Been thinking up some random ideas on the Splice mechanic, but its made me unsure of the full implementations of how Splice works - the existing Splice spells don't do anything out-of-the-box. Suppose I have the following card:
Everflash
Sorcery - Arcane
(Nonexisent mana costs can't be paid.)
Flash
Splice onto Arcane 1U
And I splice this onto Cleanfall. Does this allow Cleanfall to be cast at instant speed because it gains flash as it is cast? The closest answer I could find is "[Cards with Splice] can even be discarded to pay a “discard a card” cost of the spell it’s spliced onto." from the rules, which seems to imply it would be possible due to the timing.
In the same vein, are the following effects also possible to functionally splice?
This spell costs 3 less to cast.
Destroy each creature targeted by this spell.
Change this spell's text by replacing all instances of "target" with "each."
Been thinking up some random ideas on the Splice mechanic, but its made me unsure of the full implementations of how Splice works - the existing Splice spells don't do anything out-of-the-box. Suppose I have the following card:
Everflash
Sorcery - Arcane
(Nonexisent mana costs can't be paid.)
Flash
Splice onto Arcane 1U
And I splice this onto Cleanfall. Does this allow Cleanfall to be cast at instant speed because it gains flash as it is cast? The closest answer I could find is "[Cards with Splice] can even be discarded to pay a “discard a card” cost of the spell it’s spliced onto." from the rules, which seems to imply it would be possible due to the timing.
No, you wouldn't be able to cast an Arcane sorcery at instant speed this way. At the time the game determines whether it's legal for a player to cast a sorcery spell, the player isn't given any option to splice anything onto that spell. By the time a player would be able to splice anything onto that spell, the process of casting would've already have become illegal, and so the game never reaches this point in the casting process to begin with.
The reason why discarding as a cost works is because when you splice, the card with splice is in your hand, so that when you pay costs (which is after choosing to splice), the card with splice is still in your hand, ready to discard. Note that if you discard the card but don't pay the splice cost, the casting is also illegal.
In the same vein, are the following effects also possible to functionally splice?
This spell costs 3 less to cast.
Destroy each creature targeted by this spell.
Change this spell's text by replacing all instances of "target" with "each."
Thanks in advanced!
The first two work, but the last one doesn't.
The first functions on the stack, when costs for a spell are to be determined. This is a regular cost-reduction effect.
The second functions also on the stack, during the resolution of the spell.
The last one doesn't work, though, since spell abilities are always followed in order unless otherwise stated. If the intention is to make it like overload, then you have to explicitly mention some sort of condition that has to be satisfied for the text to be changed.
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How to use card tags (please use them for everybody's sanity)
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format Minimum deck size: 60 Maximum number of identical cards: 4 Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
An existing example of the first problem: Rout and its ilk started design as Kicker {2} and something like "You may play CARDNAME any time you could play an instant if you pay the kicker cost." The problem is that determining the special timing needed to cast the spell as an instant happens long before you decide any additional costs you want to pay. With splice onto arcane, it is even worse because the special effect allowing you to cast the spell at an odd time is at that time hidden information that isn't even on the card you are trying to cast.
Cards with overload need to be formatted in very specific ways. Cards that try to do an overload version of Djinn Illuminatus do not work. Giving overload to some cards can work, but for many more creates nonsensical text.
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Everflash
Sorcery - Arcane
(Nonexisent mana costs can't be paid.)
Flash
Splice onto Arcane 1U
And I splice this onto Cleanfall. Does this allow Cleanfall to be cast at instant speed because it gains flash as it is cast? The closest answer I could find is "[Cards with Splice] can even be discarded to pay a “discard a card” cost of the spell it’s spliced onto." from the rules, which seems to imply it would be possible due to the timing.
In the same vein, are the following effects also possible to functionally splice?
This spell costs 3 less to cast.
Destroy each creature targeted by this spell.
Change this spell's text by replacing all instances of "target" with "each."
Thanks in advanced!
Avant Block: Avant -- Stormfront
No, you wouldn't be able to cast an Arcane sorcery at instant speed this way. At the time the game determines whether it's legal for a player to cast a sorcery spell, the player isn't given any option to splice anything onto that spell. By the time a player would be able to splice anything onto that spell, the process of casting would've already have become illegal, and so the game never reaches this point in the casting process to begin with.
The reason why discarding as a cost works is because when you splice, the card with splice is in your hand, so that when you pay costs (which is after choosing to splice), the card with splice is still in your hand, ready to discard. Note that if you discard the card but don't pay the splice cost, the casting is also illegal.
The first two work, but the last one doesn't.
The first functions on the stack, when costs for a spell are to be determined. This is a regular cost-reduction effect.
The second functions also on the stack, during the resolution of the spell.
The last one doesn't work, though, since spell abilities are always followed in order unless otherwise stated. If the intention is to make it like overload, then you have to explicitly mention some sort of condition that has to be satisfied for the text to be changed.
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format
Minimum deck size: 60
Maximum number of identical cards: 4
Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
Cards with overload need to be formatted in very specific ways. Cards that try to do an overload version of Djinn Illuminatus do not work. Giving overload to some cards can work, but for many more creates nonsensical text.