confusing detention sphere ruling?
Asked by Sov92 11 years ago
I was reading some of the rulings from magiccards.info on detention sphere. http://magiccards.info/query?q=detention+sphere&v=card&s=cname
This one stood out to me but Im not completely sure I understand it.Is there a Laymens term for this? What examples of play would this apply to because as I read it this rule seems to break itself.
10/1/2012: If Detention Sphere leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability has resolved, its leaves-the-battlefield ability will trigger and do nothing. Then the enters-the-battlefield ability will resolve and exile the targeted nonland permanent and other permanents with that name indefinitely.
Thanks Epochalyptik that clarifies a lot. What sort of cards would cause this situation? It would seem like if you countered it with say a Mana Leak that none of the abilities would resolve? But it would also seem like if you say used Ghostly Flicker that both abilities would resolve...What cards would take advantage of this ruling?
December 5, 2013 4:47 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
Detention Sphere 's abilities trigger when the permanent enters or leaves the battlefield. Countering Detention Sphere as a spell means it will never resolve, and the permanent will never enter the battlefield. The abilities won't even have the chance to trigger.
Any card that allows you to exile, destroy, or bounce Detention Sphere will work. Ghostly Flicker , Naturalize , and Into the Roil are all examples of cards that will serve this purpose.
December 5, 2013 4:50 a.m.
Wow that totally makes Detention Sphere a better card then I initially thought. Thanks again for the answer.
December 5, 2013 5:04 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
No problem.
Note that this interaction works on any card that has linked ETB/LTB triggered abilities (for example, Oblivion Ring and Fiend Hunter ). However, cards like Banisher Priest do not produce the same effect because they don't use separate, linked abilities.
December 5, 2013 5:11 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
Am I missing something with Ghostly Flicker ? Detention Sphere is an enchantment and I only see artifact, creature, and land listed on Ghostly Flicker .
December 5, 2013 8:11 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
@Gidgetimer: Oops. I didn't read Ghostly Flicker ; I just figured it hit any permanents.
The principle is still the same, though. Blink the Detention Sphere (or at least cause it to leave play) and you can exile the permanents indefinitely.
December 5, 2013 8:43 a.m.
This is confusing... Would Detention Sphere not need to be on the battlefield and therefore having had its first ability resolved to be a legal target for something like Disperse ? Or is it considered to be on the battlefield while still on the stack?
June 2, 2014 10:54 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
@TheHroth: Nothing is on the battlefield and on the stack at the same time. An object can only be in a single zone at any one time. Detention Sphere needs to be on the battlefield for you to target it with Disperse , but you don't have to wait for the ability to resolve. Note that if you bounce Detention Sphere before its first ability resolves, the permanents that first ability exiles will be exiled indefinitely.
June 2, 2014 11:24 a.m.
So Detention Sphere itself will resolve and enter the battlefield, then create a new stack with its first ability, in response to which you cast Disperse , returning it to yoir hand and triggering second the ability before the first one?
June 2, 2014 12:44 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
There is no "new stack." There is one stack that always exists, although it can be empty.
You can do that. Note again, however, that if the second ability triggers before the first one resolves, then the second ability will fail to return anything, and whatever the first ability exiles will remain in exile indefinitely because there's no longer an ability to return it.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Please link all cards in your question.
Detention Sphere
Detention Sphere has what are called linked abilities. The second ability can only return cards exiled by the first ability. If Detention Sphere leaves the battlefield while its ETB ability is still on the stack, then the LTB ability will trigger and go above the ETB ability. Therefore, the LTB ability will resolve first.
Because the LTB ability only returns cards exiled by the ETB ability, and because the ETB ability hasn't exiled any cards yet, the LTB ability won't do anything when it resolves. Then, the ETB ability will resolve. It will exile the targeted nonland permanent and all permanents with the same name as that permanent. Because the linked ability that would normally return those exiled cards has already triggered and resolved, it won't trigger again. Therefore, the cards are stuck in exile.
Even if Detention Sphere reenters the battlefield later, it will be treated as a new object and will no longer "remember" the cards it exiled before.
December 5, 2013 4:39 a.m.