EDH - Playing a Commander "without pay it's mana cost".
Asked by Rayenous 11 years ago
Does anyone know the ruling for playing a Commander from the command zone when a card lets you play a creature "without paying it's mana cost". i.e: When it has has been cast one or more times prior to this casting?
Specifically, if I have Aluren in play, I know I can play Animar, Soul of Elements without paying it's mana cost, but when it's the second, third, fourth... etc cast, does it prevent the free cast, does the extra 2 mana per cast still need to be payed ontop of the "free spell", or is it just free, and no extra cost involved?
Epochalyptik says... #2
"Without paying its mana cost" means exactly that. The effect creates an alternative cost of 0. You still need to pay the total casting cost of the spell, though.
TCC = [mana cost OR alternate cost] + [additional and extra costs] - [cost reductions]
The "commander tax" is an extra cost that is factored into the TCC of your commander regardless of whether you're paying its mana cost or an alternate cost.
September 3, 2013 2:06 p.m.
Thanks!
I had assumed that, but wanted to clarify before designing the rest of my Animar EDH deck.
- Possible T2 win with:
T1: Green land - Eladamri's Vineyard or Magus of the Vineyard
T2: Any Land - Aluren , Animar, Soul of Elements , and any one of a number of "self-bounce" creatures (or combination of creature that do this)... AEther Adept , Horned Kavu , Grinning Ignus , Shrieking Drake , etc... and Hellraiser Goblin for the attack (or a number of other combo cards)
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
The "mana cost" is specifically the sum of the symbols in the upper-right corner of the card. For effects that let you cast something "without paying its mana cost", that's the only part of the cost you get a break on. The "commander tax" is an additional cost and still must be paid.
September 3, 2013 2:04 p.m.