Alternate casting cost

An Alternate Playing Cost is a term from the card game Magic: the Gathering, and refers to a cost that is an alternative to the casting cost in the upper right hand corner of the card. This alternate cost may be some amount of life that its caster pays, some number of cards discarded from the caster's hand, or any number of other drawbacks that can be used to help balance the fact that the card's mana cost does not need to be payed in order to play the card.