Summoning Sickness: The Creaturely Conundrum in Magic: The Gathering
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Summoning sickness, in Magic: The Gathering, is a game mechanic that prevents a creature from attacking or using activated abilities with the tap or untap symbol in their cost when it first enters the battlefield under a player’s control. This restriction generally lasts until the beginning of that player’s next turn, reflecting the idea that a creature needs time to adjust and become ready for battle after being summoned. The underlying rule is that a creature can’t attack or use tap abilities unless you’ve controlled it continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.
Understanding the Nuances of Summoning Sickness
The concept might seem simple, but summoning sickness has several nuances that can significantly impact gameplay. It’s a fundamental part of the game’s balance, forcing players to consider timing and strategy when deploying creatures. Without it, aggressive decks would be overwhelming, as players could simply unleash a barrage of powerful creatures every turn with no consequence. Summoning sickness creates a crucial turn of vulnerability, allowing opponents to respond.
The Core of the Rule
The rule essentially states that a creature is affected by summoning sickness unless it has been under your continuous control since the beginning of your most recent turn. This means:
- If a creature enters the battlefield under your control during your turn, it cannot attack or use tap abilities that turn.
- If a creature enters the battlefield under your control during an opponent’s turn (e.g., through a spell that puts a creature directly onto the battlefield), it can block but still cannot attack or use tap abilities until your next turn.
- If you gain control of a creature that an opponent already controlled, it suffers from summoning sickness under your control until the beginning of your next turn.
Beyond Creatures: What Else Gets Affected?
While summoning sickness primarily affects creatures, it’s crucial to understand what the game considers a creature. This extends beyond just creatures to include:
- Artifact Creatures: A combination of artifact and creature.
- Land Creatures: Lands that have become creatures, often temporarily.
- Planeswalker Creatures: Planeswalkers that have transformed into creatures.
- Enchantment Creatures: Enchantments that are also creatures.
Essentially, any permanent that is also classified as a creature is subject to summoning sickness. If a permanent enters the battlefield as something other than a creature and later becomes a creature on the same turn, it will still have summoning sickness. This is a critical point to remember when using cards that transform permanents into creatures.
Exceptions to the Rule
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. In the case of summoning sickness, Haste is the primary way to circumvent it. A creature with haste ignores the restrictions imposed by summoning sickness, allowing it to attack and use tap abilities the turn it enters the battlefield. Note that haste does not remove summoning sickness, it just allows you to ignore its effects. Once the haste effect is gone, summoning sickness is still there and it becomes relevant.
Furthermore, some creatures have abilities that allow them to attack as though they didn’t have summoning sickness. These abilities are generally worded very specifically.
Summoning Sickness FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions related to summoning sickness:
1. Does “Blinking” Cause Summoning Sickness?
Yes. When a creature is “blinked” (exiled and then returned to the battlefield), it is treated as a new permanent entering the battlefield. Therefore, it will have summoning sickness until the beginning of your next turn. You can block with it immediately after it returns, but you cannot attack or use its tap abilities that turn.
2. What About Turning Non-Creatures into Creatures?
If you turn a non-creature permanent into a creature on the same turn it entered the battlefield, it will still have summoning sickness. The key is when the permanent initially entered the battlefield, not when it became a creature.
3. What Removes Summoning Sickness?
Summoning sickness ends automatically at the beginning of your next turn, provided you have continuously controlled the creature since it entered the battlefield. No other action can directly remove summoning sickness except granting the creature haste.
4. Does Stealing a Creature Give it Summoning Sickness?
Yes, if you gain control of a creature that your opponent controlled, it will have summoning sickness under your control until the beginning of your next turn. This is because you have not continuously controlled it since the beginning of your most recent turn.
5. Is Summoning Sickness Only on My Turn?
No. Summoning sickness affects a creature from the moment it enters the battlefield until the beginning of your next turn. It doesn’t matter whose turn it is when the creature enters play. If it’s your opponent’s turn, the creature can still block, but it can’t attack or use tap abilities until your next turn.
6. Does Ghostly Flicker Stop Removal?
Ghostly Flicker can indeed dodge targeted removal. If you cast Ghostly Flicker in response to a removal spell targeting a creature, the Flicker resolves first, exiling and returning the creature. Since the removal spell targets a specific permanent, and that permanent is no longer on the battlefield when the removal spell tries to resolve, the removal spell fizzles (has no effect). However, it will not save it from board wipes that don’t target.
7. Can I Tap an Artifact the Turn I Play It?
If it’s not a creature, yes. Artifacts that are not creatures can be tapped the turn they are played, unless otherwise specified by the card itself. The summoning sickness rule only applies to creatures.
8. Does Untapping Remove Summoning Sickness?
No. Untapping a creature does not remove summoning sickness. Summoning sickness is tied to when the creature entered the battlefield, not its current state (tapped or untapped).
9. Do Incubate Tokens Have Summoning Sickness?
Yes, when you transform an incubator into a Phyrexian creature it will have summoning sickness until the beginning of your next turn.
10. Does Haste Remove Summoning Sickness?
Haste does not remove summoning sickness. It simply allows a creature to ignore the effects of summoning sickness, allowing it to attack and use tap abilities the turn it enters the battlefield. However, if a creature loses haste, it immediately becomes subject to summoning sickness if the “sickness” is still active.
11. Does Regenerate Cause Summoning Sickness?
Regenerating a creature does not inherently cause summoning sickness. If a creature is already on the battlefield and is then regenerated, it can attack if it is untapped and you’ve controlled it since the beginning of your turn.
12. Can I Block with Summoning Sickness?
Yes! A creature with summoning sickness can block. The only restrictions are on attacking and using activated abilities with the tap or untap symbol in their cost. Blocking is a defensive action and not affected by summoning sickness.
13. Does Summoning Sickness Stop Blocking?
No, summoning sickness does not stop blocking. As long as the creature is legally able to block (e.g., not tapped and meets any other conditions for blocking), it can block even if it has summoning sickness.
14. Does Flicker Avoid Board Wipes?
It depends on the type of flicker and the type of board wipe. A card like Ghostly Flicker will not avoid a board wipe, because flicker happens first, then the board wipe resolves and exiles/destroys all the creatures, including the one that was just flickered.
15. Do Planeswalkers Have Summoning Sickness?
No, planeswalkers do not have summoning sickness. You can activate a planeswalker’s loyalty abilities the turn you play it. This is a significant difference from creatures.
Mastering the concept of summoning sickness is crucial for any Magic: The Gathering player. Understanding its intricacies, exceptions, and how it interacts with other game mechanics will significantly improve your strategic decision-making and overall gameplay. Want to know more about game design principles? Visit the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org and learn how games impact education and learning!