Does the expertise cycle bypass the commander tax?
Asked by NixTheThird 8 years ago
I am fairly certain, per the rules on Gatherer, that the expertise cycle's "you may cast such and such cmc card for free" does not bypass the commander tax. Rather, you only have to pay the commander tax, but not the cmc cost of the card itself.
However I could not find this confirmed online. My google-fu has failed me.
NixTheThird says... #2
Well then... nevermind, totally forgot about that from the hand rider mattered.
January 24, 2017 8:14 p.m.
ZomBee_Hunt says... #3
By the way there is no such thing as a commander tax. If you read here http://mtgcommander.net/rules.php [MTG Commander rules]. It is an additional cost not a tax.
For example cards like Rooftop Storm will let you cast your Thraximundar for free no matter how many times it has died.
January 25, 2017 3:39 p.m.
Yes, the "commander tax" is applied as an additional cost. Cards like Rooftop Storm or Aluren allow you to avoid paying the mana cost, but you are still required to pay any additional costs, such as those imposed by the tax.
Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1
If you are casting a commander without paying it's mana cost, you still have to pay the commander tax, but that doesn't matter here. Baral's Expertise let's you cast a card from your hand without paying it's mana cost, and commander tax is only applied when casting your commander from the command zone. If your commander is in your hand, you'll be able to cast it for free without paying it's mana cost or commander tax. If it's in the command zone, you won't be able to cast it off of an expertise spell at all.
January 24, 2017 7:20 p.m.