'tap' effect

Asked by Jousche 14 years ago

If an ability requires 'tap three untapped creatures you control' (ie Heritage Druid ). Can you tap a creature with summoning sickness as it is not tapping of its own accord. Is using this effect the same as say playing Twitch .

MagnorCriol says... Accepted answer #1

For the first question: Yes, you can. This is because, as you said, the creature isn't tapping of its own accord. Instead you're using tapping those creatures as a cost for something else.

Think of it as the tap symbol on the card means the card is tapping itself, and things written like Heritage Druid are other, external cards tapping the creatures. A creature with summoning sickness is too tired to tap itself, but another card tapping it means the other card is doing all the work. (This isn't precise terminology, but it can get the concept across.)

As for the second question, yes and no. Twitch can tap creatures that still have summoning sickness, because that's part of the effect of the card. Again, a creature with summoning sickness can't tap itself, but Twitch is another source coming along and tapping the creature.

However, it's not really like Heritage Druid or similar effects in that for the Druid's ability, tapping the creatures you control is the cost, not the effect. You pay the cost of tapping three creatures, and for an effect, you put the ability "Add GGG to your mana pool" on the stack.

For Twitch , the cost is paying 2U, and the effect is putting the spell card on the stack. When it resolves, the effect is tapping or untapping an artifact, creature, or land.

April 23, 2011 3:05 a.m.