Staff of Domination

[Thicketman]

Staff of Domination does not say "does not untap as normal". Can it be untapped in upkeep without spending the  to untap? Is the  to untap only for the purpose of using it more than once per turn?

[LordHomerCat]

Technically, permanents untap during the untap step.  Staff of Domination will untap normally (unless something like Kill Switch is active) during the untap step, and yes, the 1 mana ability is mostly to allow you to use it multiple times each turn.

[Thicketman]

Thanks a lot!