Phyrexian mana, colorless mana & snow mana question
Asked by Ixidron 10 years ago
Are they valid targets for Spectral Shift /Mind Bend ?
I think colorless and snow mana are unlikely to be legal targets, but I'm not sure about phyrexian mana, since it can be paid with normal coloured mana.
Because it would definitely be fun to use Thorn of Amethyst , Ghostly Prison or Grand Arbiter Augustin IV to force your enemies to pay snow/phyrexian mana, or to switch Norn's Annex white phyrexian mana to another kind of phyrexian mana.
First of all, for future reference, we've got a specific part of the site for rules questions. It's under "MTG Q&A" in the header bar. If you ever have another rules question, post it there.
Second of all, neither of those spells change mana symbols in rules text; they specifically state "color word" and "basic land type". For color, that means you pick an option out of white, blue, black, red, or green (the colors in MTG). Phyrexian, snow, and colorless are not colors of mana. It won't change a W symbol into a G symbol, it changes "white" into "green".
July 9, 2014 6:58 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
Phyrexian isn't a color or a basic land type so it won't work. Also none of Thorn of Amethyst , Ghostly Prison , or Grand Arbiter Augustin IV have a basic land type or color in their text so you would ever be able to do that even if it was possible to change other things to cost Phyrexian.
July 9, 2014 7:02 p.m.
Doesn't the mana symbol means a color?, so R= 1 red mana, can you change red part of that sentence to blue?
July 9, 2014 7:03 p.m.
Ok, I found more about what I was saying, I thought symbols where just abbreviations (kindda like Flying means: this creature cannot be blocked by creatures without flying).
Since old cards like Heart Warden use t: add one green mana ... instead of using the symbol I thought you could change that "green" word into "blue/red/white/black" but apparently symbols are no longer considered abbreviations or words so you can't change that with Mind Bend
July 9, 2014 7:18 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
Nothing targets mana. Ever.
Spectral Shift and Mind Bend target spells or permanents, and you choose a color word or basic land type for their effects.
Old effects that used to spell out colors of mana have received errata to use the appropriate colored mana symbols instead.
Also, flying means nothing. It is an evergreen keyword that has specific rules attached to it, but those rules are not treated as though they were written on the card.
July 9, 2014 11:01 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
Moved to BE because I can't convert this to a Q&A thread.
BLEATH says... #1
Mind Bend says that it changed all instances of one color word with another. Not that it changed the type of mana needed to cast a spell. I think that's right...
July 9, 2014 6:45 p.m.