Can Sengir Nosferatu's Bat summon Mairsil, the Pretender from the Exile zone?
Asked by Ansem717 7 years ago
Sengir Nosferatu is a bit unique. His activated ability summons a Bat with the text referencing his own name. I was told that all instances of a name are replaced when Mairsil cages something.
Would the Bat's sacrifice ability read "[...] a card named Mairsil, the Pretender [...]"?
If it does, can I summon Mairsil, the Pretend from the Command Zone - as I recall a ruling declaring the Command Zone is /inside/ the Exile Zone? (Commander being exiled by O-Ring, for example).
Gidgetimer says... #2
Please link all cards using double brackets.
The way copy effects interact with cards is a little different than your understanding, but the difference is important to understanding the answer to this question. When a card references itself using only the card name it means "the permanent this ability is printed on". So for example Inferno Titan's fire breathing ability would allow Mairsil to give himself +1/+0. When a card says "a card named ..." or "creatures named ..." then it is looking for that specific name, no matter what it is printed on. So if you are playing a 60 card format and cage Korlash, Heir to Blackblade you could discard a Korlash and get two swamps. Similarly the bat from Mairsil could pull the caged Sengir Nosferatu from exile, but can not bring Mairsil because it is not a card named "Sengir Nosferatu".
Also the command zone is not "inside" the exile zone, it is a completely different zone. However it is a public zone and abilities can track it if it goes to the command zone instead of exile.
November 8, 2017 8:03 a.m.
Didn't know how to link. There wasn't a tip when asking the question. Thanks!
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
You can use double square brackets around a card's name to link it. It's the easiest way to make sure everyone reading your question understands what's going on: Sengir Nosferatu, Mairsil, the Pretender
No, this doesn't work. That "name replacement" only applies to abilities on an object that refer to itself by name. When a card changes zones it becomes a new game object, and the ability given to the Bat token doesn't refer to the object on the battlefield that originally created the token. The token created by Mairsil will still say "a card named Sengir Nosferatu", meaning it can't bring back Mairsil (but it can bring back the caged Nosferatu).
Also, the command zone is not "inside" the exile zone. They're two separate zones. If a commander would go to exile then its owner can choose to move it to the command zone instead. Oblivion Ring's 2nd ability won't be able to bring anything back in that situation because there's no "exiled card". You might be thinking of Banishing Light, which can bring the card back from the command zone because of the different way it works.
November 8, 2017 7:36 a.m.