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Do Enchantment Abilities Have Summoning Sickness? The Definitive Guide

The short answer is no, enchantment abilities themselves do not have summoning sickness. Summoning sickness is a rule that specifically applies to creatures that haven’t been under your continuous control since the beginning of your most recent turn. It restricts those creatures from attacking or using abilities with the tap symbol in their activation cost. Enchantments, being non-creature permanents unless they specifically become creatures, are immune to summoning sickness’s direct restrictions. However, the interaction between enchantments, creatures, and abilities can get complex. Let’s dive into the intricacies to fully understand this crucial Magic: The Gathering (MTG) rule.

Understanding Summoning Sickness

Summoning sickness, although not explicitly called that in the comprehensive rules of MTG, is an informal term describing a very real and important game mechanic. It affects a creature’s ability to act immediately upon entering the battlefield under a player’s control. The key takeaways are:

Applies to Creatures: Summoning sickness only affects creatures. This includes artifact creatures, enchantment creatures, land creatures, and planeswalker creatures.
Continuous Control: The creature must have been under your continuous control since the beginning of your most recent turn to be free from summoning sickness. This means if you gain control of an opponent’s creature, even if it’s been on the battlefield for several turns, it still has summoning sickness under your control for that turn.
Restrictions: A creature with summoning sickness cannot attack or activate abilities with the tap symbol ( {T} ) or the untap symbol ( {Q} ) in their activation cost.
Blocking is Allowed: A creature with summoning sickness can still block attacking creatures. It’s only offensive actions or abilities that are restricted.

Enchantments and Their Abilities

Enchantments, on the other hand, are a type of permanent that provides continuous effects or can have activated or triggered abilities. It’s essential to understand how enchantments function independently before considering their interaction with summoning sickness.

Permanent Type: Enchantments are permanents and therefore reside on the battlefield.
Spells on the Stack: While being cast, enchantments exist as spells on the stack, but once they resolve, they become permanents.
Activated and Triggered Abilities: Enchantments can have activated abilities, which require a player to pay a cost (mana, tapping, sacrificing, etc.) to activate, and triggered abilities, which automatically trigger when a specific condition is met.
Continuous Effects: Many enchantments provide continuous effects that alter game rules or affect other permanents.

Since enchantments are not creatures unless a specific ability or effect turns them into creatures, they are generally unaffected by summoning sickness. You can activate an enchantment’s abilities the turn you play it, as long as you can pay the costs and it doesn’t involve tapping a creature that has summoning sickness (such as a creature enchanted with an aura).

The Crucial Distinction: Enchantment Creatures

The waters become muddier when enchantments become creatures. If an enchantment becomes a creature, such as through a card like “Starfield of Nyx” or “Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi”, the newly created creature is subject to summoning sickness if you haven’t controlled the enchantment continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.

Timing Matters: The key factor is whether the enchantment was continuously under your control before it became a creature.
Transformation: If you play an enchantment on your turn and then, on the same turn, it becomes a creature, it will have summoning sickness.
Pre-Existing Enchantments: However, if the enchantment was already on the battlefield under your control at the beginning of your turn, and then it becomes a creature, it will not have summoning sickness.

Real-World Examples and Scenarios

Consider the following examples to illustrate the concept:

Example 1: You cast an enchantment called “Glorious Anthem” on your turn. Glorious Anthem is just an enchantment. It has no activated abilities, so summoning sickness is irrelevant. It immediately begins providing its continuous effect (creatures you control get +1/+1).
Example 2: You play “Starfield of Nyx” on your turn. Next turn, during your upkeep, “Starfield of Nyx” makes all your other enchantments into creatures. If those enchantments were under your control since the beginning of your turn, they do not have summoning sickness and can attack (assuming they have the power and toughness to survive combat). However, “Starfield of Nyx” does have summoning sickness because it just entered the battlefield this turn.
Example 3: You play an enchantment creature like “Eidolon of Blossoms” on your turn. Because it is a creature, it is subject to summoning sickness.
Example 4: You control “Dryad Arbor”, a land creature. If it just came into play, it has summoning sickness and cannot be tapped for mana or attack.

