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Can a Creature with Summoning Sickness Defend? A Comprehensive Guide

Yes, a creature with summoning sickness can defend! While summoning sickness restricts a creature’s ability to attack or use abilities with the tap symbol (T) or untap symbol (Q) in their cost during the turn they enter the battlefield under your control, blocking is perfectly legal. This is a crucial distinction to understand in Magic: The Gathering strategy. Let’s dive deeper into the nuances of this rule and explore related scenarios.

Understanding Summoning Sickness

Summoning sickness is the term players use to describe the limitation placed on creatures that have newly entered the battlefield. Officially, it’s covered by rules like 302.6, which states a creature’s activated ability with a tap or untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. In essence, it’s a waiting period before a creature can fully participate in combat offensively.

The Key Restriction: Attacking and Tapping

The core restrictions imposed by summoning sickness are clear:

Inability to Attack: A creature with summoning sickness cannot be declared as an attacking creature.
Restricted Tap/Untap Abilities: A creature cannot use activated abilities that require tapping or untapping as a cost (e.g., “{T}: Draw a card”).

Blocking: The Exception to the Rule

The critical exception to these restrictions is blocking. A creature with summoning sickness can absolutely be declared as a blocker. This allows you to use newly summoned creatures as a defensive wall, mitigating damage from your opponent’s attackers, even if the creature cannot actively strike back on your turn.

Strategic Implications of Blocking with Summoning Sickness

Understanding that creatures with summoning sickness can block opens up a range of strategic possibilities:

Early Game Defense: You can use early creature plays to establish a defensive presence, even if those creatures can’t immediately attack. This is especially useful in decks that aim for a longer game.
Protecting Planeswalkers: A newly summoned creature can block an attacker targeting your Planeswalker, allowing you to maintain valuable loyalty counters.
Chump Blocking: Even a weak creature with summoning sickness can be used as a “chump blocker” to absorb a powerful attack and prevent damage to you or your other valuable permanents.

FAQs: Summoning Sickness and Defense

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding summoning sickness and its interaction with various game mechanics:

Can a creature with summoning sickness be targeted by spells or abilities? Yes. Summoning sickness only restricts attacking and tap/untap abilities. It does not provide protection from spells or abilities your opponent might cast.
Can a creature with summoning sickness be tapped by another card’s ability? Absolutely. Summoning sickness only prevents the creature itself from using its own tap abilities. If another card’s ability allows you to tap a creature, you can tap a creature with summoning sickness.
Can I tap a creature with summoning sickness for convoke? Yes! The creature is being tapped as a cost of the convoke ability. This is acceptable even if the creature has summoning sickness.
Does blinking a creature remove summoning sickness permanently? No. Blinking (exiling and returning) a creature effectively resets it. If you blink it on your turn, it will be affected by summoning sickness.
Does summoning sickness apply to lands that become creatures? Yes. If a land transforms into a creature, it is subject to summoning sickness rules. You cannot attack or use its tap abilities on the turn it became a creature unless it began your most recent turn on the battlefield under your control.
Do Incubate tokens have summoning sickness? When you transform an Incubator token into a Phyrexian creature, it will have summoning sickness if the Incubator token entered the battlefield that turn.
Can a creature with summoning sickness block a creature with Fear or Intimidate? Yes, unless other factors prevent it. Fear prevents a creature from being blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it. Intimidate prevents a creature from being blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it. Summoning Sickness does not affect its ability to block.
Can Urza tap an artifact creature with summoning sickness for mana? Yes, Urza, Lord High Artificer can tap an artifact creature for mana, even if it has summoning sickness. Urza’s ability is tapping it for mana, not the creature using its own tap ability.
Can you tap a creature in response to it being declared as an attacker? No. Declaring attackers doesn’t use the stack and players cannot respond to it.
Does attacking count as tapping a creature? Declaring a creature as an attacker causes it to become tapped automatically. This action doesn’t use the stack and cannot be responded to.
If a creature loses summoning sickness during the declare attackers step, can I attack with it? No. Once the declare attackers step begins, you cannot go back and declare more attackers.
Can a creature with summoning sickness block a creature with deathtouch? Yes. Deathtouch does not prevent a creature from blocking it only makes it so that any amount of damage it deals to the blocker is enough to destroy it.
Can a creature with summoning sickness that is also a coward block? Potentially. Creatures that change other creatures into Cowards may stop Cowards from blocking Warriors. Pyrophobia disallows Cowards to block in general.
If a creature has haste, does that mean it doesn’t have summoning sickness? Yes, haste bypasses summoning sickness. A creature with haste can attack and use abilities that have the tap symbol as a cost on the turn it enters the battlefield.
Where can I learn more about the strategic elements of card games? Consider exploring the work of the Games Learning Society, an organization dedicated to understanding how games impact learning and engagement. You can find more information at GamesLearningSociety.org.

Mastering Summoning Sickness for Strategic Advantage

Summoning sickness is a core mechanic that influences deck building, sequencing, and overall strategy in Magic: The Gathering. Recognizing its limitations and understanding its exceptions, especially the ability to block, is crucial for maximizing your chances of victory. By integrating these concepts into your gameplay, you will be sure to achieve a strategic advantage and win more games of Magic The Gathering!

Can a creature with summoning sickness defend?