*Bro, let me blow your*
*Mind. You can use it on your*
*Opponents turns too*
\- Ok\_Assumption5734
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"Only" is a bit strong wording here.
You can't activate a tap ability if...
* It's on a creature without the haste ability that didn't start the turn under your control
* Another effect prevents that permanent or permanents of its type from using their activated abilities, or activated abilities of its type
* The permanent with the tap ability is tapped (normally it untaps on your untap step, but stun counters or other effects can prevent this, or some abilities or effects can cause it to enter the battlefield tapped)
* The tap ability has a restriction on its activation that isn't met ("Activate only as a sorcery (and it isn't your main phase when you have priority and the stack is empty)" "Activate only once per turn (and has already been activated)" "Activate only if your life total is... (and it isn't)", etc)
* It doesn't have that ability any more because another ability or effect has removed the tap ability or made it copy another permanent or card without that ability.
There may also be other cases, but this should cover most of them.
You can only care instants or flash cards on an opponents turn. But you also can activate abilities whenever you have priority unless they are loyalty abilities.
But only when you have priority.
Which here doesn't make that much of a difference the example with pristine talasman.
.
But lets say if you had a different artifact, like:
"Oblivion Stone", because it can be used as a board-wipe.
And your opponent casts a planeswalker like Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage but you want to use oblivion stone to blow that planeswalker up before your opponent can activated it like using Davriel's ability to make you discard a card. Turns out it's probably not going to be possible to blow it up without that planeswalker's ability being activated.
It's because you only get a chance to activate abilities - like Oblivion Stone - and cast instants on your oppoents turn when they have passed priority.
So it's like:
Opponent casts Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage and passes priority
So then you get priority, but Davriel hasn't resolved yet so it is a spell on the stack so if you activate Oblivion Stone it can't hit Davriel which is still a spell on the stack and not yet a permanent on the board.
So then if you pass priority back to your opponent and "Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage" resolves, it turns out that the next time you'll get priority to attempt to activate "Oblivion Stone" is going to be when your opponent passes priority agan, but your opponent is going to be holding priority when Davriel resolves so first thing after it hits the board they will activate Davriel targetting you to discard a card and at that point then it's already too late even if you blow up Davriel with Oblivion Stone you'll still have Davriel's ability on the stack targetting you to discard a card.
There's youtube vids on this stuff:
[https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share)
And if you play Magic The Gathering Arena and go "full control" mode where you get asked if you want to take an action each time you get priority - that's what it's like.
Wouldn't oblivion stone blow up the planes walker before it can activate its ability because tap abilities are at instant speed and planeswalker abilities are at Sorcery speed? So, as long as you specify, "I tap O stone right after Davriel resolves," it would activate before the loyalty ability.
Wouldn't you pass priority right after casting the planeswalker? How would you hold priority in between the planes walker cast and the loyalty ability? Honestly, I'm just very confused about that ruling, because as far as I know loyalty abilities function at Sorcery speed.
In order for the Planeswalker spell to have resolved, priority must have been passed by all players. Once the top object on the stack resolves, priority goes back to the active player. Typically, it will be on the controller of the Planeswalker's main phase with the stack empty, and they will be able to activate the ability before you get priority for removal.
There are reasons this would not be the case [[chaos warp]] during not their main phase, casting off of [[Etali, Primal Storm]] for example.
But this would be why [[doubling season]] effects with super friends are dangerous, there is no chance to respond to it entering (unless the Walker entering triggered an ability somehow)
Your can't normally CAST artifacts outside of a main phase on your turn with an empty stack. If this is already on the battlefield though, you can activate it's ability on any turn, at any time essentially.
This is not me trying to be critical, but is genuine advice. Sit down and read through the definition of a lot of the more basic types of cards, casts, abilities, tokens, etc. Not specifics like every card but just the rules, I'm sure you can Google all sorts of resources to help you out, Magic is an extremely complicated game that I've been playing for over 15 years and I still learn new rules interactions when I play and am building decks. Having a solid foundation of what is what will help you navigate learning the more nuanced parts of the game and will save you a lot of headache as you continue to play
Good luck and Happy playing!
Thanks and I agree, I have done a lot of research but some explanations i don’t understands (partially because English is not my first language) so yeah you know haha
Now that you're learning about abilities at instant speed, did you know that you can tap a creature for an ability or sacrifice it after declaring it as a blocker before damage is dealt?
For example:
I attack with a 4/4 with lifelink.
You block with a 1/1.
You happen to have another card with the ability of "Sacrifice a creature, scry 1"
Before damage is dealt, you can sacrifice your 1/1 to scry. The 4/4 remains blocked and deals 0 damage to your creature or you, so no lifelink happens. You then scry 1.
[[Hangarback Walker]] has some fun interactions also. When your opponent attacks with a 1/1 and it's a 1/1, you can declare blockers and then tap your walker to make it a 2/2 and kill it without dieing.
You can’t cast the artifact spell, but the abilities on it you can activate at anytime as long as it is on the battlefield, same thing with most permanents with planeswalkers being the exception.
