Descent into Madness

[tyrkae]

So with decent into madness who exiles cards 1st is it the person who controls it correct?
And if i steal a creature with lets say Act of Treason and then blink do i keep it and is thier a way to do something like that?

[vger]

@Tyrkae,

1) Not exactly.

According to the APNAP rule (active player, non-active player), the active player (presumably the controller of Descent into Madness) will have his triggers go onto the stack first and therefore he will be the first person to make all the decisions for his triggers. After he has made all the necessary decisions in what permanents/cards to exile, the opponent would then decide what permanents/cards to exile for the trigger.

After every player has made all the necessary decisions, the stack resolves and is carried out simultaneously. For Descent into Madness's case, the act of exiling permanents/actions is considered to be carried out at the same time, just that the decision-making process is started from the active player.

2) Not exactly as well.

After snatching a creature from your opponent with the likes of Act of Treason, you can only control it permanently if and only if you cast the likes of Cloudshift/Restoration Angel targetting the stolen creature. This is because the wordings on both cards "return that card back to the battlefield under your control" instead of "return that card back to the battlefield under its owner's control" (see Momentary Blink).

Controlling permanents and owning permanents are very different in Magic. Controlling permanents would only mean you are the one in charge of making all the decisions regarding that permanent, yet owning permanents would mean that the card is entitled to you but it doesn't mean you are in control of it. The player who owns the card is the owner of it, but in game play, can have his cards being controlled by another player.

Therefore Restoration Angel/Cloudshift etc returns the exiled card back to the controller, not to the owner's side like Momentary Blink would. Such a little difference in wording will cause a huge difference in the interaction and its results, so do take note of what versions of blinking effects/spells you are using to produce this interaction.

When you have resolved a Cloudshift/Restoration Angel etc successfully on the stolen creature, the stolen creature will be exiled and returned to the battlefield as a new permanent with no memories of its previous self. Therefore, it won't be returned to your opponent's side of the field.

[fallenonme]

Don't forget Ghostly Flicker or Nephalia Smuggler, those also bring it back into play under your control.

[vger]

@Fallenonme,

Yeah, clean forgotten about those but you guys do get the drift. Edited my previous post for better clarity.