Quicken and "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery"
Asked by julesleos 11 years ago
Hey, quick question. If I were to cast Quicken on my opponents turn, would I be able to activate the ability of, say, Savageborn Hydra to add a +1/+1 counter to him?
Obviously this would normally not be possible since you can only "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery."
However, since Quicken says: "The next sorcery card you play this turn *can be played as though it had flash," wouldn't that allow me to activate the ability?
Obviously Quicken says nothing about activated abilities... But since you can activate Savageborn Hydra 's ability any time you could cast a sorcery, and you can cast a sorcery at instant speed with Quicken , shouldn't you also be able to use this ability?
I'm not sure if there's been a specific ruling on the card and the activated ability combo, nor did I see anything in the rule book that said this couldn't be done...
Thanks in advance for your answers!
Okay, I obviously did some googling before I came here and saw the same thing, but as I said, I didn't see anything in the rulebooks about this. Do you have a source by chance?
January 9, 2014 10:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #3
307.5. If a spell, ability, or effect states that a player can do something only "any time he or she could cast a sorcery," it means only that the player must have priority, it must be during the main phase of his or her turn, and the stack must be empty. The player doesnt need to have a sorcery he or she could actually cast. Effects that would prevent that player from casting a spell or casting a sorcery don't affect the player's capability to perform that action (unless the action is actually casting a spell or casting a sorcery).
Epochalyptik says... #1
"Whenever you could cast a sorcery" is MTG shorthand for "during your main phase while the stack is empty and you have priority." Effects that change when you could normally cast a sorcery do NOT change the meaning of the phrase "whenever you could cast a sorcery."
January 9, 2014 10:14 p.m.