Summoning Sickness and the Art of the Fight: A Magic: The Gathering Deep Dive

No, a creature with summoning sickness cannot fight another creature. While it can defend itself from attacks, it cannot initiate a fight using an ability that requires it to fight. Summoning sickness prevents a creature from attacking or using abilities with the tap symbol in their cost during the turn they enter the battlefield under your control. The fight mechanic is an activated or triggered ability that requires the creature to be able to act.

Understanding Summoning Sickness

What is Summoning Sickness?

In Magic: The Gathering, summoning sickness is a mechanic that restricts a creature’s ability to attack or use activated abilities with the tap symbol in their cost during the turn it enters the battlefield under your control. This “sickness” represents the creature’s disorientation from being newly summoned. Essentially, it needs a “turn” to adjust before it can actively participate in combat or exert its abilities.

Why Does Summoning Sickness Exist?

Summoning sickness is a crucial balancing mechanic in Magic: The Gathering. Without it, players could instantly deploy powerful creatures and immediately launch devastating attacks, disrupting the game’s strategy and flow. It forces players to think ahead, plan their creature deployments, and consider the timing of their actions.

Combat vs. Fighting: The Key Distinction

It’s crucial to understand the difference between combat and fighting in Magic: The Gathering.

• Combat: This is the standard process of attacking and blocking that occurs during the combat phase of a player’s turn. Summoning sickness prevents a creature from being declared as an attacker. However, a creature with summoning sickness can be declared as a blocker to defend against an attacking creature.

• Fighting: This is a specific action caused by a spell or ability. These abilities usually state something along the lines of, “Creature A fights Creature B.” During a fight, each creature deals damage equal to its power to the other creature simultaneously.

The crucial difference lies in the initiation. Summoning sickness only prevents attacking and abilities with the tap symbol in their cost. The ability to be a blocker is a passive one, and does not require the creature to initiate any action. As for fighting, it’s the use of an activated or triggered ability. A creature with summoning sickness can receive damage from a fight, but it cannot initiate one.

Summoning Sickness FAQs: Your Burning Questions Answered

Here are 15 frequently asked questions about summoning sickness to further clarify its intricacies:

1. Can a creature with summoning sickness block? Yes. Summoning sickness only prevents attacking and using abilities with the tap symbol in their cost. Blocking is a defensive action and is not restricted.

2. Does summoning sickness affect all permanents? No. Only creatures are affected by summoning sickness. Artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers are not subject to this restriction.

3. Does haste negate summoning sickness? Yes. A creature with haste can attack and use abilities with the tap symbol in their cost the turn it enters the battlefield, effectively ignoring summoning sickness.

4. Can I tap a creature with summoning sickness for convoke? Yes, you can use a creature with summoning sickness for convoke. The creature is being tapped as an effect of the convoke ability, not as a cost.

5. Does flickering a creature cause summoning sickness? Yes. When a creature is flickered (exiled and then returned to the battlefield), it is considered a new permanent. It will be affected by summoning sickness upon its return.

6. Does mutate ignore summoning sickness? The base creature determines whether summoning sickness applies. If the base creature had summoning sickness, the mutated creature will also be affected.

7. Can you tap an artifact the turn you play it? Yes, unless the artifact is also a creature. Summoning sickness only applies to creatures.

8. Does summoning sickness affect creatures that enter the battlefield tapped? Yes. Even if a creature enters the battlefield tapped, it is still affected by summoning sickness and cannot attack or use abilities with the tap symbol in their cost.

9. If I gain control of an opponent’s creature, does it have summoning sickness? Yes. If you gain control of a creature on your turn, it will have summoning sickness until the beginning of your next turn.

10. Can a creature with summoning sickness crew a vehicle? Yes. Activating a vehicle’s crew ability does not use the tap symbol in its cost. A creature with summoning sickness can be tapped to crew a vehicle the turn it enters the battlefield.

11. If a creature with summoning sickness is given an ability that says “This creature fights another target creature,” can it use that ability? No. Even if the ability is granted to the creature, it still cannot be used until the creature no longer has summoning sickness.

12. Does summoning sickness affect triggered abilities? No, summoning sickness doesn’t affect triggered abilities. Triggered abilities automatically activate when their trigger condition is met, regardless of whether the creature has summoning sickness.

13. How does summoning sickness interact with effects that give a creature the ability to attack as though it didn’t have summoning sickness? Effects that specifically grant the ability to attack as though the creature didn’t have summoning sickness will override the normal restrictions of summoning sickness. For example, the card “Crackle with Power” allows creatures to attack even if they have summoning sickness.

14. Can a creature with summoning sickness activate a mana ability? Yes, creatures with summoning sickness can activate mana abilities. Mana abilities don’t use the stack and are an exception to the restrictions of summoning sickness.

15. If I cast a creature spell on my opponent’s turn, will it have summoning sickness when my turn begins? No. Summoning sickness applies when a creature enters the battlefield under your control. Since it entered the battlefield on your opponent’s turn, it will be able to attack on your turn, provided there aren’t any other effects that prevent it.

Mastering the Rules, Mastering the Game

Understanding the nuances of summoning sickness and its interactions with other game mechanics is crucial for becoming a skilled Magic: The Gathering player. This knowledge allows you to make informed decisions, build effective strategies, and outmaneuver your opponents. The Games Learning Society, or GamesLearningSociety.org, provides many resources to help you deepen your knowledge of this topic. So, keep learning, keep playing, and keep honing your skills!