Hardcast: Difference between revisions

From MTG Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
>Jerodast
(More specific name for section, minor edits)
 
(One intermediate revision by one other user not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:


==Description==
==Description==
There are relatively large number of cards whose main function is not being cast with the mana cost as written. Examples are of alternative-cost spells, permanents that could be put into play through alternative means, or a card that has an ability that can be activated from a zone other than the battlefield. However, a player may choose to play the card by paying its mana cost, to which the player will sometimes state that they are hardcasting it.  This is generally done in order to make the play clear to their opponent, though sometimes it is an implicit acknowledgement that the game has developed in a strange fashion.  
When a spell has an alternative cost, a permanent could be put into play by a means other than casting it, or a card has an ability that can be activated from a zone other than the battlefield, but a player chooses to play the card by paying its mana cost, the player will sometimes state that they are hardcasting it.  This is generally done in order to make the play clear to their opponent, particularly when the alternative cost or play is the more common usage of the card.  


== Examples ==
== Examples ==
Line 9: Line 9:
* Casting <c>Simian Spirit Guide</c> instead of exiling it to add {{R}} to your mana pool.
* Casting <c>Simian Spirit Guide</c> instead of exiling it to add {{R}} to your mana pool.
* Casting a {{Card|Decree of Justice}} or {{Card|Street Wraith}} instead of using its [[cycling]] ability.
* Casting a {{Card|Decree of Justice}} or {{Card|Street Wraith}} instead of using its [[cycling]] ability.
* Casting a large creature (e.g. {{Card|Serra's Emissary}}) instead of [[Reanimation|reanimating]] it with {{Card|Persist}} or [[Polymorph|polymorphing]] it with {{Card|Indominable Creativity}}.


== Notes ==
== Strategy ==
The inability of some decks to hardcast a portion of their spells ([[Reanimator]], [[Extended Tooth and Nail deck|Tooth and Nail]], [[Extended Hypergenesis deck|Hypergenesis]], or decks based on <c>Sneak Attack</c>) may be an exploitable weakness, as the creatures they want to put into play are [[dead card]]s without the respective enablers.
The inability of some decks to hardcast a portion of their spells ([[Reanimator]], [[Extended Tooth and Nail deck|Tooth and Nail]], [[Extended Hypergenesis deck|Hypergenesis]], or decks based on <c>Sneak Attack</c>) can be an exploitable weakness. The creatures they want to put into play, or other spells they want to cast using some sort of free casting effect, are often [[dead card]]s without the enabling spells that accomplish this.


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Free spell]]
* [[Free spell]]
[[Category:Magic slang]]
[[Category:Magic slang]]

Latest revision as of 21:48, 11 March 2022

Hardcast (or Paying Retail) is Magic: The Gathering jargon used to describe the playing of a spell by paying its mana cost instead of using an alternative cost or other ability.

Description

When a spell has an alternative cost, a permanent could be put into play by a means other than casting it, or a card has an ability that can be activated from a zone other than the battlefield, but a player chooses to play the card by paying its mana cost, the player will sometimes state that they are hardcasting it. This is generally done in order to make the play clear to their opponent, particularly when the alternative cost or play is the more common usage of the card.

Examples

Strategy

The inability of some decks to hardcast a portion of their spells (Reanimator, Tooth and Nail, Hypergenesis, or decks based on Sneak Attack) can be an exploitable weakness. The creatures they want to put into play, or other spells they want to cast using some sort of free casting effect, are often dead cards without the enabling spells that accomplish this.

See also