Here’s Why Only Some Artifacts Have Summoning Sickness in Magic

Last updated on March 6, 2026

Ornithopter of Paradise | Illustration by Raoul Vitale

Summoning sickness is an MTG mechanice that causes plenty of Splitting Headaches. With a bit of practice, new players learn that they can't tap a creature the first turn they play it… But what about other permanent types?

What about artifacts? And what about permanents with multiple types, or worse, that change types in the middle of the turn?

Let's put on our Magic stethoscopes and clarify this ailment through and through!

When Does an Artifact Have Summoning Sickness?

Loran of the Third Path | Illustration by Steven Belledin

An artifact has summoning sickness only if it’s also a creature that hasn't been under your control since the start of your turn. And that's actually true for any permanent that isn’t a creature.

If a game object isn’t a creature, it doesn't have summoning sickness.

Period.

End of the story.

Of the six permanent types that exist in MTG (namely artifacts, battles, creatures, enchantments, lands, and planeswalkers), only those that are creatures suffer from summoning sickness.

If a game object is indeed a creature (besides any other types that it may be), it has summoning sickness when it enters under your control until the start of your next turn.

But if an artifact is a non-creature artifact, it doesn't have summoning sickness.

Last but not least, and this is when players get confused the most: If a game object changes or adds types during a turn (like a vehicle becoming an artifact creature when you crew it), then it catches this sickness only when it becomes a creature (and not a moment before). And if at any point it loses the “creature” type, it's immediately “cured” from summoning sickness.

Can Artifacts Tap the Turn They are Played?

Yes, they can… as long as they are not also creatures.

Non-creature artifacts don't get summoning sickness. Ever. Tap away!

If the artifact is also a creature, or somehow becomes a creature, though, then no: it cannot tap the turn it was played.

Objects that have more than one card type (like for exampe Solemn Simulacrum, which is an artifact creature) are affected by all effects that apply to any of their card types. If a permanent isn’t a creature, it doesn't have summoning sickness no matter what else it may be.

On the other hand, if it is a creature, it suffers from summoning sickness regardless of its other permanent types (and unless it has haste).

Thus, a Sol Ring can tap the turn it enters, because it's not a creature. But Solemn Simulacrum is a creature (besides being an artifact) so it must be under your control since before your upkeep to avoid having summoning sickness.

Do Artifacts That Become Creatures Have Summoning Sickness?

Yep!

Anything (lands, enchantments, planeswalkers, or artifacts) that turns into a creature is subject to summoning sickness if it hasn't been under your control since the start of the turn, and if it doesn't have haste.

This is probably what makes things complicated: The game checks for “summoning sickness” any time that you may want to tap a permanent under your control. Which means that if a permanent gains the creature type in the middle of its first turn under your control, it catches an acute case of summon-itis.

The best example for this is vehicles.

Do Artifact Vehicles Have Summon Sickness?

No, they don't… unless you crew them during your first turn and they become an artifact creature.

Say you cast a Cultivator's Caravan. It enters the game as an artifact that's also a vehicle – since it's not a creature it doesn't have summoning sickness, so you can tap it to add 1 mana of any color the moment it enters the battlefield.

But if you crew it, Cultivator's Caravan becomes an artifact creature – since it's now a creature, it suffers from summoning sickness and you won't be able to tap it (neither to generate mana nor to attack) during this turn.

If You Gain Control Of An Enemy Artifact, Does It Has Summoning Sickness?

No, it doesn't, and always for the same reason: artifacts never have summoning sickness, unless they are also a creature.

But it if it's indeed an artifact creature, then yes, it does get summon-sick. Even if your opponent summoned it several turns ago and it didn't had summoning sickness right before you took control of it.

Here's the thing: flavorful as it is, calling this mechanic “summoning sickness” is fundamentally wrong. It doesn't matter if the creature was summoned this turn, only if it's been under your control from the start of your turn.

Therefore, if you gain control of an opponent's creature, it immediately catches a bad case of summoning sickness, even if your foe summoned it several turns ago.

That's why effects that take control of a creature for one turn, like Threaten, also give haste to the stolen creature. That way you can attack with it (or tap it for any other effect that it may have) the same turn during which you gained control of it.

By the way: the subtlety about artifacts that become creatures also work in this scenario. If you somehow steal your foe's Cultivator's Caravan, you can immediately tap it for mana since it's just an artifact, and artifact don't have summoning sickness. But if you crew it and turn it into a creature, it has summoning sickness unless it also has haste.

Do Artifact Tokens Have Summoning Sickness?

Are they also creatures, on top of being artifact tokens?

If yes (like thopters), then yes.

If no (like treasures tokens or food tokens), then no.

Can You Blink an Artifact to Activate It Again?

Yes!

Unless they’re also a creature without haste – in that case, they get summon-sick the moment they re-enter the battlefield.

The game treats blinked permanents (the nickname for effects like Flicker that exile a permanent and then return them to the battlefield) as a new object, and new objects enter the game untapped (unless there's some other effect saying the contrary, of course).

Say you have a tapped Sol Ring; if any effect makes it leave the battlefield and then return, it returns as a new object and therefore untapped. And since this new object isn’t a creature, you can tap it right away if you want – no summoning sickness.

But you can't do the same with Ornithopter of Paradise. It enters untapped, as any new object. But since it's a new object, the game will say “This object has not been under your control since the start of your turn”; and since it's a creature, it will have summoning sickness. Therefore, you won't be able to tap your blinked Ornithopter of Paradise for mana, or attack with it, until the start of your next turn.

Do Living Weapons Have Summoning Sickness?

Yes, appropriately, the Phyrexian Germ created with a living weapon suffers from summoning sickness. So you need to wait a turn to crack a Mortarpod and Cranial Ram can't attack right away. However, Kaldra Compleat gains haste from the keyword soup so it can start obliterating opponents the same turn if you manage to play it.

Can An Artifact Creature Block the Turn It Enters?

Yes. Summoning sickness only stops a creature from tapping to attack or activate abilities. Blocking is completely fine, so a freshly played artifact creature can still jump in front of an attacker right away.

That works for vehicles, too! If you play a vehicle on your turn, and crew it during my next turn when I attack, you can block with it.

Wrap Up

Sol Ring | Illustration by Anastasia Balakchina

I'll risk you being sick of me repeating this, but for clarity's sake: only creatures suffer summoning sickness.

Forget about the artifact type. It doesn't matter what else it may be: if it's not a creature, it doesn't have summoning sickness; simple as that.

If it’s a creature, then it does. And if it becomes a creature (no matter how), it immediately gets summon-sick.

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Magic's summonig sickness and artifacts. If you have further comments or questions please drop a comment below, stop by the Draftsim Discord for a chat!

And may your artifacts never get sick!