Can You Crew Something with Summoning Sickness?
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The short answer is a resounding yes, you absolutely can crew a Vehicle using creatures that are suffering from summoning sickness. This seemingly counterintuitive rule is a cornerstone of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), and understanding it is crucial for any player looking to master the nuances of the game. While summoning sickness prevents creatures from attacking or using their tap abilities on the turn they enter the battlefield, it doesn’t stop them from being tapped by other effects, like the crew ability of a Vehicle.
Understanding Summoning Sickness
Before diving into the specifics of crewing, let’s revisit what summoning sickness actually entails. In MTG, a creature gains summoning sickness when it comes under your control. This state effectively prevents the creature from:
- Attacking: A creature with summoning sickness cannot be declared as an attacker.
- Using Tap Abilities: If a creature has an ability that requires it to tap as a cost (denoted by the tap symbol {T}), it cannot use this ability while under the influence of summoning sickness.
The important part to note here is that summoning sickness only inhibits a creature from using its own tap abilities or attacking. It doesn’t prevent another card or effect from tapping the creature. This is the key reason why a creature with summoning sickness can still be used to crew a vehicle.
How Crew Works
The crew ability is a special activated ability found on Vehicle cards. It allows you to tap any number of untapped creatures you control whose combined power is equal to or greater than the Vehicle’s crew cost. Once you pay this cost, the Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
Notably, the crew ability is not an ability of the creature being tapped; it belongs to the Vehicle. Therefore, the restriction of summoning sickness is not applicable. The creature isn’t tapping itself, it’s being tapped by the Vehicle’s ability. This distinction allows you to effectively use creatures with summoning sickness to activate the Vehicle.
Why This Interaction Works
To illustrate the interaction further:
- Creature Arrives: A creature enters the battlefield under your control, suffering from summoning sickness.
- Vehicle Activation: You choose to activate the crew ability of a Vehicle you control.
- Tapping Sick Creature: You tap the creature that just entered play along with other untapped creatures, to meet or exceed the Vehicle’s crew cost.
- Vehicle Becomes a Creature: The Vehicle is now a creature and can attack.
The creature with summoning sickness is being tapped by the Vehicle’s crew ability, not by its own tap ability. As such, the restriction imposed by summoning sickness doesn’t apply. This is a fundamental and important interaction within MTG.
Strategic Implications
This ability to use creatures with summoning sickness for crewing opens up strategic opportunities, especially in formats with a high density of Vehicles. It lets players immediately make use of their newly summoned creatures, providing both offensive and defensive flexibility.
Vehicles can be crewed on any player’s turn, providing utility both for attacking and blocking. This means you can use a newly played creature to help crew a vehicle for a defensive block on your opponent’s turn and attack with it on your next turn.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions related to crewing and summoning sickness, to further clarify the rules:
1. Can I crew a vehicle the turn I play it?
Yes, you can crew a vehicle the same turn you play it, as the vehicle doesn’t have summoning sickness. The vehicle only has summoning sickness when it becomes a creature.
2. Can you crew vehicles with other vehicles?
Yes, you can use already crewed vehicles to crew other vehicles. There is no limit, letting you form Vehicle chains.
3. What happens if a vehicle has summoning sickness?
If a Vehicle becomes a creature the turn it was played, it has summoning sickness the same as a normal creature. This means that the vehicle cannot attack or use tap abilities until your next turn.
4. Does summoning sickness affect blocking?
No, summoning sickness only prevents a creature from attacking and using tap abilities. A creature with summoning sickness can still block on your opponent’s turn.
5. Do planeswalkers have summoning sickness?
No, planeswalkers do not have summoning sickness. You can use a planeswalker’s loyalty abilities the turn it enters the battlefield, provided it’s your turn and the planeswalker has sufficient loyalty.
6. Can a planeswalker crew a vehicle?
Yes, but only if that planeswalker is also a creature. If the planeswalker is only a planeswalker, it cannot crew a vehicle.
7. Can I tap a creature with summoning sickness for an ability that doesn’t use the tap symbol?
Yes, summoning sickness only restricts the creature from using its own tap abilities. If another effect or ability taps the creature without it using a tap symbol, you can.
8. Does haste remove summoning sickness?
Haste allows a creature to bypass the restrictions of summoning sickness. It effectively allows a creature to attack and use tap abilities on the turn it enters the battlefield. It doesn’t remove the sickness outright. If haste is removed, summoning sickness would then apply that turn.
9. What abilities are not affected by summoning sickness?
Summoning sickness only affects attacking and tap abilities. Other activated abilities (those with a cost) are not restricted by summoning sickness.
10. Do artifacts suffer from summoning sickness?
Only artifact creatures and artifact that become creatures are affected by summoning sickness. A normal artifact that is not also a creature is not affected.
11. Does deathtouch work on vehicles?
Yes, as long as the Vehicle is a creature. When a source with deathtouch deals damage to a creature vehicle, it is destroyed.
12. Can I crew the same vehicle twice in one turn?
Yes, as long as you can pay the cost by tapping the required power.
13. What happens if you flicker a creature with summoning sickness?
If you flicker (or blink) a creature during your turn, it gains summoning sickness until the start of your next turn. This applies even if it did not have summoning sickness before being flickered.
14. Does crewing a vehicle cause the creatures crewing it to tap?
Yes, the creatures tapped to crew a vehicle are tapped as part of the cost to activate the vehicle’s crew ability.
15. Can I tap a creature I just played to crew?
Yes, you can tap a creature the turn you played it, to crew a vehicle, even though it has summoning sickness.
Conclusion
The interaction between summoning sickness and the crew ability of vehicles is a fascinating example of the intricate rule system in MTG. By understanding that summoning sickness only applies to a creature’s own abilities and not the effects of other cards, players can utilize creatures strategically, even on the turn they enter the battlefield. This mechanic adds depth to the game, encouraging players to think creatively and strategically. Remember, a creature with summoning sickness can crew, and using that fact can make a powerful difference in gameplay.