Keyword action based on Phase out

[silver_skeleton]

Recently I was quite surprised to see that Wizards apparently is bringing back phasing in the form of phase out. If they're serious about this, it could open up a lot of interesting possibilities.

I just had the idea that it might be able to 'regenerate' Regeneration. So I pressnt to you the keyword action:

Flee (The next time this creature would be destroyed, phase it out instead.)

I think the flavour would have to change, so it probably wouldn't be BG any more. But I would love to have his.

[user_938036]

Regenerate's problem has mostly been that it doesn't work the way people expect it to work. The fact that you have to preemptively regenerate is the main cause of confusion and the reason for its abandonment. This keyword doesn't change that though it is an interesting twist.

This would be an interesting mechanic to put on cowards in a set but it doesn't fix any of regenerate's problems.

[silver_skeleton]

Well I don't even know if it's really needed... After thinking some more about it I realised that just phasing out the creature in response to a threat accomplishes nearly the same result.

[JovialJovian]

The interesting thing about phasing to me is the fact that it prevents all players from interacting with the phased object. That sets it apart from Regenerate or Indestructible Until End of Turn, which allow the object's controller to keep the benefits of it.

In that way it's similar to Shroud, it's both an upside and a downside wrapped together.

Phasing as a keyword I don't ever expect to return, as the uncontrollable nature of it made it all downside, but phasing as a concept definitely has room to expand.
The most interesting Phasing cards are always those without the base keyword: Dream Fighter, Vodalian Illusionist, Reality Ripple, and of course the big boys Teferi's Protection and the re-worded Oubliette.

[OneAndOnly]

I thought the poster child for phasing-without-the-keyword was Rainbow Efreet -- who some people called Blinking Spirit 2.0 for being incredibly hard to get rid of.

Phasing has a number of surrounding problems -- since they removed the phased-out zone, it means tokens can survive phasing, which confuses old-timers like me. Creatures phasing out bring along their auras and equipment, which isn't always intuitive; I know a lot of players would treat it as though the equipment falls off and can be re-equipped to something else.

Pre-emptively phasing a creature out also works slightly differently in terms of timing abilities and combat damage.

This has the advantage over indestructible, in that, while it creates some static game-states, it at least disrupts the game state for a turn,

[JovialJovian]

The fact that phase-out drags the auras, equipment, and counters with it, and they all return safe and sound as well, is what really sets phasing apart from the more common "Exile, then return" effects. Both making it a weaker offensive option, and a stronger defensive one.

As I said, I think there's plenty of room for phasing to come back, some of the cards I listed, and also Rainbow Efreet, might even be directly re-printable in a phasing comeback (probably not the Vodalian, for flavor reasons).

[Morpic_Tide]

The fact that you have to preemptively regenerate is the main cause of confusion and the reason for its abandonment.

Actually, you used to be able to apply it after the lethal damage occurred, because damage used to be on the stack making it so you can "interrupt" the state check of, say, your Birds of Paradise being hit by a Lightning Bolt after the Lightning Bolt resolves, or do so with combat damage.

[spacemonaut]

The fact that you have to preemptively regenerate is the main cause of confusion and the reason for its abandonment.

Actually, you used to be able to apply it after the lethal damage occurred, because damage used to be on the stack making it so you can "interrupt" the state check of, say, your Birds of Paradise being hit by a Lightning Bolt after the Lightning Bolt resolves, or do so with combat damage.

you could say it ... took lethal damage from that rules change

[user_938036]

The fact that you have to preemptively regenerate is the main cause of confusion and the reason for its abandonment.

Actually, you used to be able to apply it after the lethal damage occurred, because damage used to be on the stack making it so you can "interrupt" the state check of, say, your Birds of Paradise being hit by a Lightning Bolt after the Lightning Bolt resolves, or do so with combat damage.

Yes, it used to work the way people assumed it did. Then they streamlined the rules messing it up leading to its eventual abandonedment.