Question on Bond of Agony
Asked by MonkeyMind 12 years ago
Hi there,
I'd like to pull of a T2 kill with Pulse Tracker attacking and after that killing the opponent with Bond of Agony , paying 19 life (opponents actually...it's a multiplayer game).
What happens if Bond of Agony gets counter? Will I still lose the 19 life (I guess so right)?
What happens if someone casts something like Lightning Bolt in response to my Bond of Agony ? Does everyone die in this situation? Does the Bond of Agony still resolve (seeing that I don't have the life anymore I was going to pay)?
Cheers!
TorrentFreak says... #2
I believe your right for the most part Rhadamanthus, but in this case I am fairly certain X represents paid life. It is an additional cost to play it, doesn't mean you need to pay mana for it. You would pay 1 mana, and X life points to cast it. The spell is cast with the one mana, and X life points then it will be put onto the stack. If the spell doesn't get countered, it will resolve and cause other players to lose X life paid.
November 7, 2012 12:21 p.m.
TorrentFreak says... #3
Forgot to mention, if you get countered, you will lose the life. And your opponent won't. There is no refund cost. It is a risky play, but if you Duress their hand and know it won't be countered. Well worth it.
November 7, 2012 12:23 p.m.
Rhadamanthus is correct. The cost of the spell is B(x) where X is the amount of mana paid. In addition to that, you pay the life equal to the mana spent on X to cast it and put it on the stack. If it's countered, there is no refund; you still paid for the opportunity to try and cast it. Go Force Spike :)
November 7, 2012 12:27 p.m.
because additional costs are in addition to the mana cost. In this case, they just happen to be equal variables in this case. Also of note, you cannot choose to pay more life than you have, and if you choose to pay the same amount of life that you have, you will lose as a state-based action after you pay, but before it resolves.
November 7, 2012 12:30 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #6
The mana cost of a spell is what's printed in the upper-right corner of a card. Bond of Agony 's mana cost is XB. When you choose the value of X during the casting process, it sets the value in both the mana cost and the additional cost of life. The total cost of Bond of Agony will be X+B mana and X life.
Consider that if this weren't the case, Bond of Agony would have been banned about a day after it was printed, after becoming the centerpiece in thousands of T1-2 kill combo decks.
November 7, 2012 12:30 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
If X appears in the mana cost and you're paying the mana cost, you pay X as well. Rhadamanthus is correct. In the case of Bond of Agony , you announce the value you're choosing for X and you will have to pay X+B mana and X life to completely cast Bond of Agony at that point.
If it were the other way around, it would be played in every burn deck in existence.
November 7, 2012 12:33 p.m.
It would work the way you thought of if it was just (B), and then "pay x life". Not (XB).
November 7, 2012 12:58 p.m.
If you could just pay 19 life and drain someone else's life total by 19 without needing to pay X in mana, Bond of Agony would be banned in every format, ever.
November 7, 2012 1:50 p.m.
MonkeyMind says... #10
Ghehehe...ok...it was a stupid question...I didn't figure out that you had to pay the x mana as well for some reason...derp derp...thanks for the answers dudes/dudettes
(good that I ordered them already before asking the question...derp derp...I feel kinda stupid now :p)
November 7, 2012 4:03 p.m.
Yeah. As far as this type of card goes, Exsanguinate is pretty much superior in every way but the extra mana in the cost.
November 7, 2012 4:05 p.m.
MonkeyMind says... #12
I know about Exsanguinate ...I pulled it out with an infinite mana combo on the board to wipe the table in a multiplayer :p...thanks for the tip though zandl!
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
I'm going to assume you've come up with a way to make the 20 total mana needed to cast a 19-point Bond of Agony (X is also in the mana cost, if you didn't notice that before).
Paying the life is an additional cost to cast the spell, just like it says. You don't get a refund on paid costs when a spell gets countered.
If your opponent is responding with anything, that means you've already gone through the whole process of casting the spell, including paying costs. You're already at 1 life at the time your opponent targets you with Lightning Bolt . When a player loses, everything he owns also leaves the game with him, meaning your spell gets taken off of the stack and it doesn't resolve.
November 7, 2012 10:42 a.m.