How does Marath interact with Horde of Notions?

Asked by MsSysbit 5 years ago

My buddies and I had a debate on this. Marath, Will of the Wild states “the anount of mana spent to cast it.” To my understanding “play” as Horde of Notions states includes casting like the hideaway lands Spinerock Knoll. So does Marath enter with 5 +1/+1 coubters due to the WURBG that was spent to cast it from the yard? Or does it enter with 0 and die due to the “without paying its mana cost” meaning the casting cost was zero?

We ruled that it died to state based action in a 3-2 vote but I’m curious who was right.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1

It enters with 0 counters.

"Play" means "play it if it's a land and cast it if it's a spell". So yes, you did cast Marath, but the you spent was to activate Horde of Notions' ability. You didn't actually spend any mana to cast Marath.

Note that if there was something like Sphere of Resistance on the battlefield, then you would have to spend mana to cast Marath, and it would enter with a +1/+1 counter for each mana you were required to spend that way.

September 15, 2018 4:58 p.m.