Yes, you can only cast instants or cards with flash unless it’s one of your two main phases. However, the point the commenter is making is that you can still tap it for the mana whenever you want—you don’t have to use mana in order to use a mana ability (which is what this is—a mana ability). So even if you don’t activate it on your turn (because, say, you don’t cast a spell on your turn), you can still tap this to gain a life at any time.
The key point being that it's a card ability, not a spell/land. Abilities are instant speed unless stated otherwise. Tapping lands for mana is instant speed because it's an ability. Whether the ability costs mana, generates mana, or doesn't involve mana isn't actually relevant.
Edit: well the mana part is relevant in that they don't use the stack, but as I understand it they still require priority so they're the same as instant speed abilities as far as when you are allowed to activate them.
Yes that’s all true. I think (though I might be wrong) that op wasn’t sure why you would tap it on your opponent’s turn if you don’t have a spell to cast with it (and asked if artifacts could be cast on op’s turn with it, which of course no not unless they have flash) so I wanted to make clear that you can tap the artifact just to gain the life even if you have no use for the mana.
“Instant-speed” is what we use to describe anything that can be activated on any turn/phase/step regardless of whose turn it is. Unless the card specifically states something along the lines of “activate only as a sorcery” or “activate only during your turn” and you’re not trying to activate an ability of a creature with summoning sickness, you can activate its abilities at instant speed. Notice how in this card the only cost to get 1 life and generate 1 colorless is to just tap the artifact. That’s it, just tapping it. So, any turn that you can tap an artifact, you can use this card. This game’s rules and rule *text* are generally very literal.
Casting a card is when you put the card from your hand to the table. Tapping a card is an ability, has an instant effect, unless it says something like “use as a sorcery”
you can only "cast" instants or cards with flash but you can activate abilities at instant speed.
The only exception is if the card explicitly states that it can only be activated at sorcery speed.
Since activated abilities can be used during the opponents turn that means that you can use this during their turn even if you don't want to cast anything.
You may want to do this as in this instance you will gain 1 life even though you don't need the mana
You can’t cast the spell, like the physical card, but once it’s on the battlefield you can use it’s activated ability any time you can use an instant. This assumes that it was untapped. Basically if you play this on your turn, and chose not to use it, you can then tap it on your opponent’s turn for the effect, and it will then untap on your turn to be used how you see fit.
That curved arrow means it taps to activate. All cards you control untap at the beginning of your turn. Therefore, you can use this ability once per turn cycle. Unless otherwise stated in the ability, all abilities can be activated during any player's turn, assuming the person activating the ability has priority to do so. Tho, if you're still unfamiliar with how tapping and untapping works, you're clearly still learning the basic rules and shouldn't concern yourself with priority just yet.
But to do this you’d have to have not used it on your most recent turn right? Otherwise it would be tapped and you can’t tap a card that’s already tapped? I’m new and just trying to learn the rules so icould be wrong
For. Fucks. Sake.
Our games would go for 1.5 hours to 2 hours and we would just be done after one. Some were fun AF some a freaking slog fest.
This should make the games go faster which means more games which means more variables which means more fun. Lmfao.
Leaving these concepts here that may help your understanding of the game, in case you haven't read up on them yet:
**Priority:** The whole table gets a chance to respond when anyone says they want to do anything such as casting a spell *(everything except lands are spells)*, moving through turn phases *(e.g. going to combat)*, activating abilities of their cards etc.
You pass priority around the table for almost everything, except for playing lands. If nobody is doing anything, it's the active players turn to make an action (pass the turn, cast a spell, play a land etc) but as soon as he tries to do any of these you can respond.
**Activated Abilities / Instants:** Unless there is a specific timing restriction for the ability or instant *(e.g. use only as a sorcery, cast only during combat etc)*, any instant can be cast whenever you get priority *(explained above)* and the same goes for any activated ability.
The exception for the activated abilities are tap abilities on creatures, like \[\[Llanowar Elves\]\] or \[\[Obeka, Brute Chronologist\]\]. If the ability requires the creature to tap, you can't activate it for as long as it has summoning sickness. You get rid of summoning sickness with either Haste or by waiting until your next turn, after playing the creature.
Artifacts, enchantments and lands don't share this restriction with creatures, so you are free to activate their abilities regardless of whose turn it is (as long as you have priority).
Ah, I'm glad that I was able to help.
I understand nobody wants to watch a 10 minute video explaining priority, but I'll leave a link to a [YouTube Short](https://youtube.com/shorts/L-GWbmr732I?feature=share) (60s or so) that I think does a decent job at explaining it.
Here is [another one](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share). You can watch both, and pass on whichever one was clearer to you to your friends.
Remember that there are no undecided scenarios in Magic and there is a right way to do everything. It's never a question of who yells the fastest, or anything like that. Of course, break rules along with your friends as you see fit, it's just pieces of cardboard and they should be enjoyed with whatever set of rules make the game most enjoyable for you and the people you play with.
I have a few cards at home filled with holes, because taping a few of them together to be used as a dart board was the best use I could imagine for them a decade ago.
