How does Deflect work in Riftbound, specifically regarding when you can choose not to pay the cost and what happens to spells/abilities when you don't pay?

Ruling: For triggered abilities (including reflexive triggers), you can choose a target with Deflect and then decline to pay the cost, causing the ability to be removed from the chain (fizzle). For spells, you must pay the Deflect cost if you choose a target with Deflect, and if you cannot pay it, the spell is returned to your hand rather than being countered.

Sequence:

• Choose the target (which may have Deflect)
• In a later step, determine if you can/will pay the Deflect cost
• For triggered abilities: you may decline to pay, and the ability is removed from the chain
• For spells: if you cannot pay, the spell is returned to your hand

Nuances:

• This only applies to triggered abilities (all triggers are mandatory, but you can decline the Deflect payment)
• For spells, you cannot choose not to pay if you are able to pay
• When an ability is removed from the chain due to unpaid Deflect, it does not count as being countered
• Deflect for triggered abilities works somewhat like Ward in MTG, but for spells it works more like "spells that target me cost X more to cast" effects