Can aethermage's touch return the creature card from anywhere? Including the graveyard or exile?
Asked by wpigrad 9 years ago
The card reads "At the beginning of your end step, return this creature to its owners hand."
Raging_Squiggle says... #2
The spell creates a Delayed Triggered Ability on the creature that only functions while the creature is on the battlefield. Should the creature change zones, it becomes a new entity, losing all memory of its previous existence in any other zones. This means that it will lose the DTA that was given to it via AEthermage's Touch
January 21, 2016 9:54 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
@Raging_Squiggle: The ability isn't a DTA. It's actually an ability conferred to the creature (note the use of the word "gains"). Delayed triggered abilities are ones that don't exist in the text of any objects (e.g., the DTA created by Slave of Bolas).
January 21, 2016 5:16 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #4
Oh interesting, now that I read it, it's just a regular triggered ability that's smacked on the card itself.
nobu_the_bard says... Accepted answer #1
That's not how the card reads, actually. Look at it again: thermage's Touch. The creature gains an ability that does this.
The creature will only keep this ability while it's on the battlefield. If it changes zones, it will revert to reading as it is printed. That is just how these things work; not a special attribute of this card. If you look at the card on Gatherer, you'd see there is an Oracle ruling about this actually.
Even if thermage's Touch did not read the way it does, and instead said something like "return the creature to your hand at beginning of your end step", it still wouldn't work. The spell would lose track of the creature if it changed zones.
January 21, 2016 7:10 a.m.