113. Abilities

Rules in this chapter

• 113.1 Abilities An ability can be one of three things:
• 113.2 Abilities Abilities can affect the objects they’re on. They can also affect other objects and/or players.
• 113.3 Abilities There are four general categories of abilities:
• 113.4 Abilities Some activated abilities and some triggered abilities are mana abilities. Mana abilities follow special rules: They don’t use the stack, and, under certain circumstances, a player…
• 113.5 Abilities Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities. Loyalty abilities follow special rules: A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent they control any time they have…
• 113.6 Abilities Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the…
• 113.7 Abilities The source of an ability is the object that generated it. The source of an activated ability on the stack is the object whose ability was activated. The source of a triggered…
• 113.8 Abilities The controller of an activated ability on the stack is the player who activated it. The controller of a triggered ability on the stack (other than a delayed triggered ability) is…
• 113.9 Abilities Activated and triggered abilities on the stack aren’t spells, and therefore can’t be countered by anything that counters only spells. Activated and triggered abilities on the…
• 113.10 Abilities Effects can add or remove abilities of objects. An effect that adds an ability will state that the object “gains” or “has” that ability, or similar. An effect that removes an…
• 113.11 Abilities Effects can stop an object from having a specified ability. These effects say that the object “can’t have” that ability. If the object has that ability, it loses it. It’s also…
• 113.12 Abilities An effect that sets an object’s characteristic, or simply states a quality of that object, is different from an ability granted by an effect. When an object “gains” or “has” an…