Transmute Artifact

[Hrishi]

Transmute Artifact

Sorcery, UU (2)

Sacrifice an artifact. If you do, search your library for an artifact card. If that card's converted mana cost is less than or equal to the sacrificed artifact's converted mana cost, put it onto the battlefield. If it's greater, you may pay , where X is the difference. If you do, put it onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard. Then shuffle your library.

So above is the current oracle text of Transmute Artifact. However, I have a few question as to how exactly the ordering of certain things go. Thank you for any replies!

1. Am I right in saying that sacrificing the artifact is not part of the cost? That is, if Transmute Artifact is countered I do not sac an artifact?

2. After Transmute Artifact resolves, I need to pick an artifact to sac. Can I tap the artifact in response to that? Let's say I want to sacrifice a Mox. Can I tap the Mox after Transmute resolves but before choosing the artifact to sac, or must I float the mana before I cast Transmute Artifact? So for example, I want to Transmute Artifact a Mox into a Voltaic Key. Do I have to tap the Mox before casting (and potentially telling my opponent what I am going to choose to transmute for before the spell even resolves?) or can I leave that vague and do it after?

I hope I made my question clear. It does make sense to me but it's 2:30 in the morning and if you need me to explain it better just say so and I'll try my best.

[Tempus]

Transmute Artifact

Sorcery, UU (2)

Sacrifice an artifact. If you do, search your library for an artifact card. If that card's converted mana cost is less than or equal to the sacrificed artifact's converted mana cost, put it onto the battlefield. If it's greater, you may pay , where X is the difference. If you do, put it onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard. Then shuffle your library.

So above is the current oracle text of Transmute Artifact. However, I have a few question as to how exactly the ordering of certain things go. Thank you for any replies!

1. Am I right in saying that sacrificing the artifact is not part of the cost? That is, if Transmute Artifact is countered I do not sac an artifact?

2. After Transmute Artifact resolves, I need to pick an artifact to sac. Can I tap the artifact in response to that? Let's say I want to sacrifice a Mox. Can I tap the Mox after Transmute resolves but before choosing the artifact to sac, or must I float the mana before I cast Transmute Artifact? So for example, I want to Transmute Artifact a Mox into a Voltaic Key. Do I have to tap the Mox before casting (and potentially telling my opponent what I am going to choose to transmute for before the spell even resolves?) or can I leave that vague and do it after?

I hope I made my question clear. It does make sense to me but it's 2:30 in the morning and if you need me to explain it better just say so and I'll try my best.

1. Yes

2. No you cannot tap the Mox during resolution, but you can float as much mana as you want, when you're casting TA.

[Hrishi]

Ack, so essentially by floating x amount of mana I am almost letting my opponent know what I am about to transmute for. That sucks, but thanks!

[bactgudz]

Ack, so essentially by floating x amount of mana I am almost letting my opponent know what I am about to transmute for. That sucks, but thanks!

Well, you can always bluff more, but also you only have to float from the artifact you are going to sac...so if you have 3 moxen, you want to sac one to transmute for a 2 drop, you can tap the one you are going to sac, cast transmute, sac it when it resolves, and then when you need to pay the cost you are allowed to activate mana abilities so you can tap other moxen/lands.  You are allowed to activate mana abilities when asked to pay a cost (unless the card restricts you otherwise, like word of command), the one you sac is the only one that is not still around when it becomes time to pay. You do have to be careful if you are running mox opal though, if the sac takes you below 3 artifacts, you cant tap it...so you would need to float it first as well.

[Hrishi]

Oh, that's a good point. For anything which costs higher than I can tap during the spell. The only issue is now if I float mana and the spell is countered the mana does get wasted. It is cool that sacing the artifact is not part of the cost unlike Tinker at least.

A further question, is it true that you cannot use the mana Su-Chi generates when it is put in the graveyard to pay the difference of cost if you sac Su-Chi? I was told by somebody that the mana gets added at the end of the spell's resolution, which means you don't get access to the mana until after the spell is done.

[bactgudz]

Oh, that's a good point. For anything which costs higher than I can tap during the spell. The only issue is now if I float mana and the spell is countered the mana does get wasted. It is cool that sacing the artifact is not part of the cost unlike Tinker at least.

A further question, is it true that you cannot use the mana Su-Chi generates when it is put in the graveyard to pay the difference of cost if you sac Su-Chi? I was told by somebody that the mana gets added at the end of the spell's resolution, which means you don't get access to the mana until after the spell is done.

You were told correctly.  Su-chi triggers when it is sacc'd, but it's ability isn't put on the stack until after transmute finishes resolving.

[Hrishi]

Ugh, sorry to bring this card up once again. What happens if you transmute into an artifact that has triggers when it enters the battlefield and when it exits the battlefield? Let's say Wurmcoil Engine. The text on the card suggests that if I failed to pay the difference, it would create the tokens. The oracle text seems to suggest that it never enters the battlefield at all and just goes straight to the graveyard. This would cause no tokens to get created. Am I right in saying that the trigger never happens if I fail to pay the difference and no tokens get created?

[Chubby Rain]

Ugh, sorry to bring this card up once again. What happens if you transmute into an artifact that has triggers when it enters the battlefield and when it exits the battlefield? Let's say Wurmcoil Engine. The text on the card suggests that if I failed to pay the difference, it would create the tokens. The oracle text seems to suggest that it never enters the battlefield at all and just goes straight to the graveyard. This would cause no tokens to get created. Am I right in saying that the trigger never happens if I fail to pay the difference and no tokens get created?

Always go by the Oracle text. "If you do, put it onto the battlefield. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard." You are correct, the card is put into play only if you pay the additional cost. It functions differently from Flash in that the card is not put in play and then sacrificed.