Is returning a creature from the graveyard to play casting it?

Asked by Danno1011 6 years ago

I am working on a Balthor the Defiled EDH deck and want to include Phage the Untouchable. Would Balthors ability make me lose the game if Phage is in the graveyard? I'm pretty sure returning to play is still casting. I just want to be positive before I leave her out or add cards like Raise Dead to work around her first ability.

Madcookie says... Accepted answer #1

It is not considered casting. The only object on the stack is the ability/spell/effect that is bringing the creature or creatures to the battlefield. Only that ability/spell etc can be countered for example and not the individual creatures. Wording is very important in magic and if something was cast it would be mentioned on the card. For example flashback cards specifically state cast this from graveyard Artful Dodge and cards like Haakon, Stromgald Scourge can only be cast from the graveyard and it is specified so.

Also casting would require to spend mana, unless specified "without paying its mana cost" as by the mtg rules and Balthor or Living Death or any similar effect don't ask you to pay mana for creatures

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell includes proposal of the spell (rules 601.2a–d) and determination and payment of costs (rules 601.2f–h). To cast a spell, a player follows the steps listed below, in order. A player must be legally allowed to cast the spell to begin this process (see rule 601.3), ignoring any effect that would prohibit that spell from being cast based on information determined during that spell’s proposal. (Such effects are considered during the check detailed in rule 601.2e.) If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule 721, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

June 3, 2018 9:50 a.m.

Danno1011 says... #2

Awesome! Thank you so much.

June 3, 2018 12:25 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #3

Also note that Phage the Untouchable specifies she has to be cast from your hand. If you cast her from the graveyard through something like Muldrotha, the Gravetide you'll still lose.

June 3, 2018 9:35 p.m.

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