Do Treasure Tokens Have Summoning Sickness? An In-Depth Guide
The short answer is no, treasure tokens do not have summoning sickness. Summoning sickness only applies to creatures, and treasure tokens are artifact tokens, specifically. They can be tapped and sacrificed the turn they enter the battlefield, provided other circumstances don’t prevent it (like another effect that states it cannot be tapped).
Let’s dive deeper into why this is the case and explore related concepts.
Understanding Summoning Sickness
What is Summoning Sickness?
In Magic: The Gathering, summoning sickness is a rule that restricts what a creature can do when it first enters the battlefield under your control. Specifically, a creature with summoning sickness cannot attack or use any of its tap or untap abilities. However, it can still block an attacking creature on your opponent’s turn, and it can still use any abilities that don’t require tapping.
Who Does Summoning Sickness Affect?
Summoning sickness applies to creatures as a card type. This includes:
- Creatures
- Artifact Creatures
- Land Creatures
- Enchantment Creatures
- Planeswalker Creatures
It is also important to note that if a non-creature permanent (like an artifact, enchantment, land or planeswalker) becomes a creature, it is now also subject to summoning sickness.
Why Doesn’t it Affect Treasure Tokens?
Treasure tokens are artifact tokens, not creature tokens. Their primary function is to be sacrificed for mana. This process involves tapping the token and sacrificing it, adding one mana of any color to your mana pool. Since the game’s rules are very precise, only creatures are hindered by summoning sickness. Treasure tokens operate outside this rule set, because they are not creatures. Therefore, they are not restricted by summoning sickness and can be used immediately.
Treasure Tokens and Their Functionality
How Treasure Tokens Work
Treasure tokens are colorless artifact tokens with the ability ” {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”. The important point is that this is an activated ability, which is meant to be used on the turn the Treasure token is created.
The Importance of Tapping
While early “Gold” tokens did not have a tap requirement, Treasure tokens do. This distinction is crucial. Tapping is intended to prevent you from using a treasure token for multiple sources of mana through cards with abilities that enable artifacts to tap for mana (like “Improvise” or a creature with the ability to make artifacts tap for mana).
Ramp and Treasure Tokens
Treasure tokens are often considered a form of ramp in Magic: The Gathering. Ramp refers to strategies that allow you to accelerate your mana production, enabling you to cast more powerful spells earlier in the game. Treasure tokens effectively provide you with a temporary mana boost, allowing you to play spells you might not otherwise be able to afford. Games Learning Society (https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/) could explore the learning aspects related to resource management with treasure tokens.
Commanders and Treasure Tokens
Certain commanders greatly benefit from a treasure token strategy. Commanders like Prosper, Tome-Bound excel in generating a large number of treasure tokens, providing both card advantage and mana acceleration. Building a deck around a treasure theme can be a powerful and rewarding strategy.
FAQs About Treasure Tokens
Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the intricacies of treasure tokens:
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Can I tap a treasure token and not sacrifice it?
Yes, you can tap treasure tokens without sacrificing them if another effect allows it. For instance, Galazeth Prismari allows you to tap artifacts for mana. In that case, tapping the treasure token grants its mana ability due to Galazeth, and the treasure token is not sacrificed unless another effect tells you to do so.
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Can treasure tokens tap for colorless mana?
No, treasure tokens cannot tap specifically for colorless mana. They add one mana of any color, which can be used to pay for generic mana costs, but they don’t produce specifically colorless mana.
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Do treasure tokens trigger graveyard effects?
Yes, treasure tokens do go to the graveyard before ceasing to exist. This means they can trigger “enter the graveyard” abilities. However, they won’t count towards effects that count “cards in your graveyard” because they cease to exist as a state-based action immediately after going to the graveyard.
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Can you proliferate treasure tokens?
No, you cannot proliferate treasure tokens, because Proliferate only works on counters. Treasure tokens are tokens, not permanents with counters.
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Do treasure tokens activate Marionette Master?
Yes, Marionette Master‘s ability will trigger when a treasure token is sacrificed, because it’s an artifact going to the graveyard from the battlefield.
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Can you respond to someone sacrificing a treasure token?
No. The activation of the treasure’s ability to sacrifice itself for mana is a mana ability, which is a special kind of ability. These do not use the stack, and resolve immediately, and the player that activated the ability will maintain priority.
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Are treasure tokens any color?
Treasure tokens are colorless artifact tokens. While they can produce mana of any color when sacrificed, the token itself is colorless.
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Why are treasure tokens tapped when sacrificed?
Treasure tokens are tapped when sacrificed to prevent “double-tapping,” exploiting abilities like Improvise or other card abilities that allow artifacts to tap for mana.
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Do treasure tokens count as ramp?
Yes, treasure tokens are generally considered ramp, providing you with extra mana that you might not otherwise have access to.
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Do tokens hit the graveyard?
Yes, tokens do briefly enter the graveyard before disappearing. This triggers “enter the graveyard” effects, but they are not “cards in the graveyard”.
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Is summoning sickness only for creatures?
Yes, summoning sickness only affects permanents with the Creature type (including Artifact Creatures, Land Creatures, etc.).
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Can a creature tap its first turn?
A creature can tap its first turn if it’s not for attacking or activating an ability that requires tapping. The keyword is summoning sickness.
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Can token creatures be tapped?
Yes, token creatures can be tapped. Like any creature, they are subject to summoning sickness if they just entered the battlefield under your control.
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Why is Gold better than Treasure?
Gold tokens did not have a tapping requirement to sacrifice. This enabled more flexible plays, especially with mechanics like Improvise.
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Can Exotic Orchard tap for colorless mana?
No, Exotic Orchard cannot tap for colorless mana, even if an opponent controls a land that can produce colorless mana. Exotic Orchard can only tap for a color of mana an opponent’s land could produce.
By understanding the mechanics and nuances of treasure tokens, players can leverage them effectively to gain a strategic advantage in their games. Whether it’s accelerating your mana base or triggering graveyard effects, treasure tokens are a powerful tool in any Magic: The Gathering player’s arsenal.