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If Inaction Injunction is played on Avacyn's Pilgrim or Llanowar Elves , can it still activate it's ability while detained?
I keep hearing that because it's a mana ability it can still be activated.

You could take this a step further, though.  For most activated abilities, the activation occurs and the ability goes to the stack.  In general, you can't target mana abilities the way you can target other abilities because mana abilities do not use the stack.  The reminder text is generally added to help the players, but it isn't really necessary.

Detain, on the other hand, doesn't target the ability; it targets the permanent.  So what we're talking about now is a static ability applied to the permanent that lasts until the end of the turn that prevents activation before it can even start.  That's the distinction: spells like Stifle and Trickbind counter the ability after it's activated and while it is on the stack, but they can't stop the activation itself.  Detain stops the activation before it can happen.

As far as I know, the only card in the game that stops activations before they happen but still allows for mana abilities is Abeyance .  In that card's case, it was quickly errata'd back in the 90s to ensure that it wouldn't become a white Time Walk .  It's strange that, when the power level errata's went away (and Time Vault started getting ridiculous again) and they started making the oracle wording as close to the actual wording as possible, The oracle text for Abeyance wasn't change to become more consistent with things like Detain or cards like Null Rod . It almost seems like an oversight on their part that keeps Abeyance from acting just like Null Rod on, say, a Sol Ring .

Oct 20, 2012 -- 11:38PM, Shard_Fenix wrote:

@Inkbender Pithing Needle . 

Touché, though it reinforces my original point.

Pithing Needle is a great example of a modern card that targets the source of the ability and not the ability.  Notice how it must specify the mana ability exclusion in the card text, rather than as a reminder text.  With Trickbind , the reminder is not necessary to keep it from affecting mana abilities; it's only provided as an aid to the players.  If Pithing needle didn't mention mana abilities, then mana abilities would still be affected; if Trickbind didn't mention them, they still wouldn't be targetable.

I still think the errata should be removed on Abeyance.  ;-)