How does Pithing Needle work?
Standard forum
Posted on Dec. 23, 2012, 1:39 p.m. by mmdw34
I have been told to many different things that Im not sure what pithing needle really does. What kind of cards can it block out? and can it stop creature cards or what does it really do?
Pithing Needle prevents activated abilities from being activated. An activated ability is an ability that you have to cause by paying something, like loyalty counters for a planeswalker.
December 23, 2012 1:49 p.m.
Here is what constitutes an activated ability:
602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as "[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]"
Note that Planeswalker's loyalty abilities are also activated abilities.
606.1. Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities, which are subject to special rules.
Additionally, Pithing Needle does not stop mana abilities. This is what constitutes an activated ability that is a mana ability:
605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesn't have a target, it could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves, and it's not a loyalty ability.
December 23, 2012 2:34 p.m.
springerzach says... #5
does Pithing Needle stop Gravecrawler from coming back from the graveyard?
December 23, 2012 6:54 p.m.
No, casting is not an activated ability and being able to cast it from the graveyard is a static ability.
December 23, 2012 6:56 p.m.
so you can use pithing needle on a planeswalker to stop them from getting counters?
December 23, 2012 9:13 p.m.
Holy shit people don't know what Pithing Needle does?
This is day one stuff, guys. Christ.
December 24, 2012 midnight
@funkalunk how about u go fuck urself? people have questions nobody needs ur input if thats what you have to say
December 24, 2012 12:30 p.m.
Yeah, some people don't know how pithing needle works--and we don't lose our politeness or otherwise chase them off the site.
December 25, 2012 3:46 a.m.
Just wondering Pithing Needle would stop Duskmantle Guildmage right?
January 29, 2013 5 p.m.
Yup, any ability that you have to pay a cost for is an activated ability, except for planeswalkers where sometimes you add loyalty counters so you don't pay anything, but it's still an activated ability.
January 29, 2013 5:13 p.m.
Nice I figured as much but always good to double check.
January 29, 2013 5:22 p.m.
corrosivewater says... #16
This cleared things up for me so much because for most of the time I thought pithing needle stops guilded lotus (which is why I sideboarded it in the first place) because someone who had judged frequently had told me that it was a possible move.
February 10, 2013 11:08 a.m.
Planeswalker abilities are activated abilities. Activated abilities always have a cost. The cost of using a Planeswalker ability is adding/removing Loyalty counters, or simply announcing that you're activating the ability (as with cards like Jace, Memory Adept ).
February 11, 2013 3:38 p.m.
shame2rest says... #18
would Pithing Needle stop Wayfaring Temple from populating?
March 25, 2013 10:06 p.m.
TheLameSauce says... #19
Nope, Wayfaring Temple 's ability is a triggered ability, which always has whenever, if, or when clauses to tell you when an effect happens. A good way to differentiate is activated abilities require a player to make an ACTION for the effect to happen, whereas triggered abilities are TRIGGERED by events within the game.
March 25, 2013 10:54 p.m.
An activated ability will ALWAYS have "cost (colon) effect". If it doesn't have a colon, it's not an activated ability.
March 26, 2013 1:53 a.m.
Taiyouai , bit of a while ago you left your comment so you might know this now, but Pithing Needle does not cancel out Duskmantle Guildmage 's abilities because Pithing Needle stops all activated abilities except mana abilities.
May 10, 2013 10:52 p.m.
shadowstu, that is incorrect. Mana abilities are defined as ones that create mana, such as Llanowar Elves or Mountain .
605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesn't have a target, it could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves, and it's not a loyalty ability.
May 10, 2013 11:14 p.m.
Blakkhand thank you for your comment, i had not known this and thought abilities that use mana were considered mana abilities. So thank you for this correction
May 10, 2013 11:32 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #26
That's a fairly common mistake shadowstu, wizards really ought to change the wording on on that phrase to 'mana generating abilities'.
May 11, 2013 5:52 a.m.
