<p>There are a few basic concepts you need to understand to understand the answer to this question. For more information, I would suggest reading through the <a href="http://media.wizards.com/2014/docs/EN_M15_QckStrtBklt_LR_Crop.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Basic Rulebook</a>:</p>
<h1>Mana</h1>
<p><a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Mana#Comprehensive_Rules" rel="noreferrer">Mana</a> is a resource that is separate from cards and lands, and you have to represent it separately or remember how much you have. When you tap a basic land for mana, it adds one mana of the corresponding color to your mana pool (for example, tapping a Mountain adds one red mana to your mana pool). Some spells or abilities also explicitly say that you add mana to your mana pool, such as <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Llanowar%20Elves">Llanowar Elves</a>' ability. Your mana pool empties at the end of each step or phase.</p>
<h1>Tapping</h1>
<p>Every <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Permanent" rel="noreferrer">permanent</a> (land, creature, etc) on the battlefield is either tapped or untapped. Abilities that make you tap the permanent, like a land's ability that gives you mana, can only be activated if the permanent is untapped. You untap all of your permanents at the beginning of your turn, and you generally don't do so otherwise. This means that, unless you do something special, <strong>you can't use a single land to generate mana more than once in a turn</strong>.</p>
<h1>Spells</h1>
<p>All cards that represent <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Spell" rel="noreferrer">spells</a> have a mana cost in the upper right corner (except some Future Sight cards, which were printed with the mana cost in the upper left). This indicates how much mana you need to spend to play the spell. When you spend that mana, it is removed from your mana pool. For example, if you want to cast <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cancel">Cancel</a>, you need to have 2 blue mana and one mana of any color in your mana pool to cast it, and that mana is removed from your mana pool when you do so.</p>
<p>So, to answer part of your question, <strong>if you tap a land for mana, you can only use that mana to pay for one spell</strong>.</p>
<h1>Combat</h1>
<p>When you start <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Combat_Phase" rel="noreferrer">combat</a>, the player who is taking the turn decides which of their creatures is attacking. In general, this requires that you tap those creatures (and that they are not already tapped), <strong>but it does not require any mana payment</strong>. For example, if you control an untapped <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Akroan%20Crusader">Akroan Crusader</a>, you can declare it as an attacker, and all you have to do is tap it.</p>
<p>Once you are done declaring attackers, your opponent declares blockers. This means that they decide which of their untapped creatures should block which of your attacking creatures.</p>
<p>Once that's done, combat damage is dealt, which generally means that blocked attackers and their blockers deal damage to each other, and unblocked attackers deal damage to the player they are attacking.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-31T01:50:49.840Z
2014-12-31T01:59:54.240Z
2014-12-31T01:59:54.240Z
murgatroid99
<p>So first off I am fairly new to MTG and I was playing with my friend today and he corrected me on my move making. The way I thought it worked is that, for example, if I have a creature that requires 1 Mountain to attack it can attack after I tap the Mountain and the creature. However my friend said that the same land can be used multiple times in a turn, so I could use 2 other creatures on the battlefield that only required 1 Mountain to attack. Is this correct?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-31T01:32:17.417Z
Can you give the name of one of the creatures you are talking about, for reference?
murgatroid99
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-31T04:08:11.957Z
Creatures do not require mana to attack, so you have some very basic things mixed up here.
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-31T05:03:42.777Z
Please please read the basic rulebook (also linked in murgatroid99's answer) - if you have this kind of misunderstanding, you likely have others.
Cascabel
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-25T14:22:31.047Z
Do the creatures have text equivalent to: "This creature may only attack if you have a mountain in play." OR "[R]: This creature may attack this turn."?
Michael Richardson
<magic-the-gathering>
Can multiple spells be activated with the same mana?
user10366
# Can multiple spells be activated with the same mana?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-31)

So first off I am fairly new to MTG and I was playing with my friend today and he corrected me on my move making. The way I thought it worked is that, for example, if I have a creature that requires 1 Mountain to attack it can attack after I tap the Mountain and the creature. However my friend said that the same land can be used multiple times in a turn, so I could use 2 other creatures on the battlefield that only required 1 Mountain to attack. Is this correct?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Can you give the name of one of the creatures you are talking about, for reference?  
> **username_2**: Creatures do not require mana to attack, so you have some very basic things mixed up here.  
> **username_3**: Please please read the basic rulebook (also linked in username_1's answer) - if you have this kind of misunderstanding, you likely have others.  
> **username_4**: Do the creatures have text equivalent to: "This creature may only attack if you have a mountain in play." OR "[R]: This creature may attack this turn."?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-12-31. Score: 6

There are a few basic concepts you need to understand to understand the answer to this question. For more information, I would suggest reading through the [Basic Rulebook](http://media.wizards.com/2014/docs/EN_M15_QckStrtBklt_LR_Crop.pdf):

# Mana

[Mana](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Mana#Comprehensive_Rules) is a resource that is separate from cards and lands, and you have to represent it separately or remember how much you have. When you tap a basic land for mana, it adds one mana of the corresponding color to your mana pool (for example, tapping a Mountain adds one red mana to your mana pool). Some spells or abilities also explicitly say that you add mana to your mana pool, such as [Llanowar Elves](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Llanowar%20Elves)' ability. Your mana pool empties at the end of each step or phase.

# Tapping

Every [permanent](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Permanent) (land, creature, etc) on the battlefield is either tapped or untapped. Abilities that make you tap the permanent, like a land's ability that gives you mana, can only be activated if the permanent is untapped. You untap all of your permanents at the beginning of your turn, and you generally don't do so otherwise. This means that, unless you do something special, **you can't use a single land to generate mana more than once in a turn**.

# Spells

All cards that represent [spells](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Spell) have a mana cost in the upper right corner (except some Future Sight cards, which were printed with the mana cost in the upper left). This indicates how much mana you need to spend to play the spell. When you spend that mana, it is removed from your mana pool. For example, if you want to cast [Cancel](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cancel), you need to have 2 blue mana and one mana of any color in your mana pool to cast it, and that mana is removed from your mana pool when you do so.

So, to answer part of your question, **if you tap a land for mana, you can only use that mana to pay for one spell**.

# Combat

When you start [combat](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Combat_Phase), the player who is taking the turn decides which of their creatures is attacking. In general, this requires that you tap those creatures (and that they are not already tapped), **but it does not require any mana payment**. For example, if you control an untapped [Akroan Crusader](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Akroan%20Crusader), you can declare it as an attacker, and all you have to do is tap it.

Once you are done declaring attackers, your opponent declares blockers. This means that they decide which of their untapped creatures should block which of your attacking creatures.

Once that's done, combat damage is dealt, which generally means that blocked attackers and their blockers deal damage to each other, and unblocked attackers deal damage to the player they are attacking.


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