Do Transformed Creatures Have Summoning Sickness? A Comprehensive Guide
The short answer is: It depends. While transforming a creature doesn’t inherently grant it summoning sickness, a transformed creature can indeed be affected by summoning sickness if the conditions align. This might seem a little confusing, so let’s delve into the intricacies of this rule to provide clarity and prevent any mishaps during your next game of Magic: The Gathering.
Understanding Summoning Sickness
What is Summoning Sickness?
Summoning sickness is a fundamental rule in Magic: The Gathering that prevents newly played creatures from immediately attacking or using their activated abilities that require tapping. When a creature comes under your control, it is considered to have summoning sickness unless you controlled it continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn. This rule is designed to balance gameplay by preventing players from deploying new creatures and immediately launching an attack or tapping them for other beneficial effects.
How Does Transforming Affect Summoning Sickness?
Transforming a creature doesn’t inherently grant it summoning sickness. The key is the continuous control. If a creature has been on the battlefield under your control since the start of your turn, transforming it doesn’t reset that status. It can still attack and use tap abilities, assuming the transformed side is also a creature that doesn’t otherwise have summoning sickness. This is a critical distinction and a common source of confusion for many players.
When Does Transformation Cause Summoning Sickness?
There are specific scenarios where a transformed creature will have summoning sickness:
- Exile and Return: If a creature is exiled and then returned to the battlefield transformed, it is considered a brand-new game object and will have summoning sickness. This is because any card returning from exile is treated as if it just entered the battlefield.
- Sagas Turning into Creatures: Specifically, Sagas that transform into creature permanents after the last chapter resolves will be treated as new objects and will have summoning sickness when they transform.
- Change of Control: If control of a creature changes, even if it then transforms, it will have summoning sickness. This is because summoning sickness is tied to the controller, not necessarily the card itself.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can a morphed creature attack if it has summoning sickness?
Yes, a morphed creature has summoning sickness when it first enters the battlefield face down. It cannot attack or use activated abilities that use the tap symbol if you haven’t controlled it since the beginning of your turn. However, flipping it face up does not refresh its summoning sickness. If it was under your control since the start of your turn, it can now attack or tap (unless it has some other condition preventing it).
2. Do lands turned into creatures have summoning sickness?
Yes, if a land becomes a creature, it will be affected by summoning sickness. A land that becomes a creature can’t attack or use tap abilities, including its mana abilities, unless you controlled it from the beginning of your most recent turn. This rule ensures that you cannot immediately start using land creatures for both mana and attacking.
3. Can a creature block if it has summoning sickness?
Yes, summoning sickness only restricts attacking and tapping for activated abilities. A creature with summoning sickness can block normally, making them still valuable for defensive purposes even if they can’t participate in offense immediately.
4. Does haste bypass summoning sickness?
Yes, a creature with haste ignores summoning sickness and can attack or tap for abilities immediately upon entering the battlefield. Haste provides an immediate offensive option or allows a creature to use tap abilities instantly. However, it doesn’t remove the summoning sickness from the creature, just negates it for that turn. If the creature loses haste, it can then be affected by summoning sickness.
5. What happens when a saga has 0 counters?
A saga doesn’t inherently do anything with zero counters. It’s when a saga gets a third lore counter on it that it will be sacrificed. The chapters will trigger each time a new lore counter is placed on it (or multiple lore counters placed on it via proliferate or other effects).
6. Can I proliferate a saga?
Yes, you can use proliferate on sagas to add more lore counters to it. It’s also worth noting that, with cards like [[Doubling Season]], a Saga would enter with 2 lore counters. This is how Saga’s “enter with X Lore counters” abilities get around being chaptered multiple times at once.
7. Can I play a morph face-down as an instant?
No, the ability to cast a morph face down is not an instant. You can cast a morph face down at any time you would cast a creature spell (ie: during your main phase, on your own turn). Turning the morph face up does have the timing of an instant, meaning you can turn it face up at any time you could play an instant.
8. Does morph count as an ability?
Yes, morph is considered a static ability. It functions in any zone you could play the card from, and the effect works whenever the card is face down.
9. What is the difference between morph and manifest?
Morph allows you to play a creature face-down as a 2/2, colorless creature, with the ability to pay to turn it face up. Manifest allows you to play a card face down as a 2/2 that may or may not be a creature; in the case of a manifested creature, you may pay to turn the card face up. If the manifested card has morph, you can also turn it face-up for the morph cost.
10. Is Sol Ring legal in Pioneer?
Yes, Sol Ring is legal in Pioneer. Initially, it was banned in the format, but the ban was lifted. Sol Ring is now a viable option for players looking for fast mana acceleration in Pioneer.
11. Is Sol Ring banned in Legacy?
Yes, Sol Ring is currently banned in the Legacy format due to its powerful mana ramp ability, which could lead to unfair advantages and imbalance within the format.
12. Does deathtouch cancel deathtouch?
No, deathtouch does not cancel out deathtouch. Any amount of damage dealt by a creature with deathtouch is lethal damage. Multiple instances of deathtouch on a single creature don’t do anything, as the creature still just has deathtouch.
13. Does indestructible protect against deathtouch?
Yes, indestructible creatures ignore the effects of deathtouch. While deathtouch usually means that any damage dealt is lethal, it can’t destroy an indestructible creature.
14. Does hexproof cancel deathtouch?
No, hexproof does not prevent deathtouch. Deathtouch is not a spell or ability your opponent controls and does not target your creature, meaning it isn’t negated by hexproof.
15. Does exiling remove counters?
Yes, exiling removes all counters from a permanent. When a permanent is exiled, it becomes a new object, losing all counters, enchantments, equipment, and other effects it previously had. If the permanent returns to the battlefield from exile, it is treated as a brand new object.
Conclusion
The interaction between transformed creatures and summoning sickness is governed by rules surrounding continuous control and the state of the game object. By understanding the nuances discussed above, you’ll be well-equipped to avoid misplays and execute your strategies effectively. Remember that it’s not just about the transform mechanic, but more about the timing of when you’ve had the control of the creature on the battlefield, and if that creature becomes a new object by returning from exile. Keep these principles in mind and happy gaming!