201. Costs

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.

203. Costs must be paid in order to get their linked Effect.

204. Costs paid in this way might be:

205. An instruction that requires a player to pay resources or spend counters or XP that does not also have a linked Effect, is not a Cost. Example: A card effect reads, "When I attack, you may pay [4][C]. If you do, kill a unit here." Paying [4][C] in this way is not a cost of the ability, base or otherwise, but a game action being performed by a player. The later instruction checks whether the game action was performed, not whether a cost was paid--if paying [4][C] was replaced for any reason, the later linked instruction will not execute.

206. Effects that need to determine a card's cost for any purpose always use its printed or copied cost, even if that cost is increased, decreased, or ignored as the card is played. Example: Sky Splitter is a spell that costs [8] and says in part "This spell's Energy cost is reduced by the highest Might among units you control." Lux, Illuminated is a unit that says "When you play a spell that costs 5 or more, give me +3 [M] this turn." If a player who controls Lux plays Sky Splitter, Lux's ability will trigger, regardless of how much was actually paid for Sky Splitter. Example: Defy is a spell which reads "Counter a spell that costs no more than [4] and no more than [A]." Rocket Barrage is a spell that costs [4][C] and has a Repeat cost of [4][C]. Rocket Barrage is a legal target for Defy even if Rocket Barrage's Repeat cost is paid, because Defy only checks the printed or copied cost of its target. Example: Atakhan is a unit that reads in part "You may kill a friendly unit as an additional cost to play me. If you do, I cost [1] less for each Energy it costs and [Y] less for each Power it costs." If a player plays Atakhan and chooses to kill a Reflection token that is currently a copy of Noxus Hopeful, Atakhan will cost [4] less.