Momentary Blink is a card that says, ʺExile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control.ʺ Normally, you will be both the controller (the player who currently controls the creature) and the owner (the player whose deck originally contained the creature). While the owner of a creature can’t change, its controller can, such as if you gained control of your opponent’s creature using Zealous Conscripts. If that creature is hit with Momentary Blink, the creature will return to the battlefield under your opponent’s control (because your opponent is the owner), not yours.

However, Avacyn Restored introduces a new template that is different from the way this kind of effect has been worded in the past. For example, Restoration Angel says ʺexile target non-Angel creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control.ʺ So if you gain control of an opponent’s creature with Zealous Conscripts, then cast Restoration Angel and flicker that creature, the creature will return under the control of you – the controller of the Angel’s ability. Furthermore, when a creature is exiled in this way, it becomes a new object with no memory of its former existence, so the ʺuntil end of turnʺ portion of Zealous Conscripts’ ability no longer applies to it. Your new creature will happily hang around under your control until it leaves the battlefield or your opponent finds some way to gain control of it again.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Jen Wong, Level 1 judge from Irvine, CA