Can You Tap While Attacking in Magic: The Gathering? A Comprehensive Guide

The short answer is generally no, you cannot tap a creature while it’s attacking in the way you might initially think. However, as with most things in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the rules have nuances and exceptions. Let’s delve into the details to fully understand this interaction.

Understanding the Attack Sequence

To understand why tapping during the attack is not usually possible, it’s important to understand the phases of combat.

1. Beginning Phase: This phase includes the Untap step, Upkeep step, and Draw step.

2. Precombat Main Phase: This is a main phase before the combat phase where you can play spells and abilities.

3. Combat Phase: This is where attacking and blocking happen. It has five steps:

   • Beginning of Combat Step: Abilities can be activated here.
   • Declare Attackers Step: You declare which creatures will attack, and as part of this declaration, they are tapped.
   • Declare Blockers Step: Your opponent declares which creatures will block the attacking creatures.
   • Combat Damage Step: Creatures deal damage to each other.
   • End of Combat Step: The combat phase ends, and certain effects trigger.

4. Postcombat Main Phase: Another main phase where you can play spells and abilities after the combat phase.

5. Ending Phase: This phase includes the End step and Cleanup step.

Why You Can’t Tap During the Attack Declaration

The key is in the Declare Attackers Step. You declare which creatures are attacking, and as the last step in that declaration, those creatures are tapped. Tapping is not a cost for attacking; it’s a result of attacking. Before the declare attackers step, both players have priority. A player can tap or otherwise affect creatures before attacks are declared. However, after attacks have been declared, the creature is already tapped. So, during that declaration, you cannot then activate an ability that requires the creature to tap again. It’s already in the process of being tapped to attack!

Vigilance: The Exception That Proves the Rule

Creatures with Vigilance provide an apparent contradiction. Vigilance allows a creature to attack without being tapped. So, can you tap a creature with Vigilance during combat?

The answer is yes, but not during the Declare Attackers step itself. Because creatures with Vigilance don’t tap as they attack, you can use a tap ability on a creature with Vigilance during the beginning of combat step or after the declare attackers step but before damage if you have such an ability. As long as it does not violate summoning sickness rules.

Abilities That Trigger Upon Attacking

There are abilities that trigger when a creature attacks. These abilities are different from activated abilities that require a tap symbol. These abilities trigger automatically when the creature is declared as an attacker. They don’t involve manually tapping the creature beyond the act of declaring the attack itself.

Timing is Everything

The critical takeaway is understanding when you can act. You can affect creatures before attackers are declared or after attackers and blockers are declared. But you usually cannot interrupt the Declare Attackers Step itself, or while damage is assigned.

FAQs: Tapping and Attacking in MTG

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the rules around tapping and attacking:

1. Can you tap a creature before it attacks to prevent it from attacking?

Yes! You can tap an opponent’s creature before the Declare Attackers Step. If a creature is already tapped at the beginning of the Declare Attackers Step, it cannot be declared as an attacker (unless an effect specifically allows it).

2. What happens if you tap an attacking creature after it has been declared as an attacker?

Tapping or untapping a creature that’s already been declared as an attacker or blocker doesn’t remove it from combat and doesn’t prevent its combat damage. It will still deal and receive combat damage as normal.

3. Does attacking count as activating a tap ability?

No. Attacking is an action, not the activation of a tap ability. Activated abilities with a tap symbol in their cost must be specifically activated. Tapping a creature to attack does not trigger abilities that trigger when a creature is tapped.

4. Can you use a tap ability while attacking with a creature that has Vigilance?

Yes, you can activate the ability as long as the creature has been under your control since the beginning of your most recent turn and you do it after the declare attackers step. Vigilance allows the creature to attack without tapping.

5. Can a tapped creature attack?

Normally, no. However, there are cards and abilities that specifically allow tapped creatures to attack. Without such an effect, a tapped creature cannot be declared as an attacker.

6. Can you activate tap abilities during combat?

Yes, you can activate tap abilities during combat, specifically during the Beginning of Combat step, after attackers have been declared and after blockers have been declared. Each player receives priority at each of these steps and may use that opportunity to activate a tap ability on a legal target.

7. What are the general rules for tap abilities in MTG?

A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol ({T}) or the untap symbol ({Q}) in its activation cost cannot be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control since the start of their most recent turn (it cannot have summoning sickness).

8. Is tapping a land an activated ability?

Yes. Tapping a land for mana is an activated ability. It is a mana ability, a subset of activated abilities that are non-targeted and add mana to a player’s mana pool.

9. What happens if you tap an attacking creature before damage is dealt?

Tapping a creature after it has been declared as an attacker does not remove it from combat and doesn’t prevent it from dealing or receiving combat damage.

10. Can you tap a creature without attacking?

Yes, you can tap a creature without attacking if you are activating an ability that requires you to tap the creature as a cost.

11. Can you tap a creature during your opponent’s turn?

Yes. You may use a tap ability at instant speed, so as long as the cost is paid and the creature does not have summoning sickness, you may use the ability whenever you have priority, including during your opponent’s turn.

12. Can I tap a creature in response to it being tapped to attack?

No. You cannot respond to the act of tapping a creature to attack. Consider it part of the cost, which cannot be responded to. You can, however, respond before the attackers are declared, or after they are declared before moving to the declare blockers step.

13. Can you just tap a card for no reason in MTG?

No. You cannot arbitrarily tap or untap permanents. You can only tap them in accordance with abilities or game rules (like tapping lands for mana or tapping a creature to attack).

14. Does tapping a land count as an activated ability?

Yes, tapping a land for mana is an activated ability and also a mana ability.

15. Can you tap a creature you just summoned?

A creature with summoning sickness cannot attack or use abilities that require tapping. A creature has summoning sickness until the start of your next turn after it enters the battlefield under your control.

Mastering the Nuances

Understanding the timing and sequence of actions is critical in MTG. While you cannot interrupt the act of tapping a creature to attack, you can take actions before or after the attack is declared, which can significantly impact the combat phase. Mastering these nuances will give you a considerable advantage in your games.

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