Can you use the exert mechanic with a card that gives your creatures vigilance?

Asked by student-of-life 5 years ago

Can a creature with exert benefit from an enchantment such as Vigilance?

Caerwyn says... Accepted answer #1

Yes--presuming you are exerting as part of an attack. It would not be helpful to a card like Oasis Ritualist.

Rule 701.38a reads: To exert a permanent, you choose to have it not untap during your next untap step.

Note how it says nothing about tapping the creature, merely that it will not untap during its next upkeep. This is further expanded by Rule 701.38b:

A permanent can be exerted even if it’s not tapped or has already been exerted in a turn. If you exert a permanent more than once before your next untap step, each effect causing it not to untap expires during the same untap step. (Emphasis added).

Vigilance does help with Exert, as it lets your creature attack without tapping. So long as your creature remains untapped at the beginning of your next upkeep, you face no effective repercussion from having exerted it.

Note, if your creature does become tapped after the attack--let's say to pay for a creature with Convoke, your creature will then not be able to attack on the next upkeep, even though its being tapped is the result of a mechanic other than that which it exerted itself on.

July 6, 2018 9:02 a.m.