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If I play Leviathan (and we know he comes into play tapped) and have a Puppeteer or something out to untap him, am I prevented from sacrificing the two islands and attacking the turn he came into play? In other words, if a creature comes into play tapped and you untap it, does it still have summoning sickness preventing it from attacking?

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  • It's been a loooooooooooong time since I've seen Leviathan used in a game.
    – Ellesedil
    Aug 21, 2014 at 15:27

3 Answers 3

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Yes, it has summoning sickness like every other creature. If you want to attack with your Leviathan the turn it enters the battlefield you'll also need to give it haste.

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    And it may be worth mentioning for completeness that haste is the only exception to the summoning sickness rule. For this rule it doesn't matter whether a creature is tapped or untapped, upside down, flipped, phased out, paired, etc.
    – David Z
    Aug 20, 2014 at 22:02
  • @David Z, Two exceptions: Hasted creatures and non-creatures are unaffected. (Both equally suppress the symptoms of summoning sickness. Remove the Haste or animate the permanent and they'll resuming having the symptoms.) // And then there's the case of a non-creature that has been under your control since before you started your turn, but which turns into a creature.
    – ikegami
    Aug 25, 2014 at 2:56
  • @ikegami well, that depends on what you consider to be the rule. I'm going by 302.6 of the comprehensive rules, which only applies to creatures, and thus noncreature permanents aren't an exception, they are outside the scope of the rule.
    – David Z
    Aug 25, 2014 at 3:00
  • @ikegami no, rule 302.6 says nothing about haste. Creatures with haste are able to behave in a way that directly contradicts that rule. Noncreature permanents are not. That's why haste is an exception but not being a creature isn't.
    – David Z
    Aug 25, 2014 at 3:08
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    @ikegami I would say all four parts of your last comment are incorrect. In any case I think if we are to continue this it would be best to transfer to a chat room (perhaps Board & Card Games Chat).
    – David Z
    Aug 25, 2014 at 4:04
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Even if you untap your creature it will still have summoning sickness. According to Comprehensive Rules:

302.6. A creature's activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can't be activated unless the creature has been under its controller's control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. A creature can't attack unless it has been under its controller's control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the "summoning sickness" rule.

That means that your creature has 'summoning sickness' from the first turn you control that creature until your next turn.

EDIT: I misunderstood this rule a bit, I thought that a creature summoned during opponent's turn (creature with Flash ability for example) would have summoning sickness until their controller's subsequent turn, but summoning sickness is gone as soon as creature is on the battlefield at his controller's upkeep.

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    I think your assertion that "Even if your creature have flash, and you summon it during your opponent turn it will have 'summoning sickness', until your subsequent turn" is inaccurate. If you summon a creature on your opponents turn, it will be continuously under your control since your most recent turn (current turn) began.
    – Pow-Ian
    Aug 20, 2014 at 12:46
  • @Pow-Ian thanks for the information, sorry I miss understood the rule... Edited my answer, and added clarification.
    – Stigi
    Aug 20, 2014 at 13:14
  • As Pow-Ian has stated, the part where you mention a creature with flash having summoning sickness until your subsuquent turn is not true. If the creature with flash also had a tap or untap symbol as part of an activated ability then that ability would still be effected by summoning sickness. Aug 20, 2014 at 15:22
  • A creature summoned during opponent's turn does indeed have summoning sickness until its controller's subsequent turn. If Player A creates or gains control of a permanent on Player B's turn, it will have be affected by summoning sickness until Player A's turn whenever it's a creature without haste.
    – ikegami
    Aug 25, 2014 at 3:28
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Yes, it will be unable to attack.

Summoning sickness is an informal term describing the restrictions imposed by 302.6. A complete definition of summoning sickness is:

Whenever a player gains control of a permanent, it will be affected by summoning sickness whenever the permanent is a creature without haste, until the player loses control of the permanent, or until the player's next turn (whichever comes first).

It doesn't matter how the player gained control of the permanent.

  • It could have been placed on the battlefield as the result of casting it.
  • It could have been placed on the battlefield as instructed by a spell or ability.
  • A continuous effect could have given control of an existing permanent to you.
  • It could have reverted to your control by the end of a continuous effect giving control of an existing permanent to someone else.

Nothing else matters. Specifically, untapping doesn't end or suppress summoning sickness.


302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

702.10b If a creature has haste, it can attack even if it hasn’t been controlled by its controller continuously since his or her most recent turn began.

702.10c If a creature has haste, its controller can activate its activated abilities whose cost includes the tap symbol or the untap symbol even if that creature hasn’t been controlled by that player continuously since his or her most recent turn began.

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