Does Tapping a Planeswalker Do Anything? A Comprehensive Guide
The short answer is: No, tapping a planeswalker inherently does nothing. Unlike creatures, planeswalkers don’t need to be untapped to use their abilities. A planeswalker’s loyalty abilities are activated by paying a loyalty cost, which is a number with a plus (+) or minus (-) symbol next to it. This modifies the planeswalker’s loyalty counters, but has absolutely nothing to do with whether the planeswalker is tapped or untapped. Let’s delve deeper into the nuances of how tapping and other game mechanics interact with planeswalkers.
Understanding Planeswalkers and Tapping
In Magic: The Gathering (MTG), tapping is a fundamental mechanic, primarily associated with creatures and artifacts. Creatures often need to be untapped to attack or use certain activated abilities (indicated by the tap symbol). However, planeswalkers operate under a different set of rules.
Planeswalkers enter the battlefield untapped. They can immediately activate one of their loyalty abilities on your turn at sorcery speed (during your main phase when the stack is empty) as long as you haven’t activated one of its loyalty abilities already that turn. Tapping a planeswalker, whether through a card like Dream’s Grip or some other means, won’t prevent you from activating those abilities, nor will it inherently trigger any other game effect tied to the planeswalker itself. Think of tapping a planeswalker as similar to tapping a land; It doesn’t really matter unless some other card specifically cares if the permanent is tapped.
The Real Impact: When Tapping Does Matter
While tapping a planeswalker doesn’t directly affect its ability to activate loyalty abilities, it can matter in certain situations. This typically occurs when other cards or abilities interact with tapped permanents. For example, a card that grants benefits when an opponent controls tapped permanents would recognize a tapped planeswalker.
More commonly, the tapping of a planeswalker will interact with a planeswalker when it is temporarily a creature. Some planeswalkers, such as various versions of Gideon, have abilities that turn them into creatures until end of turn. If such a planeswalker is tapped while it is also a creature, this will prevent it from attacking.
Furthermore, some cards specifically interact with tapped permanents in general, no matter what they are. This is where tapping a planeswalker might actually matter.
Planeswalker Fundamentals and More
To fully grasp the tap mechanic’s interaction (or lack thereof) with planeswalkers, it’s essential to understand some core principles about them. They enter the battlefield with a specific number of loyalty counters. Activating an ability changes the number of loyalty counters on the planeswalker. When a planeswalker reaches zero loyalty, it is put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action. They’re also subject to the “planeswalker uniqueness rule,” now part of the broader “legend rule,” meaning you can’t control two planeswalkers with the same name. This rule is related to the design principles explored by the Games Learning Society (GamesLearningSociety.org) which emphasize strategic thinking and problem-solving.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Planeswalkers
Here are 15 frequently asked questions about planeswalkers to further clarify their mechanics and interactions:
1. Does using a planeswalker ability tap it?
No. A planeswalker is (usually) not a creature, and a loyalty ability does not use the tap symbol. Activating a loyalty ability involves paying a loyalty cost, which is adding or removing loyalty counters from the planeswalker.
2. What happens when you copy a planeswalker ability?
You may copy a planeswalker’s ability. Doing so won’t affect the original planeswalker’s loyalty because raising or lowering its loyalty is part of the cost of the ability, not part of its effect.
3. When can you activate a planeswalker ability?
Planeswalker abilities can only be activated at sorcery speed. This means on your turn, during one of your main phases, when the stack is empty. Also, you may activate only one loyalty ability per Planeswalker per turn.
4. Can you use Duress on a planeswalker?
No. Duress targets a non-creature, non-land card in an opponent’s hand. Planeswalkers are permanents on the battlefield, not cards in a hand.
5. Can you deal direct damage to planeswalkers with spells like Shock?
Yes. Spells like Shock, which deal damage to “any target”, can target planeswalkers. Dealing damage to planeswalkers used to be handled by the “Planeswalker Redirection rule”, but this has since been removed.
6. Does giving a planeswalker indestructible prevent it from being put into the graveyard with zero loyalty?
Giving a planeswalker indestructible will stop it from being destroyed, but it will not stop it from going to the graveyard when state-based actions are checked and it has zero loyalty, nor will it stop it from losing loyalty when it takes damage.
7. Can you flicker (exile and return) planeswalkers?
Planeswalkers can be blinked by any effect that doesn’t specifically exclude them. Most blink effects like Momentary Blink can only target creatures, but some effects don’t have this restriction.
8. If you flicker a planeswalker, can you activate an ability again that turn?
Yes, you can indeed use a planeswalker’s ability, then flicker it and use its ability again that same turn. Once it leaves play, it stops being the same ‘casting’ of the card, same as if it had gone to the graveyard or been permanently exiled somehow.
9. Does Deathtouch work on planeswalkers?
Deathtouch is a static ability that causes 1 point of damage of the source with deathtouch to kill any creature it deals damage to (unless that creature is indestructible). This does not apply to Planeswalkers, because they are not creatures. You’ll need an additional ability like that of Vraska, Swarm’s Eminence.
10. Can you reduce a planeswalker’s loyalty to 0?
No. As soon as a planeswalker has 0 loyalty, it is put into the graveyard as a state-based action.
11. What is the planeswalker uniqueness rule?
Planeswalker cards used to have a similar rule to the “legend rule”: If a player controls two or more planeswalkers that share a planeswalker type (e.g., two Jaces), that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This was called the “planeswalker uniqueness rule”. It has been changed and integrated into the Legend Rule now.
12. Do planeswalkers have summoning sickness?
No. You may activate a planeswalker’s loyalty abilities on the same turn you play it. For instance, you can play Liliana of the Veil and immediately use the “-2: Target player sacrifices a creature” ability.
13. Can you target a planeswalker directly with Fireball?
You can’t target the planeswalker itself, since Fireball targets a creature or player and a planeswalker is neither. However, what you can do is target the planeswalker’s controller, then redirect the damage to the planeswalker when Fireball resolves, which often amounts to much the same thing.
14. Does hitting a planeswalker in combat count as hitting a player?
No, unless it is combat damage and the creature has trample in which case the excess damage does hit the player. But if this is not the case, the planeswalker takes all the damage.
15. Do board wipes affect planeswalkers?
Yes. Board wipes that affect all permanents, or those that specifically target creatures and planeswalkers, will affect planeswalkers. Furthermore, some board wipes are also notable for dealing damage to planeswalkers and creatures alike.
Conclusion
While tapping a planeswalker might seem like a powerful control tactic, it directly does nothing to their abilities. The focus should be on managing their loyalty, dealing direct damage to them, or using cards that indirectly interact with tapped permanents. Mastering these nuances is crucial for strategic gameplay in Magic: The Gathering. To deepen your understanding of strategy and game design, consider exploring resources from organizations like the Games Learning Society at https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/. This organization highlights the educational value and problem-solving skills inherent in games like MTG. Good luck and have fun!