Mana doubler question.

Asked by Smellyolivebreath 4 years ago

If I have a card like Zendikar Resurgent (or Dictate of Karametra or Heartbeat of Spring) along with something like Mana Reflection, does the land produce 4 mana because 2x2=4, or three because it’s the enchantment itself (resurgent, dictate, heartbeat) that’s creating the mana and so only the original land mana is doubled making it produce 3 mana instead. On a similar note, if instead of having a resurgent or something similar, I had a Fertile Ground (or Utopia Sprawl or Wild Growth) along with a Mana Reflection. Would the land produce 3 or 4 mana?

TheRealSpecialK says... Accepted answer #1

Here is how it would work:

You tap a land for mana.

Mana Reflection triggers, so you now have two mana in your mana pool.

Because you tapped a land for mana, you add an additional mana to your pool from Zendikar Resurgent so we are at a total of 3. This repeats for any other effects that are in play (Dictate of Karametra adds another for a total of 4, Heartbeat of Spring for 5, etc.).

The reason for this is when an ability is worded the way it is on Zendikar Resurgent the land itself isn't producing two mana - rather after tapping for mana, your are adding an additional mana to your pool. Because the land itself isn't producing the mana, Mana Reflection would not see it. Now, if you had Nyxbloom Ancient and Mana Reflection out at the same time, they would compound, and you would add 6 mana to your pool for tapping a single land (2 X 3).

Let me know if you would like me to further clarify.

October 23, 2020 5:38 p.m. Edited.

Thanx. Also it’s the same for the land auras right? (Fertile ground)

October 23, 2020 5:41 p.m.

The same is true for the enchantments you listed. If you have out Mana Reflection, Nyxbloom Ancient and you have a land enchanted with Fertile Ground, tapping that land would net you 7 total mana (2 X 3 from reflection/ancient, then one more added to your pool from Fertile Grounds).

Now consider if the land tapped was Cascading Cataracts, and you are using it to add 5 mana of any combination of colors. If it was the same situation as above, you would net a total of 31 mana from that one ability:

5 (from Cataracts) X 2 (from reflection) x 3 (from Ancient) + 1 (from Fertile Ground) = 31.

Think of it this way - if wording says something like "that player adds an additional mana" or "its controller adds an additional mana" the mana is being added after the land is tapped and the effect is not doubled.

October 23, 2020 5:47 p.m. Edited.

Thanx for your help

October 23, 2020 5:51 p.m.

Gidgetimer says... #5

I have a small correction to make that isn't relevant to this example, but is an important distinction.

Mana Reflection never triggers off of anything. It is a replacement effect. Since this example deals with mana abilities it is a distinction without a difference. For similarly worded cards such as Doubling Season that apply to other things it matters though. A flashed back Increasing Devotion with Doubling Season out will make 20 tokens and nothing in the interaction can be Stifled.

October 23, 2020 9:23 p.m.

Thank you for the correction Gidgetimer - you are 100% correct.

October 24, 2020 12:57 a.m.

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