Magic: The Gathering: Rules: Choosing Spell or Ability Mode

Video Transcript

"The second step of playing a speller ability is choosing the mode X and a number of other additional costs you can choose to pay. Here we have four good examples of what additional costs X in mode look like. Trickery Charm says choose one, and then a dash. Then, it has three options of how you can play the spell. At this point, you have to decide which of the three options you're going to be utilizing when you cast Trickery Charm. Fireball is a very old spell, present in the very first edition of the game, that had en X in the casting cost. The Xs are variable, which is referenced later on in the card, when the spell resolves. The co, the casting cost is one red, plus any amount of colorless manna. Then, you can spend as much as you want on. This needs to be decided in this step. Constant Yists has an ability that says: a buyback of sacrificing a land. If you pay that co, if you choose to pay that cost at this point in playing a speller ability, you don't have to put the spell in the graveyard when it resolves, but it can, instead, return it to your hand. Journey of Discovery has choose one. So, like Trickery Charm, you have to decide which of the two effects you're going to use, but if you choose to pay the additional entwined cost of two colorless and one green, you can choose both instead of either."