Does a creature card's ability go off if you tap it with a sorcery?

Asked by Phantatsy 7 years ago

Example sorcery: Rush of Ice
Example creature spell: Rattleclaw Mystic


If I were to tap my own creature with a sorcery, would a creature's ability then be activated by the tapping that occurred due to the sorcery; regardless of summoning sickness?
Note: Ability is activated by tapping.

Obviously it doesn't work that way for an opponents creature.

Phantatsy says... #1

Nevermind. It can not.

**302.6.** A creature's activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can't be activated unless the creature has been under its controller's control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. A creature can't attack unless it has been under its controller's control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the "summoning sickness" rule.

July 13, 2016 8:50 a.m.

Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2

That rule is tangentially relevant, but the real reason is the distinction between activated and triggered abilities.

An activated ability is written in the form "[cost]: [effect]" (note the colon to separate the two). Activated abilities are manually activated; they never happen as a result of something else. When an activated ability is activated, its controller puts it onto the stack, makes choices for it, and pays its costs just like he or she were casting a spell.

A triggered ability is written in the form "[at/when/whenever] [event], [effect]." Triggered abilities happen automatically when the stated event occurs in the game. When a triggered ability triggers, its controller puts it onto the stack the next time a player receives priority.

Tl;dr: an activated ability will never just "happen." It must be activated as a separate and manual action.

July 13, 2016 9:02 a.m.

Boza says... #3

The answer has has little relation to the above, though it is also important. Activated abilities are always written in the form "cost:effect". In the case of Rattleclaw Mystic, its cost to activate the ability is to tap itself. It will not work if tapped via another effect, since it is not part of the cost paid to activate the ability.

rules:

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”
602.1a The activation cost is everything before the colon (:). An ability’s activation cost must be paid by the player who is activating it.
Example: The activation cost of an ability that reads “{2}, {T}: You gain 1 life” is two mana of any type plus tapping the permanent that has the ability.

602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect...

July 13, 2016 9:03 a.m.

nobu_the_bard says... #4

Example: City of Brass

It has two abilities. One is triggered; whenever the city becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to its controller. It doesn't matter how it becomes tapped, it always does this.

The second ability is activated. It will add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool, but you must tap it to activate this ability. Tapping it is the cost for activating the ability. You only get the mana when you activate it, and pay the cost, if you can pay the cost - it implicitly must have been untapped.

The second ability can trigger the first, but never the reverse. The first ability has a trigger condition. The second ability has a cost.

July 13, 2016 9:09 a.m.

This discussion has been closed