The 60 Best Activated Abilities in Magic Ranked

Time Vault | art by Yeong-Hao Han

Spells in Magic are pretty easy to understand, even for first-time players; cast a spell, the spell does what it says. Simple. Activated abilities are a touch more complicated.

Sorry if you’re expecting rules clarifications, but that’s not why we’re here today. Instead, we’re looking at Magic’s most unique and powerful activated abilities.

Expect a healthy mix of extremely overpowered and questionably janky cards!

What Are Activated Abilities in MTG?

Elvish Spirit Guide | Illustration by Anna Steinbauer

An activated ability has a cost and an effect, denoted by a colon (:) right after the ability’s cost. This includes all tap abilities that use the symbol, ones that require paying mana, abilities that sacrifice permanents or discard cards as an extra cost, and so on. You see that colon, it’s an activated ability.

Unlike triggered abilities, you have complete control of when an activated happens. Triggered abilities happen when a certain condition is met; activated abilities require player agency to activate them. Think of it like activated/manual vs triggered/automatic.

About this list: I’m looking at unique and powerful activated abilities, not powerful cards that happen to have activated abilities. In fact, I’m looking at some downright terrible cards, focusing only on strong or intriguing activated abilities.

I’m mostly ignoring mana abilities. In the interests of differentiating this list from lists of best mana rocks, best lands, and best mana dorks, I’ll be leaving them off the table unless they do something really unique. Did you really come here to hear how good Gaea's Cradle and Mana Crypt are? Remember, I’m looking for unique effects here.

Finally, no planeswalkers (with one exception). Loyalty abilities are activated abilities, but I’m avoiding having to slog through every planeswalker ultimate in Magic.

#60. Aeon Engine

It’s literally the Uno reverse card! Leaning heavily towards unique here, Aeon Engine is the only card I know that reverses the turn order, which is like an extra turn spell if you squint hard enough. It’s also hilariously useless in 1v1 situations.

#59. Tree of Perdition

What’s your life total? Don’t answer that, it’s 13 now. Tree of Perdition is Tree of Redemption’s angstier, PG-13 cousin, and pairs beautifully with anything that can make it an X/1, like Soul Separator or Storm of Souls.

#58. Soul Conduit

Magus of the Mirror is technically referencing Mirror Universe, but I know this effect best as Soul Conduit. It’s an absolute clunker that actually puts people to the test when it’s sitting on board with 6 open mana.

#57. Spawnsire of Ulamog

Spawnsire of Ulamog isn’t good, but it’s definitely inspirational. You’re telling me you’ve never looked at that scrunchy 20-mana symbol and pondered what you could actually do with it? Literally nothing in Commander, but I’m positive people have tried in Constructed/Limited.

#56. The Mirrodin Towers

The Mirrodin towers have these ridiculous, grandiose abilities that have been collectively activated seven times in all of history, but I’m sure there’s a way to break these with enough cost reduction. The flavor text explains why Tower of Calamities came later, but I wonder if there’s a developmental reason for only starting with four.

#55. Nivmagus Elemental

Nivmagus Elemental comes out of hiding every sometimes to make some Modern deck look way better than it is, only to fizzle out in a few weeks and go back into hiding. Cannibalizing your own spells (not cards) is interesting, and it makes the storm mechanic this elemental’s best friend.

#54. Mossbridge Troll

I have fond memories of the Duelist-style puzzles in the earlier Duels of the Planeswalkers games. One such puzzle involved making Mossbridge Troll over a 200/200 creature with Berserk. You just don’t expect to see +20/+20 on cards very often, Colossification being the only other one.

#53. Djinn of Infinite Deceits

Take me back to a time when Djinn of Infinite Deceits was playable. It suffers from two things: costing 6 and living in a world where everything’s legendary. But if you somehow find yourself with this in play, you can get up to some really fun Switcheroo shenanigans.

#52. Selvala, Explorer Returned

One of the mana abilities that snuck on this list comes from Selvala, Explorer Returned. It’s unique in that it’s an effect that forces players to draw cards but can’t be responded to. Since it’s a mana ability, it doesn’t use the stack, which means parlay just immediately happens when activated. It leads to some strange gameplay manipulation and weird corner-case rules interactions.

#51. Myojin of Life’s Web

An ability that dumps your entire hand into play certainly turns heads, though 9 mana might just turn your head back the other way. Myojin of Life's Web has the fun divinity counter mini-game going on, but it’s hard to give it much thought with Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant making such a ruckus.

#50. The Face of Boe

If you haven’t encountered this Doctor Who commander yet, here are some cards to keep in mind while you mull over The Face of Boe: Restore Balance, Ancestral Vision, and Glimpse of Tomorrow.

