Phyrexian Unlife

Asked by BlckGaming 13 years ago

Does paying life for Phyrexian mana count as taking damage? I had Phyrexian Unlife on the feild. My life was 0, and I played Marrow Shards. Do I take 2 Poison Counters?

Spoofed says... #1

You cannot pay what you don't have. Since you're life is 0 you cannot pay 2 life to even cast Marrow Shards.

January 29, 2012 2:21 p.m.

Spoofed says... #2

To elaborate Phyrexian Unlife only prevents damage. Things such as loss of life e.g. Sign in Blood and payment e.g. Marrow Shards are not covered in that.In the case of Marrow Shards you must have 2 life to pay for the cost, unless you pay with W/. In the case of Sign in Blood you will lose to life, and have -2 life.

January 29, 2012 2:23 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #3

Damage to a player usually causes loss of life, but they're not the same thing. Infect is a great counterexample, because it makes damage to a player cause poison counters instead.

You can't pay life that you don't have, in just the same way that you can't pay the cost of a spell if you don't have enough mana. If you're at 0 life, you can't pay for anything that has life as part of the cost.

January 29, 2012 2:24 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #4

@Spoofed: Phyrexian Unlife doesn't prevent damage, it turns regular damage into infect damage.

January 29, 2012 2:25 p.m.