Vigilance is a static ability with one job: attacking does not cause the creature to tap. The Comprehensive Rules define it in two lines, "Vigilance is a static ability that modifies the rules for the declare attackers step" (702.20a) and "Attacking doesn't cause creatures with vigilance to tap" (702.20b), and the reminder text on Serra Angel says the same thing in seven words: "Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap." Everything useful about vigilance follows from two other rules. A creature must be untapped to attack (508.1a) and untapped to block (509.1a). So a creature that attacks without tapping is still there to block when the attack comes back, and still there to tap for an ability once combat is over.
This guide is part of our MTG keywords and mechanics glossary, the index of every mechanic guide on Mana Grove.
Below: why attacking taps a creature in the first place, what vigilance changes and what it leaves alone, the difference between vigilance and untapping, the list of things vigilance does not do, and the vigilance cards and commanders Commander players actually run, read from our card database.
Why attacking taps a creature at all
The tap is not a cost. It is a consequence, and the rules are explicit about the difference.
Rule 508.1f
The active player taps the chosen creatures. Tapping a creature when it's declared as an attacker isn't a cost; attacking simply causes creatures to become tapped.
Vigilance removes exactly that step and nothing else. The creature is still chosen as an attacker, it is still attacking, it still deals and receives combat damage, and every "whenever this creature attacks" ability still triggers. It simply never becomes tapped.
Two rules give that its value:
Rule 508.1a
The active player chooses which creatures that they control, if any, will attack. The chosen creatures must be untapped, they can't also be battles, and each one must either have haste or have been controlled by the active player continuously since the turn began.
Rule 509.1a
The defending player chooses which creatures they control, if any, will block. The chosen creatures must be untapped and they can't also be battles.
Untapped to attack, untapped to block. A tapped creature is out of both halves of combat until your next untap step, and in a four-player Commander game that is three opponents' turns of doing nothing. A vigilant attacker skips the penalty.
How vigilance actually works
Attack now, block on the crack-back
The classic use. You attack with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, she makes a token per opponent, and when the next player swings back she is untapped and ready to block with a power equal to the number of creatures you control. In Commander, where every attack you make is an invitation to the two players you did not attack, this is the whole reason the keyword matters.
Attack now, tap for an ability afterwards
The use players miss. A vigilant creature with a tap ability gets to do both in the same turn. Loran of the Third Path attacks for two, then taps in your second main phase to draw you and an opponent a card. Faeburrow Elder attacks, then taps for one mana of each colour among your permanents. Wight of the Reliquary attacks as a large body, then taps and sacrifices a creature to fetch a land. Enduring Vitality gives all of your creatures "{T}: Add one mana of any color", so every vigilant creature you control becomes a land that also attacks.
You do not even have to wait for combat to end. Rule 506.4b: "Tapping or untapping a creature that's already been declared as an attacker or blocker doesn't remove it from combat and doesn't prevent its combat damage." A vigilant attacker can tap for mana during the declare blockers step and still deal its combat damage.
Vigilance is not untapping
Two very different tools get confused here. Vigilance stops the tap from happening. An untap effect undoes a tap that already happened. Aurelia, the Warleader has vigilance herself and, the first time she attacks each turn, untaps all creatures you control and grants an additional combat phase: that untap is what lets your non-vigilant creatures attack twice. Reconnaissance removes an attacking creature from combat and untaps it for {0}, which has been called vigilance for the whole team for decades but is mechanically the opposite: the creature is tapped by attacking and then untapped, and it leaves combat to do it unless you wait for the end of combat step, after damage. Seedborn Muse untaps your permanents during each other player's untap step, so by the time an opponent declares attackers your tapped attackers are untapped again and vigilance adds nothing there. It does nothing on your own turn, which is where vigilance still earns its keep: a vigilant attacker can tap for mana or a tap ability in your second main phase (506.4b), and Seedborn Muse will not untap anything until the next player's untap step.
The practical difference: vigilance does nothing for a creature that is already tapped. If you tapped a creature for mana, or an opponent tapped it down, vigilance will not let it attack (508.1a) and will not let it block (509.1a).
Vigilance is not haste
A creature that entered this turn cannot attack, vigilance or not. Rule 302.6 is the summoning sickness rule: "A creature can't attack unless it has been under its controller's control continuously since their most recent turn began." Haste is the keyword that lifts that restriction (702.10b). The two are frequently printed together, on Aurelia, the Warleader, Gishath, Sun's Avatar, Goldvein Hydra and End-Raze Forerunners, because together they mean attack immediately and stay home anyway.
