Search

Escape Protocol
Enchantment
uncommon
Whenever you cycle a card, you may pay . When you do, exile target artifact or creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Semantic Tags
Specifically destroys, exiles, or shuts down artifacts.
Specifically removes artifacts.
Exiles a permanent and returns it to the battlefield — re-triggers ETB effects.
Exiles a permanent and returns it to the battlefield — re-triggers ETB effects.
A keyword ability that lets a card be discarded and replaced with a new card. See rule 702.29, “Cycling.”
Cycling-focused strategy — payoffs for cycling, cycling triggers, Astral Drift effects.
A keyword ability that lets you exile cards from your graveyard rather than pay generic mana to cast a spell. See rule 702.66, “Delve.”
Removes threats by exiling rather than destroying — bypasses indestructible and death triggers.
Exiles and returns permanents for ETB reuse — distinct from blink by sometimes including end step return.
Exiles and returns permanents for ETB reuse — distinct from blink by sometimes including end step return.
A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”
Answers an opponent's threat by destroying, exiling, bouncing, or otherwise removing a permanent or spell.
A keyword ability that provides an alternative way to play a card. See rule 702.62, “Suspend.” A card is “suspended” if it’s in the exile zone, has suspend, and has a time counter on it.
Format Legality
Price history
Loading price history…
Printings (1)
| Set | Rarity | TCGplayer | Card Kingdom | Cardmarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths#48 | uncommon | · | · | · |
Related Rules
If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.
Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.
To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”
An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.
A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.
If a cost associated with a special action, such as a suspend cost or a morph cost, has an {X} or an X in it, the value of X is chosen by the player taking the special action immediately before they pay that cost.
If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.
The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.
Rulings
When the card returns to the battlefield, it will be a new object with no connection to the card that was exiled. Auras attached to the exiled permanent will be put into their owners’ graveyards. Any Equipment will become unattached and remain on the battlefield. Any counters on the exiled permanent will cease to exist.
While resolving Escape Protocol’s triggered ability, you can’t pay {1} multiple times to exile multiple permanents you control.
Escape Protocol’s triggered ability goes on the stack without a target. While that ability is resolving, you may pay {1}. If you do, a second ability triggers and you pick a target artifact or creature you control. This is different from abilities that say “If you do . . .” in that players may cast spells and activate abilities after mana is paid but before the target changes zones.
Some cards with cycling have an ability that triggers when you cycle them, and some cards have an ability that triggers whenever you cycle any card. These triggered abilities resolve before you draw from the cycling ability.
You can cycle a card even if it has a triggered ability from cycling that won’t have a legal target. This is because the cycling ability and the triggered ability are separate. This also means that if either ability is countered (with Disallow, for example), the other ability will still resolve.
Triggered abilities from cycling a card and the cycling ability itself aren’t spells. Effects that interact with spells (such as that of Cancel) won’t affect them.
If a token is exiled this way, it will cease to exist and won’t return to the battlefield.