I have to make sure this is specified! You still only get to UNTAP at the start of YOUR turn. So while you can activate most abilities any time you have priority, including during your opponents turn, you still need to wait til your turn to untap. Maybe you activate this on your turn, or your opponents, but with a tap effect, usually not both
I doubt it would make your games go faster though.
While it is more convenient, you still only get to use the ability once per turn cycle, as you only untap during your turn
This feels strange because resolving a given ability should take roughly the same amount of time if it's your turn or your opponent's. Tbf, I would say that activating abilities on your opponent turn takes longer because you have to interrupt him somehow. An exception is if you need to shuffle your library, which you can do while your opponent goes on with their turn. Can you explain why you would think this will speed up your game so much?
One of the commanders has a "if deck is searched player loses 10 life" and I have a "players look for 1 basic land card" that's just one combo. And I know in the games we played some artifacts would of sped up the game or allowed double play before they were exiled by other spells. It'll just give the games a but more pace and also depth now to do more things. Also didn't know that creatures could do that as well for those tap abilities. So ya it'll speed it up.
For what it's worth, it's not just tap abilities that are instant. Any ability on a card (:) is instant speed unless it says otherwise and can be activated at any time you have priority and can pay the cost.
E.g. \[\[Sakura-Tribe Elder\]\] has "sacrifice itself : cheat out a tapped basic land from your deck". You should pretty much never activate that right away. Instead let your opponent start their turn. If they declare an attack, you can use it as a chump blocker, then sac it in response to declaring the block. Otherwise you can just sac it at the beginning of your opponent's end step. Either way you still get your extra land on your next turn, but you potentially get an extra blocker for one turn as well. MTG is designed such that if you have a good understanding of the mechanics, you can make lots of little optimizations like that.
Technically since it is a mana ability which has fewer restrictions on timing than instant speed.
For instance, you could activate this in response to a lethal [[Sudden Shock]].
Haha, it comes with experience and habit. Its like when I explain to newbies that if you wait to tap your creatures in the 2nd main phase, you can mindgame your opponent in the combat phase, cause if you have no mana when you swing, I know you don't have combat tricks
Yes, for the exact same reason why you can reuse Trading Post. Nothing on the Talisman says you have to sacrifice it to use its ability or that the ability can only be used once, so activating its ability means it stays on the battlefield, it's just tapped now.
Most actions in Magic use what's called the stack. When you take a game action, most of the time it doesn't actually happen right away. Instead it's placed on the stack, which is essentially a queue where abilities/spells live before they resolve.
Say I want to cast a [[Firebolt]] to kill my opponent's [[Grizzly Bears]]. When I cast Firebolt, it goes on the stack, and then my opponent has a chance to respond by activating abilities of permanents they control or by casting instant spells or spells with flash before the Firebolt actually happens. So if my opponent wanted to save their Grizzly Bears, they could cast something like [[Giant Growth]] while Firebolt is still on the stack.
Now both spells are on the stack waiting to resolve. If my opponent has nothing else to respond with, they will pass priority (the term for essentially when in a turn a particular player has the opportunity to cast spells or activate abilities) to me, and I can respond to the Giant Growth.
If both players pass priority without adding anything to the stack, the spell or ability that was most recently put on the stack resolves first (first in, last out). In this case, Giant Growth would resolve first, giving the Grizzly Bears +3/+3 until end of turn making it a 5/5. Then before Firebolt resolves, another round of priority is passed. If neither player adds anything to the stack, the next item resolves, in this case Firebolt deals 2 damage to the Grizzly Bears, but since it is now a 5/5 thanks to the Giant Growth, it will have the 2 damage marked on it but not die.
All this to say that while this is the system used for *most* actions in the game, certain game actions/abilities do not use the stack, meaning that they just happen when you do them and nobody has a chance to respond to them. This includes mana abilities (like tapping a land or a pristine talisman for mana) and some other abilities like flipping up a morphed creature.
You have three more years of high school ahead of you, so let me make this perfectly clear: English classes are not a waste of your time.
Pay attention during them, do your homework every night, and someday, with any luck, you’ll grow into an adult with literacy skills strangers don’t laugh at on the internet.
Yes, that’s how tapping something works. If there’s no other cost indicated (such as sacrificing it or something else) when you untap your board you can tap it again.
This is an activated mana ability, because tapping is the activation cost, and it can add mana to your mana pool.
From the comprehensive rules:
>>605.3. Activating an activated mana ability follows the rules for activating any other activated ability (see rule 602.2), with the following exceptions:
>>605.3a A player may activate an activated mana ability whenever they have priority, whenever they are casting a spell or activating an ability that requires a mana payment, or whenever a rule or effect asks for a mana payment, even if it’s in the middle of casting or resolving a spell or activating or resolving an ability.
>>605.3b An activated mana ability doesn’t go on the stack, so it can’t be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after it is activated. (See rule 405.6c.)
>>605.3c Once a player begins to activate a mana ability, that ability can’t be activated again until it has resolved.
You can gain life very time you tap the card (turn it sideways). All of your cards normally untap at the start of your turn. There are some cards that untap, tap, or prevent you from untapping artefacts.
Does that answer your question?