Vigilance only matters if you attack
A creature that stays home was never going to tap. Vigilance is worth exactly as much as the number of attacks you make with the creature, which is why it reads as a beginner keyword and plays as an aggressive one.
What vigilance does not do
- It does not untap anything. Ever. A tapped creature with vigilance stays tapped until your untap step or an untap effect.
- It does not let a tapped creature attack. Rule 508.1a still requires an untapped attacker.
- It does not get around summoning sickness. That is haste (702.10b), not vigilance.
- It does nothing on defence by itself. Blocking never taps a creature, so a vigilant creature blocks exactly like any other.
- It does not protect the creature from being tapped later. Crew a Vehicle with it, tap it to convoke a spell, or let an opponent tap it, and it is tapped for the crack-back like anything else.
- It does not change combat damage or trigger anything. No damage bonus, no extra trigger, and because no tap event happens, abilities that trigger "whenever a creature becomes tapped" never see a vigilant attacker.
- A second instance does nothing. "Multiple instances of vigilance on the same creature are redundant" (702.20c): there is only one tap to prevent.
The best vigilance cards in Commander
Our card database holds 720 Commander-legal cards with the vigilance keyword: 285 white, 214 multicolour, 101 green, 72 blue, 44 colourless, and only three red and one black card, which tells you where the keyword lives. Around 320 more Commander-legal cards grant it to something else. These are the ones Commander players run most, ordered by how often they appear in Commander decks.
| Card | Cost | What vigilance is doing for it |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Titan | {4}{W}{W} | Attacks to return a permanent with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard, then stands as a 6/6 blocker |
| Loran of the Third Path | {2}{W} | Attacks, then taps to draw you and an opponent a card in the same turn |
| Enduring Vitality | {1}{G}{G} | Gives every creature you control a mana ability, and its own vigilance means it attacks and still pays for your second main phase |
| Adeline, Resplendent Cathar | {1}{W}{W} | Makes a token per opponent whenever you attack, and stays untapped with power equal to your creature count |
| Faeburrow Elder | {1}{G}{W} | A mana creature that grows with your colours and never has to choose between attacking and tapping |
| Avacyn, Angel of Hope | {5}{W}{W}{W} | Flying, vigilance and indestructible on an 8/8 that makes your other permanents indestructible too |
| Danitha Capashen, Paragon | {2}{W} | First strike, vigilance and lifelink on the body your Auras and Equipment want to sit on |
| Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite | {5}{W}{W} | Attacks into a board that gets minus 2/minus 2 from her, then blocks with the same 4/7 |
| Boromir, Warden of the Tower | {2}{W} | Attacks and still stands as a deterrent, ready to be sacrificed for team-wide indestructible |
| Aurelia, the Warleader | {2}{R}{R}{W}{W} | Vigilance for herself, an untap and an extra combat for everyone else |
| Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines | {4}{W} | A 4/7 that doubles your enters triggers and never has to stop blocking to attack |
| Charismatic Conqueror | {1}{W} | A two-drop that taxes untapped arrivals and attacks without ever leaving the wall |
| Wight of the Reliquary | {B}{G} | Grows with your graveyard, attacks, then taps to fetch a land |
| Atraxa, Praetors' Voice | {G}{W}{U}{B} | Flying, vigilance, deathtouch and lifelink: attacks for value and blocks as a deathtouch wall |
| Aurelia, the Law Above | {3}{R}{W} | Rewards any player attacking with three or more creatures, and keeps her own body home while you do it |
Then the cards that hand vigilance out. Brave the Sands gives every creature you control vigilance and lets each one block an additional creature, for {1}{W}. Intangible Virtue gives your creature tokens +1/+1 and vigilance for the same price. Heliod, God of the Sun gives it to your other creatures, Always Watching to your nontoken creatures along with +1/+1, Teysa Karlov to your creature tokens along with lifelink, and Akroma's Memorial to everything you control along with five other keyword abilities.
Want the full list rather than the top of it? Ask Scry for creatures that attack without tapping, and it searches on what the card does rather than on the word vigilance, so the granting enchantments and the Equipment come back alongside the creatures.
