retraction helix on a summon sick creature
Asked by veritas723 9 years ago
can you cast Retraction Helix on a creature you just cast/is summon sick, and still use the ability inherent to Retraction Helix?
veritas723 says... #2
as a slight follow up:
say i had an artifact on the battlefield/or had control of it since beginning of turn, Ensoul Artifact to make it a creature, Retraction Helix would then be usable ...as the Ensoul Artifact only requires the artifact to have been controlled since beginning of turn, not be a creature. would this seem to hold water?
February 5, 2015 8:52 p.m.
If you have say Darksteel Citadel and you enchant it with Ensoul Artifact, follows the same rules (it's summoning sick unless it has been on the battlefield since your last turn).
If you gained control of it with say Shifting Loyalties, even if the Darksteel Citadel was on the battlefield since your opponents last couple turns and you enchanted it with Ensoul Artifact, if you gain control of it; it'll be summoning sick as it hasn't seen YOUR upkeep yet.
So basically, the same result will happen (the ability won't work).
February 5, 2015 9:06 p.m.
veritas723 says... #4
i'm not saying if i drop the artifact and Ensoul Artifact the same turn...
say.
T3: artifact Darksteel CitadelT4: cast Ensoul Artifact on Darksteel Citadel
oracle/gatherer seems to say in the rulings, it's not how long it was a creature, only if you controlled the artifact since beginning of turn. if i controlled it(placed/cast T3), and ensouled it(T4). it could swing, or is a live creature. -- Retraction Helix should work ?
or am i reading that ruling wrong?
February 5, 2015 10:09 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #5
Yes, what matters is how long you've controlled it, not how long it was a creature. The example scenario with Darksteel Citadel is fine, it can use its tap abilities normally on T4 there, even as a creature.
For the original question, the provided answer was right; Retraction Helix grants an ability that requires tapping to activate. That's distinct from something like Shared Discovery, which has tapping untapped creatures as an additional cost; it doesn't care if they're newly in play because it doesn't cover either the two situations where haste matters (trying to attack the turn they came into play, or tapping to pay the cost of an ability of the creature).
IzzetGod says... Accepted answer #1
If the creature is summoning sick; no you can't activate it's ability because it must tap. A creature needs Haste to activate abilities that use the tap symbol if it's just after being casted.
February 5, 2015 8:31 p.m.