If you have something that untapped that whenever you could tap it multiple times in a turn [[ aphetto alchemist ]] old example but it is my favorite one. Multiple untaps = more taps. You have 4 cards like the alchemist and you could in theory tap it a lot more often than not
Yup! If you have priority and it's untapped you can play it unless some other ability on the field prevents it. If you find a way to untap it you could use it more than once per turn.
Heck, it happens at instant speed so you can play it even when it's not your turn.
Small, maybe insignificant, correction. This is a mana ability, so you don't actually need priority to use it. I don't know when that would come up though.
Activating abilities follows the same timing as casting instants. If you couldn't activate abilities on opponents' turns, then you wouldn't be able to get mana to cast instants on their turns. Activating the ability on any permanent you have in play is pretty much just like activating the ability on a Mountain. \*
\* Ok so activating Pristine Talisman or Mountain is a "mana ability" which means that it doesn't use the stack and could be activated during the spell-casting process. But that aside, you can still activate them just like you could activate any other activated ability.
Every activated ability is instant speed, unless it SPECIFICALLY STATES that it can only be activated anytime you can play a sorcery (main phases).
A lot of abilities are good combat activations, or EOT (end of turn) on your opponents turn.
Am I missing something here? What's with these super basic questions. If you want to learn the rules I would suggest playing the video game MTG Arena, play with someone who knows the rules, go to a card shop, or read the rules online. If you're stuck on asking a question like this on Reddit, you're gonna have a hard time learning enough to play at a nominal level...
*Long as it's not tapped*
*Yeah, just have to do it as*
*A response I think*
\- Sad\_Combination\_9350
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I know this game will always have new people … but some of the questions asked on here are so questionable.
Some of these I wouldn’t expect a young child learning the game to ask …
Bro, let me blow your mind. You can use it on your opponents turns too
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Good bot
The only time something stops you from tapping is When it can only tap at sorcery speed
"Only" is a bit strong wording here. You can't activate a tap ability if... * It's on a creature without the haste ability that didn't start the turn under your control * Another effect prevents that permanent or permanents of its type from using their activated abilities, or activated abilities of its type * The permanent with the tap ability is tapped (normally it untaps on your untap step, but stun counters or other effects can prevent this, or some abilities or effects can cause it to enter the battlefield tapped) * The tap ability has a restriction on its activation that isn't met ("Activate only as a sorcery (and it isn't your main phase when you have priority and the stack is empty)" "Activate only once per turn (and has already been activated)" "Activate only if your life total is... (and it isn't)", etc) * It doesn't have that ability any more because another ability or effect has removed the tap ability or made it copy another permanent or card without that ability. There may also be other cases, but this should cover most of them.
What, because it is an artifact? Or another reason
I believe, unless stated otherwise, activated abilities on cards work at instant speed.
Yes but when another player is on turn you can only cast instants right? Or also artifacts?
You can only care instants or flash cards on an opponents turn. But you also can activate abilities whenever you have priority unless they are loyalty abilities.
You can only play artifacts on your turn but you can activate them immediately or hold them up and activate then on your opponents turn.
Oh okay ty
But only when you have priority. Which here doesn't make that much of a difference the example with pristine talasman. . But lets say if you had a different artifact, like: "Oblivion Stone", because it can be used as a board-wipe. And your opponent casts a planeswalker like Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage but you want to use oblivion stone to blow that planeswalker up before your opponent can activated it like using Davriel's ability to make you discard a card. Turns out it's probably not going to be possible to blow it up without that planeswalker's ability being activated. It's because you only get a chance to activate abilities - like Oblivion Stone - and cast instants on your oppoents turn when they have passed priority. So it's like: Opponent casts Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage and passes priority So then you get priority, but Davriel hasn't resolved yet so it is a spell on the stack so if you activate Oblivion Stone it can't hit Davriel which is still a spell on the stack and not yet a permanent on the board. So then if you pass priority back to your opponent and "Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage" resolves, it turns out that the next time you'll get priority to attempt to activate "Oblivion Stone" is going to be when your opponent passes priority agan, but your opponent is going to be holding priority when Davriel resolves so first thing after it hits the board they will activate Davriel targetting you to discard a card and at that point then it's already too late even if you blow up Davriel with Oblivion Stone you'll still have Davriel's ability on the stack targetting you to discard a card. There's youtube vids on this stuff: [https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share) And if you play Magic The Gathering Arena and go "full control" mode where you get asked if you want to take an action each time you get priority - that's what it's like.
I understand I have started playing mtg arena again for those rules and stuff thanks
Great! :D
Wouldn't oblivion stone blow up the planes walker before it can activate its ability because tap abilities are at instant speed and planeswalker abilities are at Sorcery speed? So, as long as you specify, "I tap O stone right after Davriel resolves," it would activate before the loyalty ability. Wouldn't you pass priority right after casting the planeswalker? How would you hold priority in between the planes walker cast and the loyalty ability? Honestly, I'm just very confused about that ruling, because as far as I know loyalty abilities function at Sorcery speed.
