I’m excited for Ghostly Flicker. Partially because it was a house at the prerelease, and partially because Momentary Blink is one of my favorite cards. But why are both of these things true? Among other things, it’s the fact that they can be used to dodge removal very easily.

Let’s use Cloudshift for our example. Ronny casts Oblivion Ring, and targets my Avacyn, Angel of Hope with the trigger. In response, I cast Cloudshift targeting Avacyn. My Avacyn stays. But why? It’s right there! The answer to that is the fun fact that whenever an object changes zones, it becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous self. Once Avacyn gets flickered, it looks exactly the same as it did earlier to you, but the game can’t link THIS Avacyn to the one that was just on the field. So, when Oblivion Ring’s trigger tries to resolve, it can’t find the object it originally targeted, shrugs, and fizzles. Your Avacyn is safe.

Note that this trick only really works for dodging targeted removal. If you try to Cloudshift your creature to save it from a mass-removal spell like Day of Judgment or a sufficiently large Bonfire of the Damned, you won’t get your way. Cloudshift will exile it and bring it back before the mass-kill resolves, so it’ll still be there to die.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Trevor Nunez, Level 1 judge from Roswell, NM