AP forgets they have a cost reducing effect and cast a spell paying more mana than they should for a spell.

For example they have [[sunscape familiar]] and tap 3 lands to play [[ghostly flicker]] instead of 2. Not announcing the floating mana and pass priority.

 

NAP asks how much mana they have floating, they say 0.

NAP calls the judge.

 

What is the infraction, penalty ?

[ Competitive REL]

 

i know this was asked around, and I have opened a thread on The Gathering Point discord: https://discord.com/channels/1224927891008262144/1457555182966673408

My purpose with opening this here is to hopefully get a final ruling on this, and even perhaps float the idea that the rules could be adjusted if we agree that a "no penalty" is the way to go, as to make it clear for everyone in the future. To me, consistency is key, and I think that from what you can see in the discord thread, we haven't actually reached a consensus.

Thanks in advance!

Edited Fábio Batista (Feb. 22, 2026 12:12:59 PM)

We can also think about expanding the scenario:

• maybe NAP didn't ask about the floating mana, didn't respond to anything, and later on in the turn, AP remembers the cost reducer and calls the judge.
• Maybe instead of a spell it's an activated ability.
• maybe there was no cost reducer, the player simply overpaid.

It's also interesting to think about the fix, in case there is no infraction...

Let's say P1 has BBB UU floating in the pool.

P1 plays a 4 mana artifact, but overpays.

Later in the same phase P1 draws a card and it's a one black mana spell. 

How do we fix this? Do we say the player can get the black mana back in the pool? Or would we not allow the mana in pool to be fixed because of the advantage being gained?

Lets assume there was no cheating nor CPV.