⚖ IUDEX ARCANUM
← Back to app Sign in
Rules Answers › Mana, Costs & Casting

Can you sacrifice a land to pay for a spell or ability if that land was just played this turn?

Short answer
Yes. 'Summoning sickness' only restricts creatures from attacking/using tap abilities. Lands can be sacrificed any time after they enter the battlefield.

The rule commonly called 'summoning sickness' (CR 302.6) only prevents a creature from attacking or activating abilities that include the tap symbol (⌛) or untap symbol in their cost, unless that creature has haste. This restriction applies only to creatures.

Lands are not creatures (unless something has made them so), so they are never subject to summoning sickness. As soon as a land is on the battlefield, it is a legal permanent you control and can be sacrificed to pay for any cost that requires a sacrifice — regardless of when it entered this turn (CR 700.4, CR 117.3).

Additionally, the rule that limits you to playing one land per turn (CR 305.2) governs the act of playing a land, not what you can do with lands already on the battlefield. These are completely separate concepts.

Example: You play a Forest on your turn. Immediately afterward, you cast Cultivate and your opponent responds with an effect that forces you to sacrifice a land. Your newly played Forest is a perfectly legal sacrifice target — its freshness doesn't protect it.

The only caveat: if a land is somehow also a creature (e.g., animated by Nissa, Who Shakes the World), and it entered the battlefield this turn without haste, it would be subject to summoning sickness for attack/tap-ability purposes — but it could still be sacrificed freely, since sacrifice is not a tap ability (CR 302.6).

HIGH confidence CR 117.3 CR 302.6 CR 305.2 CR 700.4
Have a different situation at the table?
Ask IUDEX ARCANUM your exact question — it cites the rules and tracks your game state. Tracking life & turns is free; the AI judge needs a quick account.

Unofficial fan resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Answers are AI-generated estimates grounded in the Comprehensive Rules and are not a substitute for an official judge. Verify anything match-critical.