on the copy, regardless of whether or not you kicked the original
4) No, because copies are not cast.
January 28, 2019 7:31 p.m. Edited.