minor essence drain & psi-orb

[exid]

if my mind minor creature gets a MED, can i pay the mana with my P-O?

the problem is that MED gives an upkeep without naming it...
(ther are probably other situation with academy cards using arena's mecanism without naming them)

[Zuberi]

[mwcard=FWQ07]Psi-Orb[/mwcard] lets you reduce the Upkeep Cost of Mind Creatures and would indeed work on a regular [mwcard=MW1E15]Essence Drain[/mwcard], to reduce it down to an Upkeep of 1, however Minor Essence Drain is not an Upkeep Cost. It may be mechanically identical, but there is nothing on the card, the rules, or the rules supplement that equates it as such, so Psi-Orb would be ineffectual.

[Boocheck]

I would add, that Psi-Orb reduce upkeep cost of spells you control. In this case, you control your creature-spell. Minor Essence Drain in this case is a spell you oponents control.

[Zuberi]

That is indeed another subtle distinction. Minor Essence Drain not only does not count as a Upkeep Cost, but it's also not applying any traits to the enchanted creature, unlike regular Essence Drain. You are being forced to pay for an effect on your opponent's card or lose your creature, which Psi-Orb does not cover.

[exid]

i agree!
but i know i'm a litteral rules reader... and the spirit here is an upkeep, but AW didn't wanted a 50 pages codex in academy.

i just wanted to be sure that the arena mecanismes that academy uses without naming them aren't treated as if it did.

[Zuberi]

Unless an official document says otherwise, all unnamed effects are exactly that. Unnamed. They do not count as named effects no matter how similar they are. In fact, this can allow you to stack effects on objects that normally would not be stackable before Academy.

[exid]

Unless an official document says otherwise, all unnamed effects are exactly that. Unnamed. They do not count as named effects no matter how similar they are. In fact, this can allow you to stack effects on objects that normally would not be stackable before Academy.

right!
for example if a creature "heals 1 damage during the upkeep" and you give it a regeneration.

[sIKE]

Unless an official document says otherwise, all unnamed effects are exactly that. Unnamed. They do not count as named effects no matter how similar they are. In fact, this can allow you to stack effects on objects that normally would not be stackable before Academy.

right!
for example if a creature "heals 1 damage during the upkeep" and you give it a regeneration.

And the Holy Mage get to use the ring since it is a Healing spell, and the FM is pooched cause it is not named for him, sigh, oh well.

[Tyrnan]

[mwcard=FWQ07]Psi-Orb[/mwcard] lets you reduce the Upkeep Cost of Mind Creatures and would indeed work on a regular [mwcard=MW1E15]Essence Drain[/mwcard], to reduce it down to an Upkeep of 1, however Minor Essence Drain is not an Upkeep Cost. It may be mechanically identical, but there is nothing on the card, the rules, or the rules supplement that equates it as such, so Psi-Orb would be ineffectual.

I would add, that Psi-Orb reduce upkeep cost of spells you control. In this case, you control your creature-spell. Minor Essence Drain in this case is a spell you oponents control.

Am I missing something?  [mwcard=FWQ07]Psi-Orb[/mwcard] affects "up to 3 different mind spells that you control". So neither is [mwcard=MW1E15]Essence Drain[/mwcard] a mind spell nor is this spell usually controlled by the mage that needs to pay the upkeep. So in my view Psi-Orb should not reduce the upkeep from Essence Drain.

[Zuberi]

Essence Drain doesn't have an Upkeep Cost. It gives the creature it's attached to an Upkeep Cost. If that creature is a Mind Spell, then you have a Mind Spell with an Upkeep Cost, and Psi-Orb kicks in.

[Laddinfance]

Essence Drain doesn't have an Upkeep Cost. It gives the creature it's attached to an Upkeep Cost. If that creature is a Mind Spell, then you have a Mind Spell with an Upkeep Cost, and Psi-Orb kicks in.

Zuberi is correct.

[Tyrnan]

Essence Drain doesn't have an Upkeep Cost. It gives the creature it's attached to an Upkeep Cost. If that creature is a Mind Spell, then you have a Mind Spell with an Upkeep Cost, and Psi-Orb kicks in.

Thanks for clarifying this Zuberi. I missed the case that the creature affected by essence drain could be a mind spell. Makes sense now for me.