Practical Implications

Understanding how summoning sickness interacts with enchantments and creatures is crucial for strategic gameplay. Knowing whether you can immediately attack with an enchantment creature or activate an ability involving a tapped creature can significantly impact your decisions. This knowledge influences deck construction, play patterns, and even your approach to trading during a game.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the relationship between enchantment abilities and summoning sickness:

Can I activate an enchantment’s ability the turn I play it? Yes, you can activate an enchantment’s ability the turn you play it, as long as you can pay the costs and the ability doesn’t require tapping a creature that is affected by summoning sickness.
If an enchantment becomes a creature, does it immediately have summoning sickness? Yes, if the enchantment becomes a creature on the same turn you played it, it will have summoning sickness. If you controlled it since the beginning of your most recent turn, it will not.
Does summoning sickness affect triggered abilities of enchantments or enchantment creatures? No, summoning sickness does not affect triggered abilities. These abilities trigger automatically when their conditions are met, regardless of whether the permanent has summoning sickness.
Can I use a creature with summoning sickness to pay the cost of an enchantment’s activated ability? Yes, as long as the cost doesn’t involve tapping that creature or using an ability of that creature that requires tapping. Sacrificing a creature with summoning sickness to pay a cost is perfectly legal.
What happens if I enchant a creature with summoning sickness with an aura that gives it an activated ability? You can enchant the creature, but if the activated ability requires tapping, you cannot use it until the creature is no longer affected by summoning sickness.
If I flicker (exile and return) an enchantment creature, does it get summoning sickness when it returns? Yes, it will have summoning sickness because it’s entering the battlefield again. Think of it as a completely new creature.
Does haste override summoning sickness for enchantment creatures? Yes, if an enchantment creature has haste, it can attack and use tap abilities the turn it enters the battlefield, regardless of summoning sickness.
Can I use an enchantment’s ability to give a creature haste, even if that creature has summoning sickness? Yes, you can give a creature haste with an enchantment’s ability, and that creature will then be able to attack and use tap abilities immediately (assuming it was played this turn).
If I control an enchantment that turns all my lands into creatures, do they all have summoning sickness? Yes, if those lands were just played this turn, they would have summoning sickness. Lands played on previous turns won’t.
Does summoning sickness affect Planeswalkers that are also creatures? Yes, if a Planeswalker becomes a creature, summoning sickness applies to it, restricting its ability to attack or use tap abilities. It can still use its loyalty abilities, as those aren’t tap abilities.
Can I mutate onto an enchantment creature that has summoning sickness? The mutated creature will have summoning sickness if the base creature had summoning sickness. However, if the base creature didn’t, the mutated creature won’t either.
Does morphing an enchantment creature cause summoning sickness? Yes, every permanent you play has summoning sickness as long as you didn’t control it when you last had an untap step.
Can I sacrifice a creature with summoning sickness to activate an enchantment ability? Yes, sacrificing a creature with summoning sickness is allowed, as long as sacrificing isn’t a tap ability.
Can I crew a vehicle with an enchantment creature that has summoning sickness? Yes, you can tap any untapped creature you control to activate a crew ability, including enchantment creatures with summoning sickness!
Does Deathtouch cancel summoning sickness? No, Deathtouch doesn’t cancel summoning sickness. Summoning sickness means a creature cannot attack or tap for abilities that have the tap symbol in their costs. Deathtouch means any amount of damage a creature deals to another creature is enough to destroy it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, enchantment abilities themselves are not subject to summoning sickness. However, understanding the interaction between enchantments, creatures (including enchantment creatures), and summoning sickness is crucial for effective gameplay. A firm grasp of these rules allows you to make informed decisions, optimize your strategies, and ultimately, increase your chances of victory in the intricate world of MTG.

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Do enchantment abilities have summoning sickness?