Tap

Tap is a keyword action that is usually represented on cards with undefined symbol.

Description
To tap a permanent, turn it 90 degrees from an upright position. For example, one of the first things that any player learns about Magic is that you tap your lands to cast your spells. As it is integral to the game and TCGs in general, Wizards of the Coast has the concept of turning a card sideways patented.

Actions that cause a card to tap include:
 * Using its activated ability if that ability requires it to tap (for example, "undefined: Add .")
 * Declaring a creature as an attacker (see Declare Attackers Step)
 * Regenerating a creature that would be destroyed and is not already tapped (see Regeneration)
 * Paying a cost of a spell or ability (see Additional cost, Alternative cost, and Activation cost)

Forced tapping
White is the primary color of tapping creatures.

Twiddle
Ever since the card Twiddle appeared in Alpha, blue has had the ability to tap or untap permanents. It's most often used just on creatures. Blue doesn't tend to just tap or just untap, but rather give you the choice between the two. The one exception is when it "freezes" creatures, tapping creatures and keeping them from untapping for a turn..

Rules
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Tap symbol
Originally cards used the word tap explicitly (e.g., the text on Samite Healer in Unlimited was "Tap to prevent 1 damage to any target.") or were of type "Mono Artifact" (Cyclopean Tomb). Revised introduced the tap symbol as a tilted T inside a gray circle. This didn't work, because in foreign languages the word for "tap" didn't start with a T. In Fourth Edition, it was changed to a white curved arrow with a tilted black rectangle representing the tapping card. In Eighth Edition, it was changed to a black curved arrow without the rectangle behind it undefined.

The tap symbol was considered too advanced for first Portal sets. Thus it was written out again, only to be reintroduced in the third set.

The untap symbol was introduced in Shadowmoor where "untapping" was a mechanic of the set. By 2010, the introduction of the symbol was considered a failure; players just mistook the untap symbol for the tap symbol.

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