Improvise and Expertise

Asked by Grrvvpp23 7 years ago

Hi there, been looking for an answer on this topic but couldn't clear it at all. I basically was wondering if you're able to pay improvise costs when you cast an Expertise, or is it like surge which is an alternate cost? For example: I cast a Yahenni's Expertise and I choose to cast Whir of Invention out of it, can I tap any artifacts I have to pay for X?

Thanks in advance!

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1

That doesn't work, but not for the reason you think.

Improvise isn't an alternate cost, it just gives you more options for how to pay the spell's cost. However, there's something else we're dealing with here. When an effect tells you to cast a spell "without paying its mana cost" (which is an alternate cost, itself), any X in the spell's cost is set to 0 by default. You aren't allowed to choose a different number.

January 10, 2017 1:59 p.m.