Does Vadrik's ability work with Replicate?

Asked by UmbrotheUmbreon 2 years ago

A simple question that I kind of confused myself with. I was wondering if the cost reduction from Vadrik, Astral Archmage work for replicate? Djinn Illuminatus gives all instants and sorceries you control replicate, and I wanted to make sure if (for example) Vadrik's power was 6, that I could replicate Brass's Bounty for one red mana each replicate cost.

Gidgetimer says... #1

It works on replicate, but not the way you are wanting it to. Replicate is an additional cost. When determining how much mana you need to pay you apply all additional costs, then apply reductions, then anything that sets a mana cost. So what you would do is add the replicate cost for how many times you want to replicate it and then deduct Vadrik, Astral Archmage's power.

This means that if Vadrik had 6 power you could cast Brass's Bounty for and each replicate would add and you would have to pay the entire thing. If instead you were casting Vacuumelt the original would cost after the reductions and you could replicate twice by only having to pay an extra since you had cost reduction left. After that you would have used up the entire reduction and have to pay per replicate.

November 17, 2021 12:14 p.m.

Polaris says... Accepted answer #2

Replicate is an additional cost like kicker or multikicker. I think you're reading it as casting the spell multiple times, which isn't how it works. You'll get the cost reduction once. When you determine the cost of a spell, you take its base cost or alternate cost (for example, if you cast Drownyard Behemoth with its emerge ability and sacrifice a 4 mana creature, the alternate cost would be ). For Brass's Bounty, this is .

You then add additional costs, like replicate, which you can choose how many times to pay (let's say twice). In this case, the replicate is equal to the mana cost, so your new total is .

Next, you add any cost increasing effects (like an opponent's Thalia, Guardian of Thraben). There's nothing like that in this scenario. Finally, you apply cost-reduction effects. Vadrik, Astral Archmage will take out of the cost equal to its power. If you have him at 6 power, your final mana total will be . If he's at 15 power, it will be .

Notably, these kinds of cost reduction effects usually only reduce generic mana, so you will still end up paying at least even as Vadrik's power hits 20 and above.

November 17, 2021 12:22 p.m.

@Polaris: That part I knew, but with the way the deck is built (and from what my friend who also built it has shown), the colored mana isn't a big deal. It's the generic reduction that is key to it.

Thanks everyone for the answer. I figured that might have been the case, but just wanted to double check and make sure

November 17, 2021 12:24 p.m.

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