Pernicious Deed Question

[VarienTanafres]

this is very dumb, but I have to point out to someone how it works.

I have Deed in play, i pay 1 and sac it. He only buries his Mana Vault, leaving his artifact lands and moxes in play. He claims that I can only choose to destroy 1 or 0 mana cost, not both. He says this because the errata of Deed has an OR in it.

Text (AP): ,Sacrifice ~this~: Destroy each artifact, creature, and enchantment with converted mana cost X or less.

I'm trying to tell him that the deed "targets" everything with 1 or less and destroys it. He argues, so now I ask you, how exactly does Deed work when it comes to destroying X casting cost things.

[Komatteru]

Moxes and artifact lands go with the Mana Vault.  "X or less" means everything equal to and less than X.  Show him a 1st or 2nd grade math book if he disagrees.

As for things that have X in their CMC: X is 0 everywhere else but the stack.  The CMC of Chalice of the Void is 0 regardless of the number of counters on it.  Anything with no CMC is treated as having a CMC of 0 (artifact lands, for instance).

[VarienTanafres]

Show him a 1st or 2nd grade math book if he disagrees.

I need one of those books, b/c he says you don't know what your talking about. I broke it down into this. "simple terms for you "Cards with converted mana cost X or less are destroyed" and hhe is still arguing....oh man. Why do I bother?

[Khahan]

I'm trying to tell him that the deed "targets" everything with 1 or less and destroys it. He argues, so now I ask you, how exactly does Deed work when it comes to destroying X casting cost things.

Deeds does not 'target' anything. Even with the word in quotes, its too misleading. Targetting is never an issue for deeds. It can destroy creatures w/ pro black and/or pro green because it does not target.

[Jacob Orlove]

One note: Deed does NOT actually target.

Let's use some numericla examples to break this down. Say your opponent has Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, Time Vault, Psychatog, and Morphling in play.

You Deed for 1. Let's check the cards. Sol Ring costs 1. Is that "1 or less"? Yes. Mox Ruby costs 0. Is that "1 or less"? Yes. Time Vault costs 2. Is that "1 or less"? No. Psychatog costs 3. Is that "1 or less"? No. Morphling costs 5. Is that "1 or less"? No. Sol Ring and Mox Ruby are destroyed, the others are not.

You Deed for 3. Let's check the cards. Sol Ring costs 1. Is that "3 or less"? Yes. Mox Ruby costs 0. Is that "3 or less"? Yes. Time Vault costs 2. Is that "3 or less"? Yes. Psychatog costs 3. Is that "3 or less"? Yes. Morphling costs 5. Is that "3 or less"? No. Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, Time Vault, and Psychatog are destroyed, Morphling is not.

[VarienTanafres]

I know it doesn't "target" I was trying to find a way to describe to that one guy. But I gave up after like an hour after trying to explain it. This thread can be closed. Thanks for trying guys.

[Godder]

Compare it to the wordings for Powder Keg and Engineered Explosives. Note the critical difference: Keg and Explosives say 'equal to' but they don't say 'or less than'. If Deed was meant to only destroy cards with a particular CMC, it would have wording like Keg and Explosives. Since it doesn't have that wording, that's obviously not the intention of either the card or the ability in general.

[Anusien]

Incidentally, it was modular (and if it was, it would say "choose"), you would get to make the choice of what gets nuked, not him.

[Juggernaut GO]

What noob at the beanie exchange was arguing with you about the wording on deed :>