Can you tap artifacts out of turn?
Asked by Zephyr952 14 years ago
Can you tap an artifact out of turn like the Scepter of Fugue could you discard your opponents only card pretty much as he draws it?
thaimaishuu says... #2
Zylo is correct. The Scepter specifically says "play...your turn."
If it didn't have that line, then yes you would be able to force discard. This is done during the draw step.
September 4, 2010 3:53 a.m.
Also be weary of 'Use this ability only as a sorcery' which is a roundabout way of saying 'on your turn'
September 4, 2010 3:58 a.m.
An artifact like Brittle Effigy can be done pretty much at any stage you have a chance to do so. In your turn it could be the first action that you take, in an opponents turn, it's usually in response or to place the effect onto the stack due to something else triggering. The only other time outside of a turn would be at the end of a phase/step. before the next one begins
Of course, Any card like the one you've given can only be done during your own turn as that is what the card says!
Artifact Creatures suffer the same problem as creatures. They can't trigger abilities in which they need to tap. Steel Overseer for example can't tap to trigger his ability until the next upkeep you go through... because it's a creature!
But artifact's that are not creatures can pretty much tap the turn they come in, and also during an opponents turn can tap to trigger their ability.
September 4, 2010 1:01 p.m.
well, "use this ability only as a sorcery" is more restrictive than "on your turn", since you could tap the Scepter during your upkeep, during combat, or during your end step - times you can't cast a sorcery. However, that's not generally relevant (it could be, though!).
September 7, 2010 9:23 a.m.
Ah ok thanks everyone we saw that line moments after posting this but thats good to know all this key info thanks!
Zylo says... Accepted answer #1
Well normally you can tap anything on their turn, but Scepter of Fugue specifically says you can only do it on your turn. So while you may have something that reads "tap target artifact" and you used that to tap Scepter of Fugue it wouldn't do anything because it would be activating it's ability.
September 3, 2010 11:59 p.m.