Can i disable Thoughtseize with Pithing Needle?

Asked by Fellanor 9 years ago

As simple as that. I wanna know if casting an instant or sorcery such as Thoughtseize can be count as the activated ability

Devonin says... #1

No, activated abilities are abilities which are written as

cost : effect

Casting a spell is never an activated ability.

September 17, 2014 6:25 p.m.

MindAblaze says... #2

Nope.

An activated ability exists on a permanent (most of the time, there are exceptions like Cycling) and is usually written;

Cost: Effect

Elvish Mystic , Nissa, Worldwaker and Grindclock are all examples of cards that have activated abilities.

September 17, 2014 6:25 p.m.

Devonin says... #3

Though bear in mind as well, that Pithing Needle wouldn't work on the activated ability of Elvish Mystic because it is a mana ability.

September 17, 2014 6:27 p.m.

Nigeltastic says... Accepted answer #4

The short answer is no.
The long answer is more useful though I think. An activated ability is, and will always be, an ability on a card, and will be written as:


(cost) : (effect)
There is a colon in the middle of all activated abilities.
Some examples would be:
-- : Scry 1 (Sigiled Starfish )
-- : Regenerate Lotleth Troll
-- Discard a creature card : Put a +1/+1 counter on Lotleth Troll

Instants, Sorceries, and other spells are NEVER activated abilities, though sometimes they have activated abilities on them (such as Lightning Storm ).

September 17, 2014 6:28 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #5

You've already answered your own question by differentiating between spells and activated abilities.

September 17, 2014 7:08 p.m.

This discussion has been closed