Imagine there is a Vexing Bauble and Thorn of Amethyst in play. If I play a 0 mana artifact like Black Lotus and pay the tax collecter their dues does the zero mana artifact still get countered?
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2 Answers
No, Vexing Bauble will not counter a spell that was cast with a mana tax.
Vexing Bauble's ability says
Whenever a player casts a spell, if no mana was spent to cast it, counter that spell.
and Thorn of Amethyst's ability says
Noncreature spells cost {1} more to cast.
This is an additional cost to casting a spell. If you cast a non-creature spell while Thorn of Amethyst is on the battlefield, you have to spend at least one mana casting that spell to pay that additional cost (assuming there are no cost reducing effects). Since at least one mana was spent to cast the spell, it is not the case that no mana was spent to cast it, so Vexing Bauble does not trigger.
answered Aug 28 at 16:39
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5+1 because this does answer the question, but it might be good to address other kinds of taxes - for example, paying {1} to prevent the draw from a Rhystic Study would not satisfy a Vexing Bauble, because the {1} is paid into a triggered ability and not an additional cost to cast the spell.– Tim CCommented Aug 28 at 18:58
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3I think that's just basic logic that anyone can work out on their own. Thorn of Amethyst says in its ability text that it increases the cost to cast spells, so you are spending that mana to cast the spell. Rhystic Study doesn't say that, so it doesn't do that.– murgatroid99 ♦Commented Aug 28 at 19:58
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4@murgatroid99 realistically, almost everything we answer here falls into that category if someone took the time to read up on the entire CR. It's better to be explicit, clear and verbose than leave possible ambiguity from shortcuts and interaction misunderstandings.– AndrewCommented Aug 29 at 13:15
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3This isn't one of those cases where you need to have read the entire CR to be able to work out the answer. It's just basic logic applied to the plain English meaning of the text of the cards in question. And I answered the question that was asked, directly and completely. This conversation is about answering a different question that wasn't asked, about a different card that does a different thing.– murgatroid99 ♦Commented Aug 29 at 17:56
The rulings on Vexing Bauble covers this situation, it even mentions Thorn of Amethyst directly (Emphasis mine):
If a spell is cast with an alternative cost that includes mana (such as flashback), Vexing Bauble's first ability won't trigger and won't counter that spell. Similarly, if a spell is cast without paying its mana cost, but the player did pay mana for additional costs such as from kicker or from Thorn of Amethyst, Vexing Bauble's first ability won't trigger and won't counter that spell.
All that cards like Vexing Bauble, Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, Boromir, Warden of the Tower, or Nix care about is that at least one mana was spent towards the total, final cost of casting the spell. And it does care that it was paid with mana, since effects like convoke and improvise all allow you to satisfy the mana cost "rather than pay that mana" it is still not paying mana.
Note this only covers the final mana cost to cast the spell, not any other effects. Effects like Ward, Rhystic Study, and Esper Sentinel aren't part of casting the spell. While many players will short-cut these by tapping the extra mana during casting the spell, they are triggers that happen after the spell is cast, just like Vexing Bauble is a trigger after the spell is cast, and will all still go on stack even if Vexing Bauble is going to counter the spell. Also from the rulings on Vexing Bauble (emphasis mine):
Players may cast spells that they know Vexing Bauble will counter. Any abilities that trigger when spells are cast will still trigger and resolve if appropriate, and any effects that count how many spells are cast will still count those spells if appropriate.
