Cast spell is an ability that allows a card to cast a spell independently. The spell is both created and put into effect by the minion without paying the mana cost.
The ability in effect sees the minion casting a spell on behalf of the player. As a result, the spell is not considered to have been cast by the player for the purposes of triggers or game history - for example, it will not trigger Mana Wyrm or count for Arcane Giant, nor will they trigger Outcast. However the spell's direct effects will still function from the player's perspective: a Flamestrike will target the opponent's board, Soulfire will discard from the player's hand, and Blessing of Wisdom will cause the player to draw a card.
The player does not control the casting of spells produced by this ability. Behaviours for targeting depend on the card involved, with some having fixed targets and others choosing targets randomly each time.
Cast spell is the spell equivalent to the summon ability, which summons a new minion on behalf of the player without requiring the player to pay the mana cost.
This ability generally refers to casting copies of collectible spells or others that could be cast from the hand. Some cards like Kalimos, Primal Lord describe their effects like casting spells, but do not actually behave like spells, for instance not being affected by Spell Damage.
Notes[]
- Two main variations on the cast spell ability currently exist. For extensive notes on the behaviour of each, see Yogg-Saron, Hope's End#Notes and Djinni of Zephyrs#Notes, respectively.
Cards[]
- For Wild format listings, see Cast spell/Wild format
Patch changes[]
Patch 7.1.0.17720 (2017-02-28): Casting copies of spells now correctly buffs them by spell damage.
Patch 6.2.0.15181 (2016-10-20): Spells cast by this ability will now cause the controlling player to be Overloaded for the amount on the card, if any.
Patch 5.0.0.12574 (2016-04-24): "Cast random spell" version of this ability introduced with Yogg-Saron, Hope's End and Servant of Yogg-Saron.- Patch 4.0.0.10833 (2015-11-10): "Cast copy of spell" version of this ability added with Djinni of Zephyrs.
