does the level up abilities of creatures count as activated abilities if not how are they classified?

Asked by SwiftDeath 14 years ago

need to know so i can build my friend a deck.

Jarrod_0067 says... #1

Activated. You pay, you get an effect

December 4, 2010 7:46 p.m.

keithroule says... #2

yes level up abilities r activated abilities because they require an activation cost

December 4, 2010 8:25 p.m.

MagnorCriol says... Accepted answer #3

They're activated abilities. Look at the reminder text for level up -

(Ex, Student of Warfare )

It reads "[Mana]: Put a level counter on this. Level up only as a sorcery."

Note the colon. That punctuation is the signal - anytime you see an ability with a colon, that means it's activated. Usually it's printed right there next to the ability, and on levelers it sort of is, but the different formatting of the card makes it look a bit different.

This is why they printed Training Grounds in Rise of Eldrazi; it's designed to combo with leveler creatures. (Though obviously it works beautifully with ANY mana-costed activated ability.)

December 4, 2010 8:28 p.m.

MagnorCriol says... #4

As a clarification I should point out, it's JUST the colon that signifies an activation ability. What comes on the left side of the colon is the cost, and has to be paid before the ability goes on the stack, and it can be anything - a mana cost, sacrifice a creature, tap X creatures, just about anything.

December 4, 2010 8:31 p.m.

This discussion has been closed