I've been playing MTG on and off for a little over 3 years and was still confused by this, but yeah, Pithing Needle stays in my sideboard and gets swapped into my deck for pesky Plainswalkers and cards like Olivia Voldaren
May 19, 2013 12:27 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #30
Yes, this is the direction i am leaning in also, this thread should be immortalised.
May 19, 2013 3:50 p.m.
Yes, Pithing Needle does stop AEtherling . It's abilities do not add mana to your mana pool, so they are not "mana abilities".
Remember, if mana abilities were ones that cost mana to activate then you could name a basic land and shut them down completely, as basic lands do not cost mana to activate. (Pithing Needle does not say "non-land card")
May 27, 2013 9:10 a.m.
simple examples
Pithing Needle targets below
any planeswalker, Jace, Memory Adept no longer works,
AEtherling no longer works,
the more complex Deathrite Shaman no longer works, its mana ability does not meet all 3 requirements it must exile target land.
the following still work Burning-Tree Shaman still works, Geralf's Messenger still works,
the more complex, Birds of Paradise still works meets all three of the criteria for a mana ability,
605.01a - an activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesn't have a target, it could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves, and it is not a loyalty ability.
May 27, 2013 10:31 a.m.
thanks for the clear up, i thought when pithing needle said unless it's a mana ability meant if they had to pay mana to use the effect, then it's ok which made pithing needle look like a pile of heaping poop to me but now on the other hand...muah...ah..ha...ha..ha.....
May 27, 2013 2:03 p.m.
So to clarify, Pithing Needle will stop AEtherling , Grim Lavamancer and Ral Zarek in their tracks but will not do anything to Llanowar Elves , Scavenging Ooze , or Deathrite Shaman . Will it do anything to Leyline of Sanctity ?
November 30, 2013 12:43 p.m.
It does stop Scavenging Ooze , though. It has an activated ability that doesn't produce mana (that is, it doesn't even meet the first requirement of a mana ability). It doesn't stop Leyline of Sanctity , because none of its abilities have a cost. They're all static abilities.
November 30, 2013 1:30 p.m.
Tradeylouish says... #37
Pithing Needle will stop all of Deathrite Shaman 's abilities. The shaman's first ability has a target, meaning it isn't a mana ability. Scavenging Ooze 's ability is not a mana ability, it is a normal activated ability, so Pithing Needle can stop it. Leyline of Sanctity has no activated abilities, only a static ability, so Pithing Needle will do nothing. You are correct about the rest of the cards.
For reference, here are the earlier posted rules regarding activated and mana abilities:
602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as "[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]"
605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesn't have a target, it could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves, and it's not a loyalty ability.
November 30, 2013 3:06 p.m.
The-Tree-Of-Might says... #39
So then Pithing Needle can't stop Desecration Demon 's ability... Grrrrrrrr
April 29, 2014 8:53 p.m.
Does it work on Bloodline Keeper Flip transformation ability? And does it work against its ability to produce tokens?
June 15, 2015 2:28 p.m.
blg2361, no. Avacyn's Ability is a static not activated one. For it to be activated it needs to go cost then a colon so it will look like Tap:Do X.
Xica Yes and Yes
Dritz says... #2
Pithing Needle
2005/6/1 Pithing Needle affects cards regardless of what zone they're in. This includes cards in hand, cards in the graveyard, and exiled cards. For example, a player can't cycle Eternal Dragon or return an Eternal Dragon from his or her graveyard to hand if Pithing Needle naming Eternal Dragon is on the battlefield.
2005/6/1 You can name any card, even if that card doesn't normally have an activated ability. You can't name a token unless that token has the same name as a card.
2005/6/1 If you name a card that has both a mana ability and another activated ability, the mana ability can be activated but the other ability can't be activated.
2009/10/1 Once Pithing Needle has left the battlefield, activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can be activated again.
2012/10/1 Activated abilities include a colon and are written in the form [cost]: [effect]. Triggered abilities and static abilities of the named card work normally.
This ought to cover at least a few bases of confusion on the matter.
December 23, 2012 1:45 p.m.