#49. The Book of Exalted Deeds

The Book of Exalted Deeds advertises straightforward angel stuff, but the obnoxious part comes when that “angel” happens to be a land like Mutavault or Faceless Haven. Once you animate said land, they’re eligible targets for the enlightenment counter, and the Platinum Angel effect lasts beyond them reverting back to normal lands.

#48. The Spirit Guides

Elvish Spirit Guide and the colorshifted Simian Spirit Guide have mana abilities that are activated free of charge from the hand. They’re one of the least disruptable ways to generate fast mana, at the expense of an entire card, usually making them key cards in unfair strategies.

#47. Avatar of Woe + Visara the Dreadful

Same ability, different methodology. Here’s where homing in specifically on activated abilities helps these cards. Avatar of Woe and Visara the Dreadful are both woefully behind the times in terms of overall card quality, but “tap: kill a creature” is an enticing line of text.

#46. Arcanis the Omnipotent

Same deal with Arcanis the Omnipotent, which hails from the same “champion” cycle as Visara the Dreadful. Tap to draw three cards with no mana requirement? Don’t mind if I do!

#45. Heartless Hidetsugu

Heartless Hidetsugu’s a liar. It says half your life totals, but it’s always paired with some damage-doubling effect. Turns out half times two is your entire life total, unless you’re sitting on an odd number when it resolves. At least Hidetsugu’s controller has to sweat the damage, too.

#44. Phelddagrif

I’ll just say “hippo token” and move on. Phelddagrif speaks for itself.

#43. The Beamtown Bullies

This activated ability seems super generous, until you remember they’re called The Beamtown Bullies and not The Friendly Chappy-Chaps or whatever. By the way, the cards they’re going to be “gifting” you? Creatures like Leveler, Eater of Days, and Phage the Untouchable.

#42. Codie, Vociferous Codex

Codie, Vociferous Codex has a real deck-building cost, but if you zoom in on just the activated ability it looks incredible. Net 1 mana and give your next spell a cascade effect? Plus, it’s a mana ability, so your opponents can’t stop that part of the activation? Not bad for a talking book.

#41. Azami, Lady of Scrolls

Step right up, win a prize! Tap a wizard, draw a card! Same energy.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls is like that Dark Souls boss you can’t quite beat because it’s surrounded by annoying mob enemies, in this case other wizards that are constantly drawing extra protection spells, removal, and counterspells. Azami’s tedious to play against, and a strong payoff for wizard typal decks.

#40. Garth One-Eye

Garth One-Eye is an Alchemy card parading in paper, but it says cool words on it like Shivan Dragon and Black Lotus, so everyone gives it a pass. Creating copies of spells that aren’t physically in the game is about as exploratory as Magic gets.

#39. Phyrexian Processor

It’s my understanding that Phyrexian Processor was once a highly competitive Constructed card, but that was well before my time. Still, props to a card that can literally spit out 30/30 tokens every turn.

#38. Captain Sisay

Captain Sisay’s actually the opposite of most card’s we’ve already listed: powerful, but not very exciting. It constantly grabs your best cards from your library, making it a great toolbox commander that benefits immensely from MTG’s 150-legendaries-per-set quota.

#37. Karn Liberated

Gonna break my own rule for a second to shout out Karn Liberated for being the only card that literally resets the game, wasting everyone’s time and making Constructed tournament timers run over 15 minutes every round.

#36. Goblin Welder

Don’t mind me. Just putting this Portal to Phyrexia in my graveyard and casting a Wayfarer's Bauble. Why yes, that is a Goblin Welder on my side of the battlefield, why do you ask?

#35. Halo Fountain

Halo Fountain’s an aesthetically pleasing card to look at and a fun achievement to work towards. To be fair, winning with 15+ creatures on board is arbitrarily easy, but winning with Halo Fountain feels good, so let the people have their fun.

#34. Treasonous Ogre

At 40 life, Treasonous Ogre can immediately generate 13 red mana, like a much more reasonable Dockside Extortionist that domes you for 39. Hmmm… Extortionist really gets away with murder in Commander, doesn’t it?

#33. Empress Galina

Have I mentioned everything’s legendary now? Used to be Empress Galina was somewhat expensive and mainly snagged commanders. Now it’s cheaper than ever and takes everything from legendary lands to cards like The Great Henge and The One Ring.

#32. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician has an annoying activated ability that puts it directly into play, sidestepping most counterspells and stack interaction. This also cheats commander tax, since you’re never actually casting the card from the command zone.

#31. Greater Good

The perfect blend of flavor and function, Greater Good demonstrates just how powerful a manaless, instant-speed sac outlet can be. Go ahead, use your removal spell on my 10/10, I’ll just net seven cards in the exchange.

#30. Mother of Runes

Many have tried to imitate the power of Mother of Runes, but none quite match up to the one we call “Mom.” This is one of the most frustrating forms of protection to try and break through: instant speed and capable of targeting itself.

