Lion's Eye Diamond and when it can be used
Asked by 203995014 11 years ago
This came up while I was playing a game today, based around the confusion with the part in the card's text that says you may only use the ability when you can cast an instant.
Say you're playing a dredge deck and you have no other way of getting mana and you have Faithless Looting in your graveyard. Can you sacrifice the Lion's Eye Diamond and use that mana to cast Faithless Looting or is that an illegal move? What are the requirements to be able to use the ability and use the mana to cast a spell?
omnipotato says... #2
It would be pretty useful in a madness/flashback deck. Works really well with cards like Basking Rootwalla and Arrogant Wurm
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Lion's Eye Diamond 's ability has two notable details:
First, it's a mana ability, but it can only be activated at any time you could cast an instant. This means it can't be used to cast something from your hand because you can't cast an instant in the middle of casting another spell. You need to float mana before casting a spell or activating an ability.
Second, because it's a mana ability, it resolves instantly. You discard your hand as you add the mana to your mana pool.
You can certainly use Lion's Eye Diamond to cast cards from your graveyard (provided something allows you to cast those cards). You just need to float the mana before you announce the spell.
November 28, 2013 6:12 p.m.