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The text of Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp states that it is possible to cast it by paying an alternative cost {3}{U}, plus tapping an artifact.

However, it is necessary to specify that the artifact in question must allow its specific "to tap", otherwise the operation cannot be performed.

However, all of this at least in my opinion, which could certainly not coincide with what we all call "the truth", about this particular situation.

For example, you can cast Zahid by tapping Tormod’s Crypt, or Fountain of Youth, because these cards can be tapped to perform their specific activated abilities.

However, in my opinion it is not possible to cast Zahid by tapping, for example, Ivory Tower, or Black Vise, since these cards are always active and have no tap symbol on their text.

As a limit situation, it would be possible to cast Zahid also by tapping Howling Mine, as the latter card text clearly specifies that this card can be tapped, even if there is no "tap" symbol on the card.

Is this correct?

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  • I have a suggestion for the future: the next time you start a bounty on a question, wait as long as possible before rewarding it. The bounty puts the question in the featured questions list, making it more visible to other users. This can amplify the reward you want to give by prompting other users to vote on the answer (and on the question).
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Commented Mar 2, 2020 at 18:39
  • The problem is that,given how things went with the bounty last time,I was afraid that you would misunderstand my intent again,deleting everything as you usually have shown to do.Your authoritarianism does not bear much fruit in bona fide users.This time I wanted to show that my initiative was precise,and intended to reward an excellent response received from an excellent SE user only,which was the same intent as my first bounty setting; with the difference that this time I knew better all the bounty options.
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Mar 3, 2020 at 15:33
  • So, I didn't wait a minute longer than the expected 24 hours ...My bounty does not intend to have any other effect beyond that obtained. It is not a selfish one.I don't doubt that there could be many, of falsely altruistic bounties ...
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Mar 3, 2020 at 15:35
  • If you would just take some time to understand why that one bounty was inappropriate and why I had to remove it, maybe you would see that I wouldn't have any problem with a bounty like this one. Also, leaving the bounty open is not selfish; it amplifies the reward you are giving to the answer. In any case, I was just trying to make you aware of some information you may not have known, you can do what you want with that information.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Commented Mar 3, 2020 at 16:47
  • I rewarded this answer because it is wide-ranging.It was also possible to obtain it because the question is written in a broad way,and allows for more far-reaching explanations.For this reason,I discussed animatedly in other posts,and I tried to makeSEmore "open" to the possibility of asking and answering questions containing more inputs.But the "plaster" structure (the one according to which one and only one question must be asked perPost,with a well-specified title that contains the question) which is strongly preferred bySE,prevents what I have just said.It is a pity that must be this way.
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Mar 4, 2020 at 9:54

2 Answers 2

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An artifact is either tapped or untapped. An untapped artifact is a resource that can be used, as long as you have a card that says it can use it.

An artifact with an activated ability that uses the tap symbol can use its own "untapped-ness". A card that says "tap an untapped artifact you control" can use the "untapped-ness" of any artifact you control, and the abilities on the artifact doesn't affect this in any way (unless you come across one that says it cannot be tapped).

Each tapping of an artifact can only be used to pay for the cost of one spell or ability. So you can't tap Tormod's Crypt for Zahid, and then sacrifice it for its own ability. You will have to wait to sacrifice it until it's untapped again so that you can tap it for its own ability. If you have abilities that trigger on an artifact being tapped, then nothing stops multiples of those from triggering, though.

As for artifact creatures (or any other creature for that matter) with summoning sickness (specifically, one that hasn't been under your control since the beginning of your most recent upkeep), this only stops the creature from doing two things: attacking, and using abilities with the tap symbol as a cost. It does not stop it from being tapped in any other way.

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  • However, there is something I have to tell you. Arthur's explanation is excellent, but I really can't believe that an artifact creature - that is still suffering from summoning sickness - could be tapped in this way: today there is even an explanation on almost every creature card, which always warns of the fact that the creature cannot attack, nor be tapped for any reason, during the turn in which it is summoned ... And this should also include cases like Zahid's.
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 10:51
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    @Massiliano As I have tried to tell you: Summoning sickness stops two things, and two things only: Attacking, and activating abilities that use the tap symbol (or the untap symbol) as a cost. It just so happens that these are the two most common ways to tap creatures, so it's easy to believe that summoning sick creatures can't tap at all. This is, however, false. Nothing stops a summoning sick creature from becoming tapped.
    – Arthur
    Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 12:56
  • Okay, I'm pretty sure it's how you say it, Arthur. I only say this: I wonder how we can understand this from the regulation. The designers of the Zahid card should have been more precise, in my opinion, and explained to everyone that the operation of tapping an artifact creature can be performed without problems ... even with newly summoned creatures!
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 10:37
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    @Massimiliano They are clear, in the actual rulebook. Here they define exactly what summoning sickness does (and by omission what it doesn't) hinder: "302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule."
    – Arthur
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 10:41
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    @Massimiliano True, it is more difficult to convince someone that something is allowed when that is because it's not specifically adressed, rather than explicitly allowed. However, that's the way it is.
    – Arthur
    Commented Dec 30, 2019 at 11:02
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It doesn't matter for Zahid whether the artifact has a tap ability or not, only that it's currently untapped. You're allowed to tap any artifact for it. Any permanent can become tapped, given the right combination of other cards, even enchantments (You're right that you normally cannot just tap a Howling Mine because you want to.)

110.5. A permanent’s status is its physical state. There are four status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, face up/face down, and phased in/phased out. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.

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    It's also worth mentioning that if you tap Fountain of Youth to pay the alternate cost for Zahid, you do not gain one life from Fountain of Youth's ability. These are two separate abilities that both happen to have a cost of tapping Fountain of Youth. Just like you can't use a dollar to pay for two different things, you can't tap Fountain once and expect to receive both effects. Artifacts with Tap abilities give you something to 'spend' their tap on, but you may have other effects you want to 'spend' that tap on, like Zahid.
    – Aetherfox
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 16:45
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    Also note that Zahid can tap artifact creatures with summoning sickness.
    – Arthur
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 9:39
  • WhileAeterfox's comment seems completely obvious to me,it is not so forGlorfinder's answer andArthur's comment.These leaves me amazed.The fact of being able to tap creatures with Summ.Sickness I find it unfair,but the fact that you can tap(eg)BlackVise is this,too.What happens if,regardless of Zahid,in normal game you tapBlackVise?Is his triggered ability suspended,in the sense that,if it is tapped duringOpponent'sUpkeep,it does not deal any damage?Or,you can tap it,but its effect still remains active?If so, it doesn't seem right to me:tapping something for Zahid,must mean suffering some loss.
    – ManoFromBerlin
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 10:36
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    @Massimiliano The cards just mean literally what they say. If Zahid worked the way you were thinking, it would have to be worded “tap an untapped artifact that has an ability with tap in the cost”, instead of “tap an untapped artifact”. It says you can tap an untapped artifact you control, so it means any untapped artifact you control.
    – GendoIkari
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 15:24
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    @Massimiliano The best answer to 'it can't work that way, that must be too strong' is, play by the rules and play a few games with the card. Is a good tempo creature, but far from overpowered. And yes, you can get 'two for one' with it: reducing it's cost by tapping an artifact that doesn't 'care' about being tapped, such as ivory tower, or even one that benefits from being tapped. That is the beginning of a deck with good synergy.
    – Aetherfox
    Commented Dec 25, 2019 at 16:12

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