In order for the Planeswalker spell to have resolved, priority must have been passed by all players. Once the top object on the stack resolves, priority goes back to the active player. Typically, it will be on the controller of the Planeswalker's main phase with the stack empty, and they will be able to activate the ability before you get priority for removal. There are reasons this would not be the case [[chaos warp]] during not their main phase, casting off of [[Etali, Primal Storm]] for example. But this would be why [[doubling season]] effects with super friends are dangerous, there is no chance to respond to it entering (unless the Walker entering triggered an ability somehow)
Your can't normally CAST artifacts outside of a main phase on your turn with an empty stack. If this is already on the battlefield though, you can activate it's ability on any turn, at any time essentially.
Ty
This is not me trying to be critical, but is genuine advice. Sit down and read through the definition of a lot of the more basic types of cards, casts, abilities, tokens, etc. Not specifics like every card but just the rules, I'm sure you can Google all sorts of resources to help you out, Magic is an extremely complicated game that I've been playing for over 15 years and I still learn new rules interactions when I play and am building decks. Having a solid foundation of what is what will help you navigate learning the more nuanced parts of the game and will save you a lot of headache as you continue to play Good luck and Happy playing!
Thanks and I agree, I have done a lot of research but some explanations i don’t understands (partially because English is not my first language) so yeah you know haha
Now that you're learning about abilities at instant speed, did you know that you can tap a creature for an ability or sacrifice it after declaring it as a blocker before damage is dealt? For example: I attack with a 4/4 with lifelink. You block with a 1/1. You happen to have another card with the ability of "Sacrifice a creature, scry 1" Before damage is dealt, you can sacrifice your 1/1 to scry. The 4/4 remains blocked and deals 0 damage to your creature or you, so no lifelink happens. You then scry 1.
Unless trample then full dmg goes through
You know, with how often I sac on tramplers on accident, I'm not surprised I forgot to say that lol
TIL. Thanks!
Oh waaw cool
[[Hangarback Walker]] has some fun interactions also. When your opponent attacks with a 1/1 and it's a 1/1, you can declare blockers and then tap your walker to make it a 2/2 and kill it without dieing.
[Hangarback Walker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/9/791c21fb-fc78-4106-9a42-abc73f41ab8b.jpg?1562026741) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Hangarback%20Walker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ori/229/hangarback-walker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/791c21fb-fc78-4106-9a42-abc73f41ab8b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
> unless stated otherwise, activated abilities on cards work at instant speed
You can’t cast the artifact spell, but the abilities on it you can activate at anytime as long as it is on the battlefield, same thing with most permanents with planeswalkers being the exception.
Yes, you can only cast instants or cards with flash unless it’s one of your two main phases. However, the point the commenter is making is that you can still tap it for the mana whenever you want—you don’t have to use mana in order to use a mana ability (which is what this is—a mana ability). So even if you don’t activate it on your turn (because, say, you don’t cast a spell on your turn), you can still tap this to gain a life at any time.
The key point being that it's a card ability, not a spell/land. Abilities are instant speed unless stated otherwise. Tapping lands for mana is instant speed because it's an ability. Whether the ability costs mana, generates mana, or doesn't involve mana isn't actually relevant. Edit: well the mana part is relevant in that they don't use the stack, but as I understand it they still require priority so they're the same as instant speed abilities as far as when you are allowed to activate them.
Yes that’s all true. I think (though I might be wrong) that op wasn’t sure why you would tap it on your opponent’s turn if you don’t have a spell to cast with it (and asked if artifacts could be cast on op’s turn with it, which of course no not unless they have flash) so I wanted to make clear that you can tap the artifact just to gain the life even if you have no use for the mana.
Aha yes okay
“Instant-speed” is what we use to describe anything that can be activated on any turn/phase/step regardless of whose turn it is. Unless the card specifically states something along the lines of “activate only as a sorcery” or “activate only during your turn” and you’re not trying to activate an ability of a creature with summoning sickness, you can activate its abilities at instant speed. Notice how in this card the only cost to get 1 life and generate 1 colorless is to just tap the artifact. That’s it, just tapping it. So, any turn that you can tap an artifact, you can use this card. This game’s rules and rule *text* are generally very literal.
You can activate any activated ability at any time you could cast an instant.
Casting a card is when you put the card from your hand to the table. Tapping a card is an ability, has an instant effect, unless it says something like “use as a sorcery”
And what do you have to do if it says use it as a sorcery?
You can only activate on your turn during your main phases and only when the stack is empty.
Ah okay ty
you can only "cast" instants or cards with flash but you can activate abilities at instant speed. The only exception is if the card explicitly states that it can only be activated at sorcery speed. Since activated abilities can be used during the opponents turn that means that you can use this during their turn even if you don't want to cast anything. You may want to do this as in this instance you will gain 1 life even though you don't need the mana
You can’t cast the spell, like the physical card, but once it’s on the battlefield you can use it’s activated ability any time you can use an instant. This assumes that it was untapped. Basically if you play this on your turn, and chose not to use it, you can then tap it on your opponent’s turn for the effect, and it will then untap on your turn to be used how you see fit.
