Q: We're having trouble understanding how "mana burn" is applied in the game. The rules say that for every point of mana left over in the mana pool the player suffers 1 damage. Why would a player put more in the pool than they were going to use?

A: This confuses a lot of beginning players. Imagine if you had only one land in play. It is a forest with a "Wild Growth" on it ("Whenever enchanted land is tapped for mana, it produces an additional [Green mana]") You want to cast "Llanowar Elves" which cost a single Green mana (). If you tap the forest you get two Green mana ()due to the "Wild Growth." After casting the "Llanowar Elves" you still have a Green mana in your pool. Assuming you were unable to cast anything else, you would take one mana burn for the remaining Green mana. Mana burn is a rule that does not come up often, but will from time to time.