#29. Angus Mackenzie

Angus Mackenzie fogs combat without ever expending a card, an absolutely demoralizing ability against combat-focused decks. Thankfully a $200+ pricetag means Angus doesn’t slow down too many games. Spore Frog’s definitely still around though.

#28. Contagion Engine

Proliferate: The mechanic everyone loves so much they love to do it twice. Contagion Engine even fronts you a one-directional board wipe on ETB. Combine this with Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus for approximately one billion proliferates (quick napkin math).

#27. Memory Jar

Unlike most wheel effects, it’s possible to time Memory Jar such that you’re the only person who benefits from it. I could’ve included Magus of the Wheel and Jace's Archivist too, but one activated wheel ability seems sufficient.

#26. Mind Over Matter

Mind Over Matter doesn’t slot into every deck, but it’s broken in the ones where it fits. We’ve even already mentioned Arcanis the Omnipotent and Azami, Lady of Scrolls, two cards that draw your entire deck with this enchantment in play.

#25. Godsire

If you don’t find Godsire cool, I’m not sure why you even play Magic. Cool, not good. Tap my creature, get an 8/8? Awesome. There’s also a pleasant symmetry between the token, Godsire’s stats, and the mana value all having 8’s.

#24. Birthing Pod

Birthing Pod is a stand-in for all “pod-like” abilities that work up a mana value chain. They usually encourage fun deckbuilding and can be repurposed as combo pieces or value engines, whichever you prefer. Prime Speaker Vannifar and Eldritch Evolution are alternative “pod” effects.

#23. Obeka, Brute Chronologist + Sundial of the Infinite

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to end your own turn: You can skip over end step triggers, blank instant-speed removal spells, or end a combat that’s gone horribly awry. Obeka, Brute Chronologist and Sundial of the Infinite have this capability tied to an activated ability, letting you take as little of your own turns as you’d like.

#22. Najeela, the Blade-Blossom

The trick with Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is to attack with enough mana-producing creatures that they’ll untap, collectively tap for , and pay for infinite combat steps. With the right set-up that’s game over, and it’s not a hard combo to assemble.

#21. The One Ring

The One Ring provides cascading card advantage to any deck regardless of color identity. Having indestructible and giving you protection on ETB means you’re almost always guaranteed the first three cards, and from there it gets out of hand. Odds are if you’ve played Commander since the release of Tales of Middle-earth, you’ve encountered this card somewhere.

#20. Aetherflux Reservoir

Pew pew! Aetherflux Reservoir says I’m going to take a bunch of damage, but you’re also going to take a bunch of damage. We’ll see who comes out on top. Considering you can’t even activate this unless you’re at 51+ life, someone else is probably packing up when the time comes.

#19. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

I can spare you my usual Golos, Tireless Pilgrim rant and just tell you how incredible this activated ability is. Sure, it costs a lot of mana, and yes, it can technically whiff, but rarely does it do anything other than find the players next land drop and spot them two free haymaker spells.

#18. Food Chain

I get the design of Food Chain from a flavor perspective, but did anyone stop and think sacrificing creatures for net positive mana might not be a good idea? It produces incredibly consistent combos with so many creatures, especially ones that cast themselves from exile, like Misthollow Griffin or Eternal Scourge.

#17. Planar Bridge

How much sweeter can it get than just popping permanents into play on demand? And at the low cost of only 8 mana per activation! Okay, maybe we shouldn’t ignore Planar Bridge’s activation cost, but you’ve got to admit it’s a powerful ability when it’s online.

#16. Devoted Druid

Devoted Druid combos with every other card in Magic, particularly ones that stop you from putting counters on your cards (Solemnity), or ones that turn the Druid into a non-creature (Swift Reconfiguration). It’s the combination of tapping for mana and untapping at your leisure that makes Devoted Druid the nuisance it is.

#15. Hermit Druid

I know people who would shudder at the idea of tapping to mill their entire library. Of course, if you’re playing Hermit Druid, you want your library in your graveyard. Most of it, at least. This is perhaps the best self-mill card in all Magic, provided you construct a deck with minimal basic lands.

#14. Razaketh, the Foulblooded

Razaketh, the Foulblooded is a demon who tutors. A Demonic Tutor, if you will. Those tutors demand a sacrifice, but a steady stream of expendables grants you complete control over what cards end up in your hand.

#13. Mindslaver

Mindslaver’s wholesome fun for the whole table, especially for the person who’s now aiming their removal spells at their own threats and crashing their dorky creatures into bigger blockers. Boy howdy do I love hitting my own lands with Acidic Slime! And you bet I’m going to casually tap out so I’m completely exposed for the next player in line!