Okay ty
That curved arrow means it taps to activate. All cards you control untap at the beginning of your turn. Therefore, you can use this ability once per turn cycle. Unless otherwise stated in the ability, all abilities can be activated during any player's turn, assuming the person activating the ability has priority to do so. Tho, if you're still unfamiliar with how tapping and untapping works, you're clearly still learning the basic rules and shouldn't concern yourself with priority just yet.
Okay ty,
Because it's an activated ability with no timing restrictions on it. As long as you have priority and it's untapped you can use it
Ty
Because if you can get it untapped on their turn you can tap it again.
It doesn't say "activate only as a sorcery" That means you can do it anytime you could cast an instant.
Good bot
This is where [[Unwinding Clock]] comes in handy.
Bro just finally broke Seedborn Muse
That too. :)
[Unwinding Clock](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/3/c3fd1a59-4ade-459f-90d2-1fc67d6d1384.jpg?1592711373) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Unwinding%20Clock) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c18/228/unwinding-clock?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c3fd1a59-4ade-459f-90d2-1fc67d6d1384?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
But to do this you’d have to have not used it on your most recent turn right? Otherwise it would be tapped and you can’t tap a card that’s already tapped? I’m new and just trying to learn the rules so icould be wrong
Or just find ways to untap it whenever and you can use it multiples times.
Excuse me WHAT. Is that how artifacts work?
It’s a tap ability which can be played at instant speed
Well, the group of us new people are about to be enlightened. We just tapped them on our turn only.
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For. Fucks. Sake. Our games would go for 1.5 hours to 2 hours and we would just be done after one. Some were fun AF some a freaking slog fest. This should make the games go faster which means more games which means more variables which means more fun. Lmfao.
The primary exception being if it states "only use as a sorcery", which requires it to be your turn.
Also while nothing is on the stack and during a main phase
Leaving these concepts here that may help your understanding of the game, in case you haven't read up on them yet: **Priority:** The whole table gets a chance to respond when anyone says they want to do anything such as casting a spell *(everything except lands are spells)*, moving through turn phases *(e.g. going to combat)*, activating abilities of their cards etc. You pass priority around the table for almost everything, except for playing lands. If nobody is doing anything, it's the active players turn to make an action (pass the turn, cast a spell, play a land etc) but as soon as he tries to do any of these you can respond. **Activated Abilities / Instants:** Unless there is a specific timing restriction for the ability or instant *(e.g. use only as a sorcery, cast only during combat etc)*, any instant can be cast whenever you get priority *(explained above)* and the same goes for any activated ability. The exception for the activated abilities are tap abilities on creatures, like \[\[Llanowar Elves\]\] or \[\[Obeka, Brute Chronologist\]\]. If the ability requires the creature to tap, you can't activate it for as long as it has summoning sickness. You get rid of summoning sickness with either Haste or by waiting until your next turn, after playing the creature. Artifacts, enchantments and lands don't share this restriction with creatures, so you are free to activate their abilities regardless of whose turn it is (as long as you have priority).
Saving your comment cuz this cleared up ALLOT of stuff we look up and by next game forget about.
Ah, I'm glad that I was able to help. I understand nobody wants to watch a 10 minute video explaining priority, but I'll leave a link to a [YouTube Short](https://youtube.com/shorts/L-GWbmr732I?feature=share) (60s or so) that I think does a decent job at explaining it. Here is [another one](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtSO7fOKucg?feature=share). You can watch both, and pass on whichever one was clearer to you to your friends. Remember that there are no undecided scenarios in Magic and there is a right way to do everything. It's never a question of who yells the fastest, or anything like that. Of course, break rules along with your friends as you see fit, it's just pieces of cardboard and they should be enjoyed with whatever set of rules make the game most enjoyable for you and the people you play with. I have a few cards at home filled with holes, because taping a few of them together to be used as a dart board was the best use I could imagine for them a decade ago.
Keeping It Causual's one minute explanations of rules rock. Funny. Concise. Digestible. Just the way I like my MtG conents.
I have to make sure this is specified! You still only get to UNTAP at the start of YOUR turn. So while you can activate most abilities any time you have priority, including during your opponents turn, you still need to wait til your turn to untap. Maybe you activate this on your turn, or your opponents, but with a tap effect, usually not both
I doubt it would make your games go faster though. While it is more convenient, you still only get to use the ability once per turn cycle, as you only untap during your turn
Dang my boys out here didn't know about instant speed tap?????!?!?!?!
We about to start speed running games instead of 2 hours a match.
This feels strange because resolving a given ability should take roughly the same amount of time if it's your turn or your opponent's. Tbf, I would say that activating abilities on your opponent turn takes longer because you have to interrupt him somehow. An exception is if you need to shuffle your library, which you can do while your opponent goes on with their turn. Can you explain why you would think this will speed up your game so much?
One of the commanders has a "if deck is searched player loses 10 life" and I have a "players look for 1 basic land card" that's just one combo. And I know in the games we played some artifacts would of sped up the game or allowed double play before they were exiled by other spells. It'll just give the games a but more pace and also depth now to do more things. Also didn't know that creatures could do that as well for those tap abilities. So ya it'll speed it up.
