Paying a cost

Track 1 said that a cost you cannot pay is not paid, and that what it was buying does not happen. This lesson puts costs in order: what counts as one, and where in playing a card it gets paid.

A cost is something a game effect tells you to do, such as paying resources or performing a game action, in order to perform a linked effect.¹Rule 202. Some Game Effects will instruct players to pay resources, spend counters or XP, or perform game actions as a Cost in order to perform a linked Effect. Open in the rules browser Costs must be paid to get their linked effect²Rule 203. Costs must be paid in order to get their linked Effect. Open in the rules browser, and paying one means performing the game action it names.³Rule 203.1. Paying a Cost requires a player to perform the appropriate game action: pay resources, spend counters or XP, kill units, etc. Open in the rules browser So a cost is not always Energy and Power. Costs may be Energy costs, Power costs, or non-standard costs, such as killing a friendly unit.⁴Rule 356.7. Costs may be Energy costs, Power costs, or non-standard costs.Example: A card reads "As an additional cost to play me, kill a friendly unit." Killing a friendly unit is an additional cost to play that card. Open in the rules browser

Playing a card, in order

A card counts as played only when it has finished the whole process of playing it.⁵Rule 350.1. A card is Played when it has finished this process in its entirety. Open in the rules browser The rules number the steps of that process, and paying has a fixed place among them.

1. The card moves from where it was, such as your hand, to the chain.⁶Rule 354. 1. Move the card from its current zone to the Chain. Open in the rules browser
2. You make the choices it needs: where a unit will enter⁷Rule 355.2. For Units, choose a valid Location where that Unit will enter upon being Played. Open in the rules browser, for instance, or whether to pay an optional additional cost.⁸Rule 355.1.a. This includes the choice of whether or not to pay an Optional Additional Cost. Open in the rules browser
3. The total cost is worked out. Additional costs are applied⁹Rule 356.2. Apply additional costs in any order. Open in the rules browser, then cost increases¹⁰Rule 356.3. Apply cost increases. Open in the rules browser, then discounts¹¹Rule 356.4. Apply discounts. Open in the rules browser, except that a discount on only one part of the cost is applied when that part is added, before any other discount.¹²Rule 356.4.c. Discounts that only apply to a component of the cost will be applied when that component is added to the cost of the spell and before any other discounts.Example: Ezreal, Prodigy reads “optional additional costs you pay cost [1] or [A] less.” When playing a Frigid Touch and choosing to pay the additional cost in step 2, as soon as the additional cost is added to the cost of the spell, Ezreal, Prodigy’s discount is applied to it. Open in the rules browser No discount can take an Energy or Power cost below 0.¹³Rule 356.6. Energy and Power costs can't be reduced below 0. Open in the rules browser
4. You pay the combined Energy cost and Power cost¹⁴Rule 357.1. In total, pay the combined Energy cost (if any) and Power cost (if any). Open in the rules browser, and any non-standard costs as well.¹⁵Rule 357.2. In addition, pay any non-standard Cost summed in step 3 in any order.Example: A card reads in part “As an additional cost to play me, kill a friendly unit and discard a unit.” When paying the costs for that card, its controller can pay those two costs in any order; they can kill a friendly unit first and then discard a unit, or they can discard a unit and then kill a friendly unit. Open in the rules browser During this step you may use activated abilities with the Reaction tag that add resources, to add the Energy and Power you are paying.¹⁶Rule 357.1.a. During this step, the card's controller can use activated abilities with the Reaction tag that Add resources to add Energy and Power to pay the card's costs. See rule 165. Rune Pools and rule 429. Add for more information. Open in the rules browser
5. The game checks, among other things, that all costs were paid¹⁷Rule 358.2. Check that all costs were paid. Open in the rules browser. If any check fails, the actions taken in the process are undone and the play is cancelled.¹⁸Rule 358.5. If any of the above checks fail, the actions taken in this process are undone and the action is cancelled. Open in the rules browser

After that the card finishes being played, and a unit enters the board exhausted at the location you chose.¹⁹Rule 359.2.c. If it is a Unit, it enters the Board exhausted at the Location that was chosen. Open in the rules browser

Paying resources for a card is still a choice you make in step 4. If you choose not to pay the resources its cost asks for, the act of playing the card is undone.²⁰Rule 444.2.a. If the instruction to Pay resources is part of paying costs for a card or ability, choosing not to pay those resources will cause the act of playing the card or ability to be undone. See rule 358. Check Legality for more information. Open in the rules browser

Exhausting and recycling as costs

Activating an ability follows the same steps as playing a card²¹Rule 399. Playing or activating Abilities follows the same steps of playing cards. Open in the rules browser, and an activated ability lists its cost before the colon in its text.²²Rule 403.1.a. Activated Abilities will have a cost listed before the “:” in their text. Open in the rules browser A Basic Rune's first ability²³Rule 164.2.a. [E]: [Reaction] — Add [1]. Open in the rules browser has [E] there, and in an ability that exhaust symbol stands for the cost "Exhaust this".²⁴Rule 414.5. In abilities, the Exhaust symbol represents the cost "Exhaust this" or "Exhaust me." It resembles a card turning sideways. Open in the rules browser Its second ability has "Recycle this" there, so its cost is recycling the rune.²⁵Rule 164.2.b. Recycle this: [Reaction] — Add [C]. Open in the rules browser

When exhausting is listed as a cost, the action must be able to be completed for the cost to be paid.²⁶Rule 414.4. When Exhausting is listed as a Cost, then the Action must be able to be completed for the cost to be paid.Example: A spell says "As an additional cost to play this, you may exhaust a friendly unit." An exhausted friendly unit may not be exhausted again as the additional cost for the spell, and the additional cost has not been paid. Open in the rules browser Something already exhausted cannot be exhausted again²⁷Rule 414.1.b. A Game Object that is already Exhausted cannot be Exhausted again. Open in the rules browser, so an exhausted rune cannot use its first ability until it has been readied. Recycling listed as a cost is held to the same standard: it must be able to be completed.²⁸Rule 416.3. When Recycling is listed as a Cost, the action must be able to be completed for the cost to be paid.Example: Vi, Destructive has the ability "Recycle 1 from your trash: Give me +1 [M] this turn." Each time a player activates the ability, they must recycle 1 card from their trash to pay its cost. If they have no cards in their trash, they can't activate the ability, because they can't pay its cost. Open in the rules browser Whenever the action behind a cost is impossible, you cannot pay the cost, and you do not get its linked effect.²⁹Rule 203.3. If the game action associated with a Cost is impossible for any reason such that a player cannot perform it, then they cannot pay the Cost and they will not execute the linked Effect. Open in the rules browser