Elite Arcanist and Stive?
Asked by dragonchild2994 10 years ago
Elite Arcanist and Ajani's Presence would i be able to pay the stive cost per creature basis?
also would Battlefield Thaumaturge affect this spells cost?
Somehow I assumed the Strive costs were 1, which they of course are not. Battlefield Thaumaturge would reduce the costs to 1W.
June 2, 2014 5:54 p.m.
Strive costs are additional costs, so you would be able to pay those if you so desire.
Technicality: This is not quite right, though it is close enough for most common use. Strive is a cost increase, not an additional cost. It isn't often relevant (such as in this case; it works the same as you describe), but it is a difference. Additional costs always use the word "additional".
June 2, 2014 5:57 p.m.
dragonchild2994 says... #4
so since Elite Arcanist 's ability says you may CAST, and Battlefield Thaumaturge reduces the cost to cast instants / sorcery spells by 1 per creature targeted, and i only have to pay X where X is the converted mana cost of the spell Ajani's Presence which is only 1, i can pay additional strive cost but i can't target anything but one creature? so i now have a Elite Arcanist who taps to create an indestructible effect?
June 2, 2014 5:59 p.m.
dragonchild2994: You may target as many additional creatures as you pay the Strive costs for. Say you pay an additional 2WW, you may target three creatures in total, which will receive +1/+1 and indestructible each.
Note that Battlefield Thaumaturge will not reduce the cost of Elite Arcanist s ability, only of the Strive costs (or other 'additional' costs).
June 2, 2014 6:05 p.m.
You can certainly target multiple creatures. Here's the full process:
You active the Elite Arcanist 's ability by paying 1 (the converted mana cost of Ajani's Presence ). When that ability resolves, it creates a copy of Ajani's Presence and allows you to cast the copy without paying its mana cost, which means that you don't have to pay the cost in the upper right corner of the card. You may still, however, pay the strive cost any number of times. Ajani's Presence targets one creature, plus one additional creature for each time you pay the strive cost.
Elite Arcanist will reduce the amount of mana you need to spend by 1 for each creature Ajani's Presence targets. In the end, that means that to target one creature (no strive) it will cost no extra mana (beyond the 1 required to activate the Elite Arcanist ). To target two creatures, you will have to pay W (because the strive costs 2W, then the Elite Arcanist reduces it by 2 because there are two targets) .To target three creatures, you will have to pay 1WW (paying the strive cost twice would normally cost 4WW, but the Arcanist reduces it by 3 because there are three targets). It will continue to scale, costing an extra 1W for each target beyond the second.
June 2, 2014 6:06 p.m.
@BlueScope: That's a little bit off. Targeting three creatures will cost 1WW, not 2WW, because the Arcanist reduces the cost by 3 from the 4WW it would otherwise be.
June 2, 2014 6:07 p.m.
dragonchild2994 says... #9
you mean the Battlefield Thaumaturge right will reduce the cost?
June 2, 2014 6:09 p.m.
True, forgot about the first creature... must be later than I thought for me...
June 2, 2014 6:10 p.m.
Oh, derp. I get wizards mixed up sometimes. Yes, the Thaumaturge reduces the cost.
My apologies for the mixup.
BlueScope says... Accepted answer #1
Errata says:
7/1/2013 You cant pay any alternative costs such as overload costs. You can pay additional costs such as kicker costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.
Strive costs are additional costs, so you would be able to pay those if you so desire. Battlefield Thaumaturge would reduce those additional costs to 0 per creature, however you would still only be able to target each creature once per copy of Ajani's Presence .
June 2, 2014 5:52 p.m.