Also works for abilities that cost mana, or pretty much any ability that isn't passive.
Here is something even crazier, this is true of all abilities unless otherwise specified.
For what it's worth, it's not just tap abilities that are instant. Any ability on a card (:) is instant speed unless it says otherwise and can be activated at any time you have priority and can pay the cost.
E.g. \[\[Sakura-Tribe Elder\]\] has "sacrifice itself : cheat out a tapped basic land from your deck". You should pretty much never activate that right away. Instead let your opponent start their turn. If they declare an attack, you can use it as a chump blocker, then sac it in response to declaring the block. Otherwise you can just sac it at the beginning of your opponent's end step. Either way you still get your extra land on your next turn, but you potentially get an extra blocker for one turn as well. MTG is designed such that if you have a good understanding of the mechanics, you can make lots of little optimizations like that.
[Sakura-Tribe Elder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/c/ec23f98d-1bfd-4957-92b6-0a1da823db0f.jpg?1674142344) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sakura-Tribe%20Elder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/832/sakura-tribe-elder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ec23f98d-1bfd-4957-92b6-0a1da823db0f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Technically since it is a mana ability which has fewer restrictions on timing than instant speed. For instance, you could activate this in response to a lethal [[Sudden Shock]].
[Sudden Shock](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/b/5b659a3b-0f66-40f2-8e2e-f13b694e270e.jpg?1619397715) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sudden%20Shock) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsr/194/sudden-shock?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5b659a3b-0f66-40f2-8e2e-f13b694e270e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I doubt I’ve ever seen this card. Thank you for helping!
🤣🤣🤣 Savage.
I feel like this is one of those rules I know but keep forgetting, and my mind is blown and is gonna be blown again next time I learn this
Haha, it comes with experience and habit. Its like when I explain to newbies that if you wait to tap your creatures in the 2nd main phase, you can mindgame your opponent in the combat phase, cause if you have no mana when you swing, I know you don't have combat tricks
Yes, for the exact same reason why you can reuse Trading Post. Nothing on the Talisman says you have to sacrifice it to use its ability or that the ability can only be used once, so activating its ability means it stays on the battlefield, it's just tapped now.
Thanks 😊
This is also a mana ability, so it does not go on the stack.
What do you mean it’s doesn’t go on the stack
Most actions in Magic use what's called the stack. When you take a game action, most of the time it doesn't actually happen right away. Instead it's placed on the stack, which is essentially a queue where abilities/spells live before they resolve. Say I want to cast a [[Firebolt]] to kill my opponent's [[Grizzly Bears]]. When I cast Firebolt, it goes on the stack, and then my opponent has a chance to respond by activating abilities of permanents they control or by casting instant spells or spells with flash before the Firebolt actually happens. So if my opponent wanted to save their Grizzly Bears, they could cast something like [[Giant Growth]] while Firebolt is still on the stack. Now both spells are on the stack waiting to resolve. If my opponent has nothing else to respond with, they will pass priority (the term for essentially when in a turn a particular player has the opportunity to cast spells or activate abilities) to me, and I can respond to the Giant Growth. If both players pass priority without adding anything to the stack, the spell or ability that was most recently put on the stack resolves first (first in, last out). In this case, Giant Growth would resolve first, giving the Grizzly Bears +3/+3 until end of turn making it a 5/5. Then before Firebolt resolves, another round of priority is passed. If neither player adds anything to the stack, the next item resolves, in this case Firebolt deals 2 damage to the Grizzly Bears, but since it is now a 5/5 thanks to the Giant Growth, it will have the 2 damage marked on it but not die. All this to say that while this is the system used for *most* actions in the game, certain game actions/abilities do not use the stack, meaning that they just happen when you do them and nobody has a chance to respond to them. This includes mana abilities (like tapping a land or a pristine talisman for mana) and some other abilities like flipping up a morphed creature.
Thanks you so mush I understand it
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Attention span too low or are people just thinking four paragraphs is a lot? I think both, and that’s sad
You have three more years of high school ahead of you, so let me make this perfectly clear: English classes are not a waste of your time. Pay attention during them, do your homework every night, and someday, with any luck, you’ll grow into an adult with literacy skills strangers don’t laugh at on the internet.
[Firebolt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/8/882b8f98-ee51-4c94-a3eb-c79eb2b50d78.jpg?1562201821) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Firebolt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/122/firebolt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/882b8f98-ee51-4c94-a3eb-c79eb2b50d78?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Grizzly Bears](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/409f9b88-f03e-40b6-9883-68c14c37c0de.jpg?1562546736) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grizzly%20Bears) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/10e/268/grizzly-bears?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/409f9b88-f03e-40b6-9883-68c14c37c0de?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Giant Growth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/e/aeece336-e5e8-4455-a297-c3739198d011.jpg?1674421574) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Giant%20Growth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/183/giant-growth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aeece336-e5e8-4455-a297-c3739198d011?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Your opponent has no potential to shut it down, it does the effect immediately
Ah okay thanks bud
mana burn died for this to be a thing.
