Ability, Ability, Ability

I did a double take when I first read Tale's End (the above card). Activated ability?  Triggered ability?  What?

Abilities are on many Magic permanent cards (creatures, enchantments, lands, and planeswalkers), and the different categories of them can be quite confusing. This post looks as the most common types (I exclude loyalty abilities of planeswalkers). Keywords are also abilities, but I cover those elsewhere. The comprehensive rules is our starting point; Section 600 handles abilities. I list relevant portions of that section below.

Activated Abilities

• 602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”
• 602.1a The activation cost is everything before the colon (:). An ability’s activation cost must be paid by the player who is activating it.

Activated abilities are put on the stack, just like casting a spell (see the rules page).  As such, if an activated ability's cost includes tapping a creature, that creature cannot have summoning sickness (in other words, it can't tap the turn it enters the battlefield unless it has haste).  Here are some cards with activated abilities:

The key to identifying activated abilities is that colon separating cost and effect.

Triggered Abilities

• 603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger condition or event], [effect]. [Instructions (if any).]” 
• 603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point. 
• 603.2a Because they aren’t cast or activated, triggered abilities can trigger even when it isn’t legal to cast spells and activate abilities. Effects that preclude abilities from being activated don’t affect them. 
• 603.4. A triggered ability may read “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. 

Triggered abilities are also put on the stack. Some example cards:

The key to identifying triggered abilities is the presence of the word "when," "whenever," or "at."

Static Abilities

• 604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they’re simply true.
• 604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 113.6.
• 604.6. Some static abilities apply while a card is in any zone that you could cast or play it from (usually your hand). These are limited to those that read, “You may [cast/play] [this card] . . . ,” “You can’t [cast/play] [this card] . . . ,” and “[Cast/Play] [this card] only . . . .”

Examples:

Static abilities are statements with no costs or conditions.  They don't go on the stack; they're true as long as the permanent is on the battlefield.

Mana Abilities

• 605.1. Some activated abilities and some triggered abilities are mana abilities, which are subject to special rules. Only abilities that meet either of the following two sets of criteria are mana abilities . . .
• 605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets all of the following criteria: it doesn’t require a target (see rule 115.6), it could add mana to a player’s mana pool when it resolves, and it’s not a loyalty ability. (See rule 606, “Loyalty Abilities.”)
• 605.1b A triggered ability is a mana ability if it meets all of the following criteria: it doesn’t require a target (see rule 115.6), it triggers from the resolution of an activated mana ability (see rule 605.1a) or from mana being added to a player’s mana pool, and it could add mana to a player’s mana pool when it resolves.
• 605.2. A mana ability remains a mana ability even if the game state doesn’t allow it to produce mana. Example: A permanent has an ability that reads “{T}: Add {G} for each creature you control.” The ability is still a mana ability even if you control no creatures or if the permanent is already tapped.

Examples:

Mana abilities are a subset of activated and triggered abilities, but they follow slightly different rules. The big one: they do NOT use the stack, so they can't be targeted/countered/etc.  Why?  I think it's because that would make any mana generation (even from basic lands) 'targetable,' 'counterable,' etc.

Combinations

Of course, many cards have triggered, static and/or activated abilities. Examples:

Concluding Thoughts

The different kinds of abilities aren't so bad once you familiarize yourself with the terminology.  How the different kinds can interact with combos can be quite amusing in the right decks.  But that's another topic for another time.