Special action

A special action is an action that a Magic: The Gathering player may take that doesn’t use the stack. They happen immediately and they can't be responded to. By far the most common special action is playing a land, but several others are possible associated with set mechanics, special formats, or even individual card effects. A player still needs priority to use a special action.

Types

Nearly every game of Magic using standard rules includes playing numerous lands from the hand. This is the only special action built into the core flow of gameplay, specifically the mechanics of the land card type.

These special actions are based on non-evergreen premier set mechanics:

• Turning up a face down creature
• Suspending, Foretelling or Plotting a card from your hand
• Putting a Companion into your hand from outside the game
• Unlocking a door

These appear in special gameplay formats:

• Rolling the planar die in a Planechase game
• Turning a face-down conspiracy card in the command zone face up in a Conspiracy Draft game

These are enabled by various individual cards first printed prior to 2011:

• Using Circling Vultures' ability
• Ending a continuous effect like the Licid ability
• "Cancelling" a delayed triggered ability like Naf's Asp's
• Temporarily ignoring a continuous effect like Leonin Arbiter's

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (July 25, 2025—Edge of Eternities)

Special Action

An action a player may take that doesn’t use the stack. See rule 116, “Special Actions.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (July 25, 2025—Edge of Eternities)

• 116. Special Actions
  • 116.1. Special actions are actions a player may take when they have priority that don’t use the stack. These are not to be confused with turn-based actions and state-based actions, which the game generates automatically. (See rule 703, “Turn-Based Actions,” and rule 704, “State-Based Actions.”)
  • 116.2. There are twelve special actions:
    • 116.2a Playing a land is a special action. To play a land, a player puts that land onto the battlefield from the zone it was in (usually that player’s hand). By default, a player can take this action only once during each of their turns. A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn. See rule 305, “Lands.”
    • 116.2b Turning a face-down creature face up is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority. See rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents.”
    • 116.2c Some effects allow a player to take an action at a later time, usually to end a continuous effect or to stop a delayed triggered ability from triggering. Doing so is a special action. A player can take such an action any time they have priority, unless that effect specifies another timing restriction, for as long as the effect allows it.
    • 116.2d Some effects from static abilities allow a player to take an action to ignore the effect from that ability for a duration. Doing so is a special action. A player can take such an action any time they have priority.
    • 116.2e One card (Circling Vultures) has the ability “You may discard Circling Vultures any time you could cast an instant.” Doing so is a special action. A player can take such an action any time they have priority.
    • 116.2f A player who has a card with suspend in their hand may exile that card. This is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority, but only if they could begin to cast that card by putting it onto the stack. See rule 702.62, “Suspend.”
    • 116.2g A player who has chosen a companion may pay {3} to put that card from outside the game into their hand. This is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn, but only if they haven’t done so yet this game. (See rule 702.139, “Companion.”)
    • 116.2h A player who has a card with foretell in their hand may pay {2} and exile that card face down. This is a special action. A player may take this action any time they have priority during their turn. See rule 702.143, “Foretell.”
    • 116.2i In a Planechase game, rolling the planar die is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn. Taking this action costs a player an amount of mana equal to the number of times they have previously taken this action on that turn. Note that this number won’t be equal to the number of times the player has rolled the planar die that turn if an effect has caused the player to roll the planar die that turn. See rule 901, “Planechase.”
    • 116.2j In a Conspiracy Draft game, turning a face-down conspiracy card in the command zone face up is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority. See rule 905.4a.
    • 116.2k A player who has a card with plot in their hand may exile that card. This is a special action. A player can take this action any time they have priority during their own turn while the stack is empty. See rule 702.170, “Plot.”
    • 116.2m A player who controls a permanent that has one or more locked halves (see rule 709.5) may pay the mana cost of a locked half of that permanent to give that permanent the appropriate unlocked designation. This cost is referred to as an “unlock cost.” A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn.
  • 116.3. If a player takes a special action, that player receives priority afterward.