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116.2e One card (Circling Vultures) has the ability “You may discard Circling Vultures any time you could cast an instant.” Doing so is a special action. A player can take such an action any time they have priority.

Why does Circling Vultures have its own special game Special Action rule for it's ability. As far as I know, no other creature in magic with a hand ability does this. What is the motivation? I looked at the original printed text, and to me it didn't seem to require special rules text to function.

Thomas Eding
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2 Answers2

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It requires a special action because it can't be made an activated ability without violating Wizards errata/templating policy.

Circling Vultures is the only card you can discard without a direct benefit. The problem with making Circling Vulture's ability an activated ability like all the other cards you can discard on their own is that it would have either no cost or no effect, breaking the "cost:effect" pattern required for activated abilities. Making the ability a special action simulates the "paying costs" part of activating an ability (to get rid of the card as the first step), without getting an actual effect, because discarding it was the whole effect.

You could word it like "{0}:Discard Circling Vultures", but then you run into other problems: One, the ability would then use the stack because it's not a mana ability like e.g. Elvish Spirit Guide, and the card was intended to be discarded immediately. This collides with the current compatibility errata policy of sticking as close as possible to the original intent of cards. The other problem is making sure you discard the exact card you revealed and not some other Circling Vultures, which might matter for some reason.

You could also word it "Discard Circling Vultures: Nothing happens", but that kind of effect would also be fundamentally different from anything else ever printed. At that point, making it a special action is a better fit for templating policy.

Hackworth
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    re. "the ability would then use the stack", it seems to me the original text of the printed card (in the image on gatherer) says "play this ability as an instant", and instants do use the stack, right? The oracle wording of "any time you could cast an instant" seems a bit different in that sense if it is to be read as the ability not using the stack. – ilkkachu Sep 18 '22 at 12:17
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    Though if the assumed use-case is that you could feed one Circling Vultures to another, then wouldn't going through the stack be just fine? The rulings say "When the ability resolves, you choose whether to sacrifice the creature or perform the other action. If you can't perform the other action, then you must sacrifice the creature.", so if the upkeep effect goes through the stack, there should be time to use another regular effect via the stack to fill the graveyard before the upkeep effect resolves. (Though I do wonder if the card is old enough that it predates some current rules) – ilkkachu Sep 18 '22 at 12:19
  • I'm not sure how this discussion relates to my answer really. Wizards, as a matter of fact, did decide that the Vultures' "ability", if it was designed today as intended back then, would best be designed as a special action rather than an activated ability, otherwise they would have made it one. They didn't, which is why we can have this question in the first place. – Hackworth Sep 18 '22 at 13:09
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    Well, you said it couldn't have been made an activated ability, since then it would use the stack. That's what the answer says, and it relates to if it did use the stack through the original wording. – ilkkachu Sep 18 '22 at 13:52
  • I suppose part of Wizards's choice was that this wording avoids hate from things like Pithing Needle, which does make sense with the OG card wording. – Thomas Eding Sep 18 '22 at 16:03
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    Another reason for not making it an activated ability is that cards like Suppression field would affect it – Ivo Sep 19 '22 at 07:12
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    IMHO they should have just gone with the zero-cost ability and given it Split Second or something like that. Making an exceptional type of action just looks really weird to me. – Kevin Sep 19 '22 at 21:56
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    Re "The other problem is making sure you discard the exact card you revealed and not some other Circling Vultures", No, that's not a problem. A card referring to its name refers to the card with the ability. This is common and in the rules. There are other actual problems (or at least differences) to using "{0}:Discard Circling Vultures", though. It would also be subject to cost substitutions, cost increases, activation restrictions, etc. – ikegami Sep 21 '22 at 17:02
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Rule 117.1 lists the things you can do if you have priority:

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.

Circling Vultures' ability isn't a spell and it isn't an activated ability, so the only option left is for it to be a special action. Rule 116.2 lists all of the special actions, so it has to list that one.

murgatroid99
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  • Oh ok I see. It's ability on its original rules text is worded as a static ability as an event listener (if in hand). – Thomas Eding Sep 17 '22 at 17:33
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    Static abilities don't work in hidden zones, and event listeners aren't a concept in Magic. – murgatroid99 Sep 17 '22 at 17:34
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    Why couldn't this card have been printed with an activated ability as "{0}: Discard Circling Vultures"? – TheWreckersCompanion Sep 17 '22 at 18:28
  • There are issues with activating abilities in hidden zones, because abilities need to be visible to all players to be used. Look at the Forecast rules and see how much text they use to allow you to activate an ability from your hand. – murgatroid99 Sep 17 '22 at 18:33
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    Activating an ability from a card in hand is generally unproblematic, forecast is not representative. Forecast cards are continuously revealed so you can't cheat by activating them several times. Generally, you reveal the source card once, put the ability on the stack, and that's it. One sentence in 602.2a covers it. – Hackworth Sep 17 '22 at 19:44
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    602.2a doesn't keep the card revealed while the ability is on the stack, which means that strictly speaking, you can't verify that the card you discard as the ability resolves is the same card you revealed while activating the ability. That just doesn't generally come up because most abilities that are activated from the hand move the card to a public zone during the process of activating the ability. – murgatroid99 Sep 17 '22 at 19:49
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    I think the pattern is: If an ability from hand has an activation limit, creates a continuous effect, or moves its source card to a public zone as an effect, it requires a keyword mechanic and has to stay revealed, e.g. forecast, ninjutsu. Otherwise it does not have to stay revealed, e.g. cycling, Elvish Spirit Guide, Tetzimoc. – Hackworth Sep 17 '22 at 20:21
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    Cycling and Elvish Spirit Guide both move the card to a public zone as part of the cost of the ability, and Tetzimoc doesn't need to stay revealed because the resolution of the ability doesn't do anything with the card. – murgatroid99 Sep 17 '22 at 20:23
  • That's my thinking, yes. Also this is due for a move to chat – Hackworth Sep 17 '22 at 20:25
  • @TheWreckersCompanion There's a few reasons for that, but the biggest would be that as an activated ability it could be interacted with, A card like Suppression Field or Anointed Peacekeeper could be used to add additional costs to that ability if it were printed as a 0 cost activated ability. – Andrew Sep 19 '22 at 13:37