Oracle of Bones

For effects that check which player put counters on the entering creature, the player chosen to pay tribute puts those counters on it, not the creature’s controller.

If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay alternative costs such as overload costs. You can, however, pay additional costs such as kicker costs. If the card has mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.

The choice of whether to pay tribute is made as the creature with tribute is entering the battlefield. At that point, it’s too late to respond to the creature spell. For example, in a multiplayer game, opponents won’t know whether tribute will be paid or which opponent will be chosen to pay tribute or not when deciding whether to counter the creature spell.

Players can’t respond to the tribute decision before the creature enters the battlefield. That is, if the opponent doesn’t pay tribute, the triggered ability will trigger before any player has a chance to remove the creature.

If you want to cast a card this way, you cast it as part of the resolution of the triggered ability. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (such as sorcery) are ignored. Other casting restrictions (such as “Cast [this card] only before attackers are declared”) are not.

If the opponent pays tribute, the creature will enter the battlefield with the specified number of +1/+1 counters on it. It won’t enter the battlefield and then have the +1/+1 counters placed on it.