Snapcaster Mage and alternative spell costs
Asked by Sir_Gedas 13 years ago
How does snapcaster mage work with alternate spell costs like kicker but mainly the traps from zendikar.
for example:my opponent plays 3 spells on his turn, he goes to cast his fourth and i respond by playing Snapcaster Mage and targeting a Mindbreak Trap in my grave yard, since the alternate cost of the trap is fulfilled can i pay the 0 to play the trap to exile the spell hes about to play
Epochalyptik says... #2
Flashback does not allow you to pay alternative costs. Mindbreak Trap will cost 2UU.
Note that spells with cost reduction effects which are not alternative costs still have those effects apply (for example, Thoughtcast will still have affinity if it is flashed back).
Kickers are static abilities of spells on the stack, so they may still be played.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
Kicker isn't an alternative cost, it's an additional cost. You can still pay kicker costs on a flashback spell.
As for alternative costs, if you have multiple options for what you can pay instead of the mana cost for casting a spell, you can only choose one of them. Flashback is a special alternative cost that allows you to cast the card from your graveyard, but the "trap cost" doesn't have that quality. If you want to cast the card from the graveyard, you have to use the Flashback cost to do it, and Snapcaster Mage sets that cost equal to the card's mana cost.
117.9a Only one alternative cost can be applied to any one spell as it's being cast. The controller of the spell announces his or her intentions to pay that cost as described in rule 601.2b.
702.32a Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player's graveyard and the other that functions while the card is on the stack. "Flashback [cost]" means "You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost" and "If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack." Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2eg.
December 4, 2011 2:29 p.m.