Ulamog's Nullifier - Detention Sphere Mechanics
Asked by Ecclipse 7 years ago
Hi guys, so let's assume Player 1 cast a Detention Sphere on Liliana of the Veil. After that he counters sth with Ulamog's Nullifier, putting Liliana and some other card back to the graveyard. If there now is a Rest in Peace on the battlefield re - exiling Liliana and afterwards Detention Sphere gets destroyed by Abrupt Decay of Player 2, what happens?
Raging_Squiggle says... #2
Nitpick: Detention Sphere doesn't go to the graveyard. Rest in Peace stops that.
October 30, 2016 11:23 p.m.
Yes thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I just had some problems with Detentions Spheres re - ETB ability, since it is not actually targeting sth, right? It just stated as return the (..) exiled card to the battlefield. So I was sure it would search only in the exile zone for a legal "target?", but not whether the re-exiled card had to be treated as a different object - if does make sense
October 30, 2016 11:27 p.m.
metalmagic says... #4
It doesn't actually search for any targets when its second triggered ability starts to resolve. It just takes any object(s) exiled specifically by it, and returns it/them to play, but since the object had left the zone and returned (not by Detention Sphere, either), it is a new object in that zone. I do understand how that could be confusing, though. Changing zones brings up a bunch of questions to those unfamiliar with the concept.
October 31, 2016 1:24 a.m.
RicketyEng says... #5
Rest in Peace is a replacement effect so the cards being "processed" never actually make it to the graveyard before they are redirected to exile. Since they are coming from exile they don't actually leave exile (there is no Blind Eternities "zone" between the zones). I don't think the game will treat them as a new object and so Detention Sphere leaving the battlefield would still bring Liliana back.
October 31, 2016 1:09 p.m.
metalmagic says... #6
RicketyEng, that isn't quite the situation that Ecclipse described, however. I realize the original question wasn't worded as well as it could have been, but in any case if that were indeed the situation where Rest in Peace is in play before Ulamog's Nullifier were cast, the outcome would still be the same. Here's a rule directly from the Nullifier's Gatherer Page.
8/25/2015 If a replacement effect will cause cards that would be put into a graveyard from anywhere to be exiled instead (such as the one created by Anafenza, the Foremost), you can still put an exiled card into its opponents graveyard. The card becomes a new object and remains in exile. In this situation, you cant use a single exiled card if required to put more than one exiled card into the graveyard. Conversely, you could use the same card in this situation if two separate spells or abilities each required you to put a single exiled card into its owners graveyard.
October 31, 2016 1:50 p.m.
As metalmagic said, even if the card stays in exile, it's a new object, so destroying Detention Sphere can't return in. Directly from the rules:
400.8. If an object in the exile zone is exiled, it doesnt change zones, but it becomes a new object that has just been exiled.
November 1, 2016 5:10 p.m.
Orzhov Pontiff and other haunt cards will not function from the graveyard. This came up when I was testing my eldrazi processor deck, just as another piece of information for you.
metalmagic says... Accepted answer #1
Aside from Detention Sphere going to the graveyard, nothing of note will happen. When a card moves zones, it is considered a new object in whichever zone it ends up. This means that since it moved from exile to the graveyard and back to exile, it's a new object in the exile zone with no connection to the Detention Sphere that had previously exiled it. A much more common example is flickering a creature on the battlefield that had been targeted by a kill spell. It's not exactly the same thing, but a similar outcome is achieved because of cards moving zones. I hope this helped!
October 30, 2016 11:20 p.m.