Trinisphere and Suspend Interaction

[The Grim Reaper]

If I say, suspend an

Ancestral Vision
Ancestral Vision is blue. Suspend 4--U (Rather than play this card from your hand, pay U and remove it from the game with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When you remove the last, play it without paying its mana cost.) Target player draws three cards.

and my opponent has a Trinisphere in play, do they have to pay 3 mana when all time counters are removed?

My opinion is that yes, you do have to pay 3 mana, in a similar manner to how Mind's Desire and Isochron Scepter interact with Trinisphere.

Thanks.

[LotusHead]

To pay for a spell, you generally do cost increases (buyback, Sphere of Resistance), then cost decreases (affinity, alternate casting costs), then Trinisphere checks to see that you pay at least 3.

Ancestral Vision costs 3 under Trinisphere, whether Vision was rightfully suspended, revealed from Mind's Desire, or played off Isochron Scepter. EDIT: D'oh!

[Clariax]

LotusHead's answer is correct (except fo being able to play ancestral vision off isochron scepter, it's a sorcery).  But the interaction between suspend and trinisphere/cost increases is a little bit more complicated.

When the last time counter is removed from a suspended card, you MUST played it, if able.  If the suspended card had the additional cost of "sacrifice a swamp" (i.e. suspended Mindstab while opponent has Drought in play), you would be forced to sacrifice that swamp to play the mindstab, if able to.  If something like Trinisphere causes there to be some increase in mana required to play the spell, you must also pay that mana, if able***.

The 'if able' on paying that mana is different though.  You are forced to play it if you have the mana available to do so, but you are NOT forced to play mana abilities to get that necessary mana.

So, in that example of Ancestral Vision + Trinisphere,  if when the trigger from removing the last counter resolves you have 3 mana in your mana pool, you MUST play the ancestral vision, paying that necessary 3 mana.  If you do not have 3 mana in your pool already, you may of course play mana abilities to get that necessary 3 mana, but you are not forced to do so, and if you don't have the necessary mana in your pool and choose not to play mana abilities to get it, you will be unable to play the ancestral vision, so it remains removed from game.

[The Grim Reaper]

LotusHead's answer is correct (except fo being able to play ancestral vision off isochron scepter, it's a sorcery).  But the interaction between suspend and trinisphere/cost increases is a little bit more complicated.

When the last time counter is removed from a suspended card, you MUST played it, if able.  If the suspended card had the additional cost of "sacrifice a swamp" (i.e. suspended Mindstab while opponent has Drought in play), you would be forced to sacrifice that swamp to play the mindstab, if able to.  If something like Trinisphere causes there to be some increase in mana required to play the spell, you must also pay that mana, if able***.

The 'if able' on paying that mana is different though.  You are forced to play it if you have the mana available to do so, but you are NOT forced to play mana abilities to get that necessary mana.

So, in that example of Ancestral Vision + Trinisphere,  if when the trigger from removing the last counter resolves you have 3 mana in your mana pool, you MUST play the ancestral vision, paying that necessary 3 mana.  If you do not have 3 mana in your pool already, you may of course play mana abilities to get that necessary 3 mana, but you are not forced to do so, and if you don't have the necessary mana in your pool and choose not to play mana abilities to get it, you will be unable to play the ancestral vision, so it remains removed from game.

Thank you for your concise answers!
They helped a lot.
I believe some "I told you so's" are in order.

[LotusHead]

From TimeSpiral FAQ:

* As the second triggered ability of suspend resolves, if playing the suspended card involves an additional cost, the card's owner must pay that cost if able. If he or she can't, the card remains removed from the game. If the additional cost includes mana, the situation is more complex. If the player has enough mana in his or her mana pool to pay the cost, that player must do so. If the player can't possibly pay the cost, the card remains removed from the game. However, if the player has the means to produce enough mana to pay the cost, then he or she has a choice: The player may play the spell, produce mana, and pay the cost. Or the player may choose to play no mana abilities, thus making the card impossible to play because the additional mana can't be paid.

So under 3Sphere, the "Must" play Ancestral Vision is only must if you have 3 already in your pool (say Upwelling mana floating around (the green Mana Burn doesn't happen card).  Otherwise, it's still a choice.

@Clariax: Thanks for keeping an eye on TMD Rules forums! We appreciate it.  We generally figure things out, but it's nice to have Lvl 2 Judge responses in here to expand on the rules or save us from our ways. Thanks!