Yue, the Moon Spirit is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Flying, vigilance Waterbend,
: You may cast a noncreature spell from your hand without paying its mana cost. (While paying a waterbend cost, you can tap your artifacts and creatures to help. Each one pays for
.)
Complete guide
Yue, the Moon Spirit is a powerful Ally that commands the tides of battle by calling upon the wisdom of the spirits. By utilizing the waterbend keyword, Yue allows you to bypass mana costs and deploy massive noncreature spells by rallying your artifacts and creatures.
Understanding Waterbend
Waterbend is a keyword that allows you to tap untapped artifacts and creatures you control to pay for the generic mana portion of a cost. For Yue, the Moon Spirit, the waterbend cost is {5}. This means instead of spending five mana from your lands, you can tap five artifacts or creatures (or any combination of mana and tapped permanents) to activate her ability.
Casting Without Paying Costs
When you activate Yue, you tap her and pay the waterbend cost. Upon resolution, you may cast a noncreature spell from your hand for free. If the spell has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 for X. While you cannot use other alternative costs, you must still pay any mandatory additional costs required by the spell itself.
The Timing of Tapping
A common mistake involves creatures with their own mana abilities. If you tap a creature like a mana elf for its own ability to produce mana, it is already tapped and cannot be used for the waterbend cost. Additionally, because waterbend is a cost payment, you can tap creatures even if they have 'summoning sickness' (haven't been under your control since the start of the turn).
Strategic Deployment
Yue is best used in decks with high-impact noncreature spells like powerful enchantments or planeswalkers. Because she has vigilance, you can attack with her during your combat phase and still have her untapped to activate her waterbend ability during your second main phase or an opponent's turn if the spell is an Instant.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumWith Yue, the Moon Spirit and Solemn Simulacrum on the battlefield, you want to activate Yue's ability. You tap Yue and, instead of spending five mana, you tap Solemn Simulacrum to pay {1} of the {5} waterbend cost. You only need to provide {4} more generic mana via other permanents or your mana pool to finish the activation.
Roaming ThroneIf you have Roaming Throne on the battlefield and it has 'Spirit' or 'Ally' chosen as its type, it counts as an artifact creature. When you pay Yue's waterbend cost, you can tap Roaming Throne to pay for {1} of that cost. Note that while Roaming Throne doubles triggered abilities, Yue's waterbend is an activated ability, so it does not result in casting two spells.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Yue, the Moon Spirit
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If an artifact or creature you control has a mana ability with
in the cost, activating that ability while casting a spell or activating an ability with waterbend will result in the artifact or creature being tapped before you pay the spell's costs. You won't be able to tap it again for waterbend. Similarly, if you sacrifice an artifact or creature to activate a mana ability to pay a cost with waterbend, that artifact or creature won't be on the battlefield when you pay the spell's costs, so you won't be able to tap it for waterbend.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Even if the cost of the spell or ability that waterbend is part of increases or decreases, you still may only tap artifacts or creatures to pay for costs up to the amount of the generic mana in the waterbend cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If a card has
in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
"Waterbend [cost]" means "Pay [cost]. For each generic mana in that cost, you may tap an untapped artifact or creature you control rather than pay that mana."
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If a waterbend cost is part of the total cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, you may tap an untapped artifact or creature you control rather than pay one generic mana in that total cost any number of times up to a maximum of the amount of generic mana in the waterbend component of that total cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
If you cast a card "without paying its mana cost," you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, such as that of Cathartic Reunion, you must pay those to cast the card.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
You can tap any untapped creature or artifact you control to pay a waterbend cost, even one you haven't controlled continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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