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I just want to be perfectly clear about Pithing Needle , since my friend uses it in his deck and I believe he's been using it wrong. It is only activated abilities that are effected by it (i.e. Tapping, paying mana, removing loyalty counters), so in essence it can only affect permanents that are on the battlefield, right? It can't affect something like say Counterspell or Diabolic Tutor that is being cast.

It wouldn't be able to be used on spells being cast, but it could still stop activated abilities on cards that aren't  permanents. For example, unless I'm mistaken (and the rules gurus will be quick to point out if I am), the Needle would prevent someone from Scavenging their Deadbridge Goliath if that was the named card.

EDIT: I already see that I'm wrong in this particular example since Scavenge isn't an AA. The Reassembling Skeleton would've been a better example of what I meant. 

Pithing Needle stops all activated abilities of the named card, whereever that card may be. It stops everything with the template [cost]:[effect]. This includes Reassembling Skeleton in the graveyard, Ninja of the Deep Hours ' ninjutsu, cycling, forecast, equip, planeswalkers' loyalty abilities, ... It doesn't stop normal spell effects or triggered abilities.

Oct 11, 2012 -- 12:35PM, dingusstaff69 wrote:

so in essence it can only affect permanents that are on the battlefield, right?

No. While far from the norm, many cards have activated abilities that can be activated from somewhere other than the battlefield.

• Barkhide Mauler has an activated ability that can only be activated from a hand.
  (", Discard this card: Draw a card.")
• Reassembling Skeleton has an activated ability that can only be activated from a graveyard.
  (": Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.")
• Greater Gargadon has an activated ability that can only be activated from exile.
  ("Sacrifice an artifact, creature, or land: ... Activate this ability only if Greater Gargadon is suspended.")
• Lightning Storm has an activated ability that can only be activated from the stack. (!!!)
  ("Discard a land card: ... Any player may activate this ability but only if Lightning Storm is on the stack.")
• etc

I don't think there are any activated abilities that function only while the card is in a Library, Ante or Command zone, but there's nothing in the rules preventing their existance.

Upd: One that functions on the stack was found.
Upd: One that functions in exile was found.

Oct 11, 2012 -- 12:38PM, Grishny wrote:

It wouldn't be able to be used on spells being cast, but it could still stop activated abilities on cards that aren't  permanents. For example, unless I'm mistaken (and the rules gurus will be quick to point out if I am), the Needle would prevent someone from Scavenging their Deadbridge Goliath if that was the named card.

EDIT: I already see that I'm wrong in this particular example since Scavenge isn't an AA. The Reassembling Skeleton would've been a better example of what I meant. 

You were right the first time.

702.95a Scavenge is an activated ability that functions only while the card with scavenge is in a graveyard. “Scavenge [cost]” means “[Cost], Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the power of the card you exiled on target creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”