For Garbage Grabber, is 'Recycle 3 from your trash' part of the cost to draw 1, or does the 'Do as much as you can' rule apply so you only need to pay 1 Energy and exhaust to draw 1?

Question

Accepted Answer

The "Recycle 3 from your trash" on Garbage Grabber is part of the cost to activate the ability. You must be able to recycle 3 cards from your trash to pay the cost; you cannot choose to pay only the Energy and Exhaust and have the Recycle do "as much as you can." [416.3] [416.5] [357.1.a]

Recycle 3 is a cost. To activate Garbage Grabber's ability you must be able to recycle three cards from your trash as part of paying the cost. If you cannot recycle three cards, you cannot activate the ability (you cannot activate it by paying only Energy and exhausting and then recycle fewer than three). [416.3] [416.5] [416.4]

You declare you want to activate Garbage Grabber's ability and proceed to the Pay Costs step for that activated ability. [357.1.a] As part of paying the combined costs you must pay each listed cost; the "Recycle 3 from your trash" is written as a cost and must be completed to pay the cost. If you can choose to use Reactions that Add resources (e.g., to add the Energy) you may do so while paying costs, but that does not change the Recycle requirement. [357.1.a] [416.3] If you have at least 3 cards in your trash you choose 3 and place them on the bottom of your Main Deck (in random order) to pay the Recycle component of the cost, exhaust the gear, and spend the Energy; once costs are paid the ability finalizes and draws 1. [416.5] [414.4] [165.1] If you have fewer than 3 cards in your trash, you cannot pay the Recycle 3 cost and therefore cannot activate the ability. The "do as much as you can" rule in [416.4] only applies when Recycling is part of an effect, not when it is a cost. [416.4] [416.3]

If exactly 3 cards are in your trash: you may activate the ability and must recycle those 3 to pay the cost. [416.3] [416.5] If 0–2 cards are in your trash: you cannot activate the ability because you cannot complete the Recycle 3 cost. [416.3] If some external effect would replace or move those trash cards as they are being recycled (replacement effects), you still must be able to complete the Recycle action for the cost to be paid; replacement effects that change what happens may still count as the cost being paid if they resolved as part of the process. See example guidance in the rules on costs being replaced. [357.1.a]

The printed sequence on Garbage Grabber—"Recycle 3 from your trash, [1], [Exhaust]: Draw 1" places the Recycle instruction among the costs paid to activate the ability. The Core Rules state that when Recycling is listed as a cost it must be possible to complete that action for the cost to be paid; if you cannot, you can't activate the ability [416.3]. The rules even use Garbage Grabber as the example showing that "To pay the cost of activating this ability, its controller chooses 3 cards from their trash and places them on the bottom of their Main Deck" [416.5]. By contrast, the "do as much as you can" rule for Recycling applies when Recycling is part of an effect (not a cost): in that situation you recycle as many as possible when the effect resolves [416.4]. Because Garbage Grabber's Recycle 3 is a cost, the "as many as you can" behavior does not apply and you must be able to recycle three cards to pay the ability's cost. Also remember you may use Reaction abilities that Add resources while paying costs to generate the Energy needed, but those do not change the requirement to complete the Recycle 3 portion of the cost [357.1.a] [429.3].