#12. Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree

Ignore that first part, we’re talking Praetors! Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree has one of the coolest “live the dream” abilities, with some players constructing entire decks with this one card in mind. Notably Urabrask the Hidden makes all those Praetors come out swinging.

#11. The World Tree

Realmbreaker’s a twisted perversion of The World Tree, both canonically and mechanically. This one throws all your gods into play, of which there are tons to choose from, all while being a multi-color fixing land for your 5-color mana base.

#10. Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Kozilek, the Great Distortion introduces a guessing game where players navigate around the potential mana value of cards in the Kozilek player’s hand. It’s like playing against Counterbalance, but getting your first spell countered gives you no assurances that your follow-ups are safe.

#9. Door to Nothingness

It’s an honor the die to Door to Nothingness. Like, you put in the work, I didn’t have the artifact removal. It cost you 15 mana total. I accept my fate.

#8. Urza, Lord High Artificer

It’s both of Urza, Lord High Artificer’s activated abilities in tandem that make the card so incredibly strong. One ability fuels the other, and both are great on their own. Watch out for mana-producing cards equipped with their own mana sinks.

#7. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker’s a sneaky, cheeky, combo-freaky. If you see this paired with an ETB creature that can untap it, your future’s looking bleak. There’s also Reflection of Kiki-Jiki, which is a similar card with a little tweaky.

#6. Shaman of Forgotten Ways

No, not the mana ability. Shaman of Forgotten Ways’s formidable ability puts Biorhythm on a stick. Strange, considering Biorhythm’s still banned in Commander for some reason. Of course, redesigning a traditionally powerful spell as a creature’s tap ability gives it different context altogether, which makes the Shaman imminently fair.

#5. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is a do-everything card that covers all your bases. Removal, sac outlet, card draw, proliferation… you name it, it’s probably here. The activated ability even plays perfectly with the -1/-1 counters Yawgmoth spreads around.

#4. Necropotence

Necropotence essentially says “pay 1 life: draw a card” with extra steps, the literal rules text on Yawgmoth's Bargain. Necro’s just way more evocative at half the mana value, and Bargain’s banned everywhere but Vintage, so it’s not in high demand anyway.

#3. Griselbrand

Griselbrand is such a clean Magic card. Powerful, simple, competitive, and banned in Commander for good reason. I’ve always found it distracting that Griselbrand has this 7 motif but costs 8 mana to cast. They could definitely use a lesson in card aesthetics from Godsire.

#2. Time Vault

Lol. Okay, sure. Card’s so stupid it’s got me devolving into 1337 speak. Tap to take an extra turn? What’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one if you have a repeatable way to untap an artifact. As long as Time Vault’s untapped before you start you next turn, there’s no consequence and you’re free to just activate again, essentially chaining infinite turns together.

#1. Sneak Attack

There’s nothing all that sneaky about Sneak Attack. It sits in play and advertises that you’re about to rattle off a bunch of game-winning threats for just a single red mana a piece. Technically they sacrifice on end step, but you never get that far if your opponents are all dead.

Best Activated Ability Payoffs

Let’s look at payoffs for tap abilities first. Summoning sickness only applies to creatures, but you can use haste enablers to tap your creatures right away. Likewise, Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler and Thousand-Year Elixir provide pseudo-haste and untap your creatures for extra activations.

Cards like Umbral Mantle, Pemmin's Aura, and Freed from the Real untap creatures in various ways, producing easy infinite-mana combos with creatures that tap for excess amounts of mana (Bloom Tender, for example).

You want cost reduction for activated abilities requiring mana. The Enigma Jewel is essentially Sol Ring #2 for activated abilities, with Locus of Enlightenment as a convoluted payoff. Biomancer's Familiar, Training Grounds, and Heartstone are classics in this category.

Dynaheir, Invoker Adept, Agatha of the Vile Cauldron, Tazri, Stalwart Survivor, and Mairsil, the Pretender are all activated ability build-around commanders. Zirda, the Dawnwaker can be companioned in decks where every permanent has an activated ability.

You can copy activated abilities with Lithoform Engine, Strionic Resonator, or The Peregrine Dynamo. Illusionist's Bracers and Battlemage's Bracers are equipment that also do the trick.

Trazyn the Infinite and Necrotic Ooze can combine the activated abilities of cards in your graveyard into a single card on the battlefield. There’s also Agatha's Soul Cauldron, which also provides incidental graveyard hate.

Wrap Up

Griselbrand | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

Hopefully, you enjoyed this exercise in finding really fun, powerful, and unique activated abilities, even if the cards that house them aren’t particularly good. Still, it’s hard to look at a card like Spawnsire of Ulamog or Tower of Calamities and not feel at least a little bit inspired.

I combed through an astronomically large number of cards for this list, but I’m sure I’ve missed some incredible activated abilities. If you find something you feel should be on the list, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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