Cycling

Cycling is a keyword ability that allows a player to pay a cost that includes discarding the card. When the activated ability resolves, that player draws a card. Cycling first appeared in Urza's Saga and last appeared in Future Sight.

A variant of the ability, typecycling, allows the player to search his or her library for a card of a given subtype instead of drawing the top card of their library. The first cards with this ability appeared in Scourge and allowed a player to search for a land card with a specific land type. Future Sight then expanded the ability to search for cards with a specific creature type.

From the Comprehensive Rules

• 502.18. Cycling
  • 502.18a Cycling is an activated ability that functions only while the card with cycling is in a player’s hand. “Cycling [cost]” means “[Cost], Discard this card: Draw a card.”
  • 502.18b Although the cycling ability is playable only if the card is in a player’s hand, it continues to exist while the object is in play and in all other zones. Therefore objects with cycling will be affected by effects that depend on objects having one or more activated abilities.
  • 502.18c Some cards with cycling have abilities that trigger when they’re cycled. “When you cycle [this card]” means “When you discard [this card] to pay a cycling cost.” These abilities trigger from the graveyard.
  • 502.18d Typecycling is a variant of the cycling ability. “[Subtype]cycling [cost]” means “[Cost], Discard this card: Search your library for a [subtype] card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.”
  • 502.18e Any cards that trigger when a player cycles a card will trigger when a card is discarded to pay a typecycling cost. Any effect that stops players from cycling cards will stop players from playing cards’ typecycling abilities.