G.6 - Costs


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G.6.1- Spells and activated abilities have a cost you must pay when playing that spell or ability. This cost is paid during announcement. In addition, you may be instructed to pay costs during the resolution of a spell or ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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G.6.2- The most common costs are mana payments, tapping a permanent (see Rule G.38), payment of life (see Rule G.19), and sacrifices (see Rule G.33), but a cost can be anything. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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G.6.3- The payment of a cost is unpreventable if you have the required resources (most often this is mana). Effects may prevent you from having the resource available. For example, the cost may be raised by Gloom or a card may not be tappable due to Volrath's Curse. [D'Angelo 1996/11/07]

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G.6.4- You cannot pay a cost if you do not have the resource available. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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G.6.5- If costs combine due to an effect into something that is contradictory, then you cannot pay the cost at all. [Aahz 1997/02/16] For example, you cannot both sacrifice a card and send that same card to your hand.

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G.6.6- Costs can be modified by replacement effects (see Rule T.10). [D'Angelo 1999/05/01]

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G.6.Ruling.1- Once you pay a cost you cannot get it back, even if the spell or ability is countered (see Rule G.7). [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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G.6.Ruling.2- You cannot pay a cost which requires a life payment if you have zero or less life or if the payment will bring you below zero life. [CompRules 1999/04/23] See Rule G.6.3 and Rule G.19.6.

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G.6.Ruling.3- You cannot tap a tapped card or untap an untapped card as part of a cost. [D'Angelo 1996/12/23] See Rule G.38.2 and Rule G.43.2.

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G.6.Ruling.4- Since each spell or ability is announced separately, and each cost is paid with each announcement, a single resource cannot be used to pay multiple costs. For example, you cannot sacrifice one creature to pay two sacrifice costs, and you cannot cast two spells using the same point of mana. [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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G.6.Ruling.5- A cost cannot be paid accidentally. It can only be paid during the announcement of a spell or ability. For example, you cannot cause a Prodigal Sorcerer to deal damage by making it become tapped. You must actually announce the use of its ability and tap it during that announcement as part of the cost in order to make it deal damage. [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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G.6.Ruling.6- You can both tap and sacrifice a card at once. This is not a contradictory cost (as per Rule G.6.5). [DeLaney 2000/01/13]

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Note- Also see Activation Cost (Rule G.1).

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Note- Also see Mana Cost (Rule K.18).

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Note- Also see Play Cost (Rule K.20).

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