Using vigilance in a deck
Vigilance is a deck-building decision, not just a rule, because it decides which of your creatures can be threats and defenders at once. Concretely:
- Pick a commander that rewards attacking and holding back. Adeline wants you to attack every turn and still needs a blocker; her vigilance is the whole deck. Aurelia, the Law Above draws you a card for attacking with three creatures and keeps her own body home. Kitsa, Otterball Elite and Chulane, Teller of Tales attack, then tap for their abilities. Browse the Commander hub for each one's page.
- In a token deck, one granting anthem is worth a slot. Brave the Sands or Intangible Virtue turns a wide board into a wall that also swings, which is the strongest thing a vigilance card can do: attack with everything and still block with everything.
- Count vigilance as a bonus, not a theme. Outside of the anthems above, do not pick a creature for the keyword. Pick it for the tap ability or the attack trigger it lets you use twice.
- If you ever hold the crown, vigilance keeps it. The monarch changes hands when a creature deals combat damage to you, so a deck that attacks with vigilant creatures and still blocks is the deck that stays monarch longest.
Frequently asked questions
What does vigilance mean in MTG?
Vigilance is a static ability: attacking does not cause the creature to tap (Comprehensive Rules 702.20b). The creature attacks normally, deals and receives combat damage normally, and is simply untapped afterwards, so it can block on your opponents' turns or use a tap ability.
Can a vigilance creature attack and block in the same turn cycle?
Yes. It attacks on your turn without tapping, and because blockers must be untapped (509.1a), it can block on each opponent's turn before your next untap step. It cannot attack and block within your own turn unless an opponent somehow attacks you during it.
Does vigilance untap a creature?
No. Vigilance prevents the tap that attacking would cause. It never untaps anything, so a creature tapped for mana or tapped by an opponent gets nothing from it.
Can a creature with vigilance tap for mana after attacking?
Yes, and it can do so during combat. Rule 506.4b says tapping an attacking creature does not remove it from combat or prevent its combat damage, so a vigilant mana creature can attack, tap for mana at instant speed and still hit.
Does vigilance let a creature attack the turn it enters?
No. That is haste (702.10b). Summoning sickness (302.6) still applies to a creature with vigilance, which is why the two keywords are so often printed together.
Does a creature with vigilance tap when it blocks?
No creature taps to block. Vigilance changes nothing about blocking, other than making sure the creature is untapped and available to do it.
Does vigilance stack?
No. There is one tap to prevent, and one instance prevents it. Rule 702.20c says so in as many words: "Multiple instances of vigilance on the same creature are redundant."
If I give a creature vigilance after it attacked, does it untap?
No. Vigilance stops the tap at the moment attackers are declared. Granting it afterwards does nothing to a creature that is already tapped; you would need an untap effect for that.
Build a deck that attacks and still blocks
Open a list in the deck builder and sort your creatures by what they do after combat. Every vigilant creature with a tap ability is doing two jobs, and every non-vigilant creature you attack with is a blocker you gave up. Grover can take a brief such as "make my white token deck attack without leaving me open" and propose swaps in plain language, and the Suggestions tab, powered by Tutor, scores them against the rest of your list. New to the format? Start with the deck builder basics and how many creatures a Commander deck needs, or try the deck builder without an account.
Create a free Mana Grove account to build with the full deck builder and format legality checks, see plans and pricing for more time with Grover, Scry and Tutor, and read the rest of the MTG keywords and mechanics glossary, including menace and indestructible, two keywords often printed right next to vigilance.
Sources
- Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective August 7, 2026: https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules. Read on September 20, 2026. Rule 702.20 (Vigilance) including 702.20a, 702.20b and 702.20c, rules 508.1a and 508.1f (the declare attackers step), rule 509.1a (the declare blockers step), rule 506.4b (tapping a creature in combat), rule 302.6 (summoning sickness) and rule 702.10b (Haste) are quoted above.
- Mana Grove card database, MTGJSON build of September 14, 2026: the vigilance keyword, the Commander legality, the mana cost and the rules text of every card named above, the count of 720 Commander-legal cards with vigilance and its colour split, each card name counted once and a double-faced card by its front face, and the count of around 320 Commander-legal cards whose rules text grants vigilance. Commander play frequency is the deck-inclusion popularity rank carried in the same data.
This article is updated when the Comprehensive Rules change the vigilance entry or when a set adds a vigilance card worth listing. The date at the top is the last revision.