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Summoning Sickness + Activated Abilities

I need some clarification in regards to activated abilities of creatures.

The comprehensive rules state that a creature with an activated ability that has a :symtap: or a :manan: cannot be used because of summoning sickness.

However, my question concerns those abilities which do not include that. For example: Spikeshot Elder

Is it possible to have him ETB, and then use excess mana on that same turn of play to do damage to another creature or player? Or will I have to wait until my next turn to be able to use said ability?

I have looked through the comprehensive rules a few times and could not find a specific clause regarding this, and my friends and I are still on the fence on how this operates.
Posted 20 February 2012 at 21:22

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4 replies

i do believe that you are able to activate that ability the moment he hits the table. as you said summoning sickness affects tap and untap symbols and i cant seem to find one on that card.
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Posted 21 February 2012 at 14:11

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No there isn't one on that card, I used that card as an example of a creature that has an ability without a tap or untap symbol, because I want to know if you can use that the moment he hits the board.

The creatures that have a tap or untap symbol in their activated ability cannot be used because of summoning sickness.
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Posted 21 February 2012 at 18:37

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Yes, you can use Spikeshot Elder's ability anytime after he enters the battlefield, and as many times as you can pay for it.

Like many rules in Magic, the Summoning Sickness rule looks for something very specific. If it's not there, then the rule doesn't apply. Say you have 2 vanilla 1/1 elves untapped under your control, and you play Heritage Druid. Because Heritage Druid doesn't use the :symtap: symbol, you could tap all 3 elves to pay the cost, even though Heritage Druid still has summoning sickness.
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Posted 22 February 2012 at 00:58

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Alright, thanks for the clarification. I was pretty sure that was going to be the answer, but I wanted to reinforce that with a 2nd opinion.
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Posted 22 February 2012 at 05:38

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