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Training Grounds
Enchantment
rare
Activated abilities of creatures you control cost less to activate. This effect can't reduce the mana in that cost to less than one mana.
Semantic Tags
A keyword ability that reduces how much mana you need to spend to cast a spell. See rule 702.41, “Affinity.”
A permanent or effect that makes spells or abilities cheaper to cast or activate.
A permanent or effect that makes spells or abilities cheaper to cast or activate.
A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”
Format Legality
Price history
Printings (11)
| Set | Rarity | TCGplayer | Card Kingdom | Cardmarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secret Lair Drop#2619 | rare | · | · | · |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal#20 | mythic | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath Promos#9p | rare | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath#109 | rare | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath#9 | rare | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath#155 | rare | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath#59 | rare | · | · | · |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath#193 | rare | · | · | · |
| Judge Gift Cards 2022#6 | rare | · | · | · |
| The List#ROE-91 | rare | · | · | · |
| Rise of the Eldrazi#91 | rare | · | · | · |
Related Rules
If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.
Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.
To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”
An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.
A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.
If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.
The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap 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. See rule 302.6.
The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with 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. See rule 302.6.
Rulings
Training Grounds won't affect a cost that isn't the cost to activate a creature's activated ability. For example, it won't affect Flameblast Dragon's {X}{R} cost, since that's a cost paid when a triggered ability resolves, and it won't affect a kicker cost, since that's an additional cost to cast a spell. Activated ability costs appear before a colon (:) in a card's rules text, or, in the case of some keywords, before a colon in reminder text.
If an activated ability of a creature you control costs no generic mana to activate (for example, if it costs {R}{R}, it costs {0}, or it costs only nonmana actions such as {T} or "Sacrifice a creature"), Training Grounds simply won't affect it. In particular, it won't increase the cost to include a mana payment of {1}.
Training Grounds won't affect the part of an activation cost represented by colored mana symbols or snow mana symbols. It also won't affect nonmana parts of an activation cost, if there are any.
Training Grounds takes the total cost to activate a creature's activated ability into account, not just the cost printed on it. For example, Urabrask has an activated ability that costs {R}, and Suppression Field says "Activated abilities cost {2} more to activate unless they're mana abilities." Since activating Urabrask's activated ability would now cost {2}{R}, Training Grounds reduces that cost back to {R}.
Training Grounds affects only creatures you control on the battlefield. The costs of activated abilities that work in other zones (such as cycling or unearth) won't be reduced.
Training Grounds can reduce the amount you pay for a creature's activated ability cost that includes {X}. For example, Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief has an activated ability that costs {X}{B}{B}. If you control Training Grounds and you activate the ability with X equal to 5, you'll have to pay only {3}{B}{B}. This is true even if the ability states that {X} must be paid with a certain color of mana, as Crimson Hellkite's ability does.
Training Grounds can reduce the part of an activation cost represented by generic mana symbols down to nothing, as long as it still costs at least one mana. For example, if an activation cost is {2}{G}, you'd have to pay only {G}. If an activation cost is {2}, though, you'd still have to pay {1}.
Training Grounds reduces the generic mana in waterbend costs for activated abilities. It will not reduce waterbend costs that are additional costs for casting spells.