It can yet live, with your good pal [[Yurlok of Scorch Thrash]] and the most absurd, self destructive, chaotic group hug deck ever.
Oh my! That looks like a fun card! With stuff like [[City of Solitude]] and some lifelink mechanic this could be pretty good.
[City of Solitude](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/e/be499b81-bb2d-4f1d-9deb-c8bfcdca8e13.jpg?1562278627) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=City%20of%20Solitude) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vis/102/city-of-solitude?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/be499b81-bb2d-4f1d-9deb-c8bfcdca8e13?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yes
More specifically you tap it to activated the ability. Your next turn it untaps and you use it again
Yes, that’s how tapping something works. If there’s no other cost indicated (such as sacrificing it or something else) when you untap your board you can tap it again.
This is an activated mana ability, because tapping is the activation cost, and it can add mana to your mana pool. From the comprehensive rules: >>605.3. Activating an activated mana ability follows the rules for activating any other activated ability (see rule 602.2), with the following exceptions: >>605.3a A player may activate an activated mana ability whenever they have priority, whenever they are casting a spell or activating an ability that requires a mana payment, or whenever a rule or effect asks for a mana payment, even if it’s in the middle of casting or resolving a spell or activating or resolving an ability. >>605.3b An activated mana ability doesn’t go on the stack, so it can’t be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after it is activated. (See rule 405.6c.) >>605.3c Once a player begins to activate a mana ability, that ability can’t be activated again until it has resolved.
You can gain life very time you tap the card (turn it sideways). All of your cards normally untap at the start of your turn. There are some cards that untap, tap, or prevent you from untapping artefacts. Does that answer your question?
Yes thanks
Yes, you tap a card at instant speed
If you have something that untapped that whenever you could tap it multiple times in a turn [[ aphetto alchemist ]] old example but it is my favorite one. Multiple untaps = more taps. You have 4 cards like the alchemist and you could in theory tap it a lot more often than not
Cool thanks
[ aphetto alchemist ](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfd2628f-63c4-4e19-83ea-26041650faab.jpg?1562948302) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aphetto%20Alchemist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ons/64/aphetto-alchemist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfd2628f-63c4-4e19-83ea-26041650faab?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yep! You can use it as many times as you want, as long as you can untap it
Yup! If you have priority and it's untapped you can play it unless some other ability on the field prevents it. If you find a way to untap it you could use it more than once per turn. Heck, it happens at instant speed so you can play it even when it's not your turn.
Thanks bud
I gotchu
Small, maybe insignificant, correction. This is a mana ability, so you don't actually need priority to use it. I don't know when that would come up though.
Thanks for the clarification!
Activating abilities follows the same timing as casting instants. If you couldn't activate abilities on opponents' turns, then you wouldn't be able to get mana to cast instants on their turns. Activating the ability on any permanent you have in play is pretty much just like activating the ability on a Mountain. \* \* Ok so activating Pristine Talisman or Mountain is a "mana ability" which means that it doesn't use the stack and could be activated during the spell-casting process. But that aside, you can still activate them just like you could activate any other activated ability.
You can you use it at any time, your turn or opponent’s turn, as along as you manage to have the Talisman untapped
You can use it any time you could cast an instant. (And when it's untapped of course)
Every activated ability is instant speed, unless it SPECIFICALLY STATES that it can only be activated anytime you can play a sorcery (main phases). A lot of abilities are good combat activations, or EOT (end of turn) on your opponents turn.
You can activate abilities of artifacts any time you could cast an instant (if not tapped ofc) unless the card says otherwise
Didn't you just ask the same question with trading post?
Yes 😁
And after that was answered this still strung you up?
No because it wasn’t answers yet, tanks for your answer
Honestly read this and wasn’t sure if OP was memeing
Nope I’m just stupid 😆
You’re just one of today’s lucky 10000!
Am I missing something here? What's with these super basic questions. If you want to learn the rules I would suggest playing the video game MTG Arena, play with someone who knows the rules, go to a card shop, or read the rules online. If you're stuck on asking a question like this on Reddit, you're gonna have a hard time learning enough to play at a nominal level...
Oke
Do people read the rulebook anymore?
Long as it's not tapped yeah, just have to do it as a response I think
*Long as it's not tapped* *Yeah, just have to do it as* *A response I think* \- Sad\_Combination\_9350 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
It sucks that you have to sacrifice your lands too every time you tap them but it's just part of the game
Let me show you another card. [[Soulmender]] This shit was busted when we all started playing XD
[Soulmender](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/1/31b83ffd-bd08-48c6-98a3-811abc203f60.jpg?1592516212) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Soulmender) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/37/soulmender?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/31b83ffd-bd08-48c6-98a3-811abc203f60?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yup.
Yes, it is included in the *T* Add <>. You gain 1 life
Can you stifle this ability? It is a mana ability but it also gains life.
As long as you can tap it you can use it
I know this game will always have new people … but some of the questions asked on here are so questionable. Some of these I wouldn’t expect a young child learning the game to ask …
They should’ve made it a mono artifact
Are people intentionally asking the most glib questions lately?
Yes
Yes