Does Stealing a Creature Give It Summoning Sickness? The Definitive Guide
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Yes, stealing a creature does indeed give it summoning sickness. Even though the creature itself has been on the battlefield continuously, summoning sickness isn’t about the creature’s existence, but about your control over it. You haven’t controlled it since the beginning of your most recent turn, therefore, it is summoning sick for you. Let’s delve deeper into the nuances of this rule and explore some related scenarios.
Understanding Summoning Sickness
Summoning sickness is a fundamental concept in Magic: The Gathering (MTG) that governs when a creature can attack or use certain activated abilities. It’s not a disease, but rather a restriction placed on creatures that haven’t been under your control for a sufficient period. The rule is designed to prevent players from immediately leveraging creatures they’ve just put into play or gained control of.
The Core Rule: Control and Continuous Existence
The precise wording of the rule is crucial: A creature can’t attack or use activated abilities with the tap symbol (Tap: {cost}) or the untap symbol (Untap: {cost}) in their activation cost unless it has been under your control continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.
This means two things:
- Control is Key: It’s not enough for the creature to simply exist on the battlefield. You must have continuously controlled it since the start of your turn.
- “Tap” and “Untap” Abilities are Restricted: Only activated abilities using the tap or untap symbol are affected. Other abilities can usually be used immediately, even if the creature has summoning sickness.
How This Applies to Stolen Creatures
When you take control of a creature, it’s considered a new entity under your control from a summoning sickness perspective. Even if the creature has been attacking for your opponent for the past five turns, the moment control changes, it’s treated as if it just entered the battlefield under your command. Therefore, it can’t attack or use tap abilities until your next turn begins.
Exceptions to the Rule
There are, of course, exceptions that prove the rule. Understanding these exceptions is critical for advanced play.
Haste: The Summoning Sickness Override
Haste is an ability that explicitly bypasses summoning sickness. Creatures with haste can attack and use tap abilities the turn they enter the battlefield or come under your control, regardless of how recently that happened.
Cards like Act of Aggression often grant haste to creatures they steal precisely for this reason. Without haste, the stolen creature would be useless for attacking on that turn.
Activated Abilities Without Tap or Untap
Summoning sickness only restricts activated abilities that require tapping or untapping the creature. Other activated abilities, like those that cost mana or sacrifice a creature, can be used even if the creature is summoning sick.
Practical Examples
- Scenario 1: Stealing a Creature Without Haste: You cast Mind Control on your opponent’s massive, scary creature on your turn. Even though it’s a powerful attacker, it can’t attack this turn because you haven’t controlled it since the beginning of your turn. It has summoning sickness.
- Scenario 2: Stealing a Creature With Haste: You cast Act of Treason on your opponent’s creature, which also grants it haste. You can immediately attack with the stolen creature because the haste ability overrides summoning sickness.
- Scenario 3: Using a Non-Tap Ability: You take control of a creature and it has an activated ability that says, “{1}, Sacrifice this creature: Draw a card.” You can use this ability immediately, even if the creature has summoning sickness, because it doesn’t require tapping.
FAQs: Mastering Summoning Sickness and Creature Control
Here are some frequently asked questions to further clarify summoning sickness and its interaction with creature control:
1. Does summoning sickness prevent a creature from blocking?
No. Summoning sickness only prevents attacking and using activated abilities with tap or untap symbols. Creatures can still block, even if they have summoning sickness.
2. If I flicker a creature (exile it then return it to the battlefield), does it get summoning sickness?
Yes. Even though it’s the same card, the creature is considered a new game object upon returning to the battlefield. It will have summoning sickness unless it has haste.
3. What about morphing a creature? Does that cause summoning sickness?
If you cast a creature face down as a morph (costing 3), and then turn it face up on the same turn, it will have summoning sickness. If you morph it face up on a subsequent turn and have maintained control, then no summoning sickness.
4. Do tokens have summoning sickness?
Yes, if the token is a creature. If a spell or ability creates a creature token, that token is subject to summoning sickness just like any other creature.
5. If a creature loses haste, does it suddenly get summoning sickness?
Yes. If a creature had haste and could attack or use tap abilities, but then loses haste (perhaps due to a card like Dress Down), it will then be affected by summoning sickness for the remainder of the turn.
6. Does summoning sickness last a full turn?
Not exactly. It lasts until the beginning of your next turn. So, if you play a creature at the end of your opponent’s turn, it will still have summoning sickness at the beginning of your turn.
7. Can I use mana abilities of a summoning sick creature?
Yes, if the mana ability doesn’t use the tap symbol in its activation cost. Mana abilities that require tapping a creature are subject to summoning sickness.
8. Can I equip a creature that has summoning sickness?
Yes. Equipping a creature is perfectly legal, even if the creature has summoning sickness. The equipment attaches to the creature and modifies its stats or abilities, but it doesn’t require the creature to attack or use a tap ability.
9. Does copying a creature cause summoning sickness for the copy?
Yes. If you copy a creature, the copy is treated as a new creature entering the battlefield under your control. It will have summoning sickness unless it has haste.
10. What happens if I give a summoning sick creature haste?
The creature can immediately attack and use tap abilities. Haste overrides the effects of summoning sickness.
11. Can I sacrifice a creature I just stole?
Yes. Summoning sickness does not prevent you from sacrificing a creature you control, even if you just gained control of it.
12. Do planeswalkers have summoning sickness?
No. Summoning sickness only applies to creatures. Planeswalkers can use their loyalty abilities the turn they enter the battlefield, provided they have sufficient loyalty counters.
13. If I untap a summoning sick creature, can I then use its tap abilities?
No. Untapping a creature doesn’t remove summoning sickness. It still cannot attack or use tap abilities until you have controlled it continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn. You cannot untap to bypass summoning sickness.
14. I cast a creature with flash. Does it still get summoning sickness?
Yes, it does. Flash only lets you cast a creature at a time you normally couldn’t. It doesn’t affect summoning sickness.
15. Can I pay additional costs like “tap an untapped creature you control” when casting a spell if all my creatures have summoning sickness?
No, you cannot. Since summoning sickness prevents the creature from being able to be tapped, you are unable to pay that additional cost.
Conclusion: Mastering the Nuances
Understanding summoning sickness and its interactions with creature control is vital for success in Magic: The Gathering. It’s a seemingly simple rule with numerous subtle implications that can significantly impact your gameplay. Master the concepts discussed here, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a more skilled and strategic player. Learning more about the fascinating world of gaming and its educational applications is as easy as visiting the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org.