Mill and the "return" keyword, confusion? inconsistencies?
Asked by Bczar 11 years ago
Suppose you've milled a ton of cards from someone's library. Can you return a card from your graveyard to your hand if it never entered your hand? Can you return a card from your graveyard to the battlefield if it has never entered the battlefield? What does that say about the card Unsummon which is frequently used to return a creature to its owner's hand, say a token, which might not have actually been a "creature" while in its owner's hand. Can someone help me sort out these inconsistencies. Thank you!
It just means "move this card to that zone". You can "return" anything to anywhere as long as it's a legal target, it has nothing to do with where the card was before.
June 23, 2013 4:48 p.m.
GreatSword says... Accepted answer #4
That type of wording is used to help newer players understand what's happening. Usually cards go from the library, to the hand, to the battlefield, to the graveyard. It helps explain to them that the effect is changing what zone the card is in (or will be, when you cast the card). The object doesn't actually need to have been in the zone before to be affected by the spell.
June 23, 2013 4:51 p.m.
I'd like something cleared up, actually. It's more about the logic/rulings behind it than the answer.
I have Grave Betrayal on the field, and I kill off a few opposing creatures. Two scenarios: one, a Rest in Peace is played during that same turn, exiling the creature cards I would have gotten at the end step. Two, the opponents casts Obzedat's Aid targeting one of those creatures that died.
I assume that since the cards are no longer the same objects as viewed by the game, the delayed triggered ability doesn't return them in either of those cases.
Epochalyptik says... #1
This card was asked about a day ago.
"Return to [zone]" effects don't care about whether the card was ever in the specified zone in the first place. It's just likely that it was, but the effect doesn't stop functioning in other cases.
June 23, 2013 4:47 p.m.