Bouncing Isochron Scepter: Can I imprint more than one instant?
Asked by r3cl41m3r 9 years ago
Let's say I have Isochron Scepter on the battlefield along with Venser, the Sojourner. If I use Venser to bounce Scepter, and Scepter allows me to Imprint something when it re-enters the battlefield... do I now have options on what I can cast using Isochron Scepter?
No, it is a new instance of the card and has no references to the old Isochron Scepter. Another example, if you had Endless Horizons and tutored some Plains and then an opponent blinked it with something, it would return with no recollection of the old Endless Horizons with all of the Plains on it; you can only use what you then exile with it.
June 25, 2015 4:26 a.m. Edited.
Every time a card leaves the battlefield, when it returns it has no memory of its previous existence. For Scepter you will have to exile a new card from your hand and the previous exiled card will remain there forever, without you having access to it.
For a simpler example, consider casting Cloudshift on a Siege Rhino that has 2 combat damage marked on it. When that creature reenters the battlefield, will it still have 2 damage marked on it?
Edit: Doh! I was ninja'd!
June 25, 2015 4:31 a.m. Edited.
Ah, I see your reasoning. My train of thought when asking my question was... how were the cards exiled? But the answer makes perfect sense. The Exile zone remains the Exile zone, regardless of how a card got there. The Imprint effect only takes into account the most -recent- imprint. Thanks for the hash-out.
June 25, 2015 4:33 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Actually, imprint only takes into account exiles tied to that specific iteration of Isochron Scepter. When an object changes zones, it becomes a new object. The card you imprinted when Isochron Scepter first entered the battlefield is tied to that first iteration of Isochron Scepter. If Isochron Scepter leaves the battlefield, it becomes a new object, and it no longer has anything imprinted on it. If it reenters, then you may imprint a card on that new instance of Isochron Scepter. It doesn't remember any of the cards imprinted on previous iterations, even though it's the same physical card that reenters the battlefield.
The distinction between newest imprint and imprints per iteration is significant when you add other factors like Strionic Resonator in order to get additional imprints on the same iteration of Isochron Scepter.
June 25, 2015 9:31 a.m.
Yes, indeed. But my original question was... if I bounce Isochron Scepter and Imprint something else, the first imprint goes away. It is all clear now.
r3cl41m3r says... #1
I have looked through forum after forum for an answer, and the Gatherer's rulings on Isochron Scepter don't even touch this idea, at least in a way that I can recognize. My understanding of Isochron Scepter is as follows: It enters the battlefield, I imprint an instant, that instant is exiled from my hand. Activating Isochron Scepter for 2 mana plus tap creates a copy of the exiled instant which I can then choose to cast without paying its mana cost.
Now... I assume if Isochron Scepter leaves the battlefield, the Imprinted instant remains exiled. But, if it RE-ENTERS the battlefield, and I exile something else with Imprint, can I then choose which instant I copy when I activate Isochron Scepter ??
June 25, 2015 4:15 a.m.