I'll state my opinion. How I personally handle it: Very often, almost always, I offer auto-cast, sometimes even insist on it. I sometimes suggest something like this, so the opponent doesn't feel obligated: take auto-cast now, but in return, I'll also have one auto-cast in reserve. But I can also refuse to offer auto-cast, and I won't bother explaining why. In general: It shouldn't be a strict rule, and I don't think it's worth discussing further (we'll just clutter the thread, and they won't change the rules anyway, and that's a good thing). Unofficially – why not? It's like a rule of good etiquette, that's fine. But we need to immediately preventively shut down the mouths of those who, if they don't get auto-cast (well, the opponent doesn't want to give it – it's their right, maybe they think you don't deserve auto-cast in this situation), will start whining and putting pressure on others, saying something like, "Player X is losing, he's being stingy, etc."