Discussion Forum

Technically everything you do must have an in-game reason for it. You can't sac a creature without something letting you, you can't tap without an ability or attacking someone. If you want to just arbitrarily feed mana into something like Omnath that's one thing but just tapping lands and never doing anything... no you probably can't do that without something allowing you to pay mana into something.

YES you can (Shadowex3 is wrong)

Burn decks used to do this to take mana burn in order to benefit from Pulse of the Forge. Since there is no mana burn anymore the trick doesn't work anymore but you can still take mana in your mana pool and not use it. It's perfectly legal.
Lands are just permanents with a tap ability, there is no rule that says you can't use abilities unless they need a valid target and there is none. Taking mana in the pool does not require a target, you just activate it.

That doesn't follow with the logic that you can't just do what you want willy nilly like Nightloki pointed out in the creature tapping.

[QUOTE=Shadowex3]That doesn't follow with the logic that you can't just do what you want willy nilly like Nightloki pointed out in the creature tapping.[/QUOTE]

If you have priority you can activate abilities, it's that simple. Tapping land for mana is an ability (that doesn't use the stack, but still it's an ability). What happens to the mana is totally irrelevant.

The discussion with Loki was about doing stuff without anything in play to alow it, like tapping a creature without it having the ability to tap itself. Or sac a creature without some permanent or spell that says you can sac something.

If a creature has a tap ability you can tap (example: llanowar elf).
If a creature says you can sac it (like sakura tribe elder), you can sac it.
If land says T: Add 1 to your mana pool, you can tap it to add 1 to your mana pool.

Besides I've been playing competitive legacy burn for a while now and if it wasn't allowed to tap lands just to take mana burn (prior to M10) don't you think I would know about it by now?

actually it is only a recent change to the rules that allows you to tap lands for no reason, before M10 you had to have a reason for tapping it.

actually you're allowed to tap lands and not use the mana. It is technically tapping for a reason, you're using the land's ability to generate mana, you don't have to pay mana (which is why some cards got better after M10). Example: you can tap your lands to add mana to your mana pool whenever you have priority, sometimes you don't want to pay because you've got an Omnath or an Upwelling in play, so you add mana that isn't removed. Even without either of those cards in play, you can still tap lands with mana abilities for mana and not use the mana.

I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread....I didn't believe it when I was told there isn't "Mana Burn" anymore....I think that was a bad idea, but I don't get to write the rules...

[QUOTE=Jovensferrets]actually it is only a recent change to the rules that allows you to tap lands for no reason, before M10 you had to have a reason for tapping it.[/QUOTE]

That claim is incorrect.

I mean sure, you can't just tap a Glacial Chasm without an ability or effect allowing/requiring it, but Mountain has always had ":symtap:: Add :manar: to your mana pool," and you've always been free to play activated mana abilities any time you have priority (and some times when you don't).

The rules changes just effected the consequences of activating such abilities wantonly. You have always, since the beginning of the game, been free to tap an untapped Mountain for red mana pretty much any time you felt like it.


Anyway, here are some relevant rules quotes for this thread:

305.6. The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the words “basic land type,” it’s referring to one of these subtypes. A land with a basic land type has the intrinsic ability “{T}: Add [mana symbol] to your mana pool,” even if the text box doesn’t actually contain that text or the object has no text box. For Plains, [mana symbol] is {W}; for Islands, {U}; for Swamps, {B}; for Mountains, {R}; and for Forests, {G}. See rule 107.4a. Also see rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

Basic lands have an ability, even if it isn't printed on the card. Most nonbasic lands also have an ability of the same form: “{T}: Add [something or other] to your mana pool.”

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”

The abilities described above are "activated abilities."

116.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority may cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.

If you have priority, you can activate abilities.

Therefore, if you have priority, you can tap a normal land for mana.

yep... you can, just for the heck of it.... i miss mana burn though...

I was out of of the game for several years. Just recently returned. When did Mana Burn go away and why???

Mana burn left the game with the addition of the M10 rules change...a change that eliminated mana burn and combat damage using the stack. As for why...I don't know. I think they went with 'why do we need these?' That was definitely true for damage on the stack, it just wasn't necessary.