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Flickering Spirit
Creature — Spirit
common
Flying : Exile this creature, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
2/2
Semantic Tags
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.
Difficult to block or grants evasion. Includes flying, menace, fear, intimidate, shadow, skulk, horsemanship, unblockable effects, and cards that grant these abilities.
Difficult to block or grants evasion. Includes flying, menace, fear, intimidate, shadow, skulk, horsemanship, unblockable effects, and cards that grant these abilities.
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 keyword ability that restricts how a creature may be blocked. See rule 702.9, “Flying.”
A permanent with a repeatable activated ability that converts excess mana into value.
A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”
Format Legality
Price history
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Printings (1)
| Set | Rarity | TCGplayer | Card Kingdom | Cardmarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Spiral#17 | common | · | · | · |
Related Concepts
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 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.
The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap 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 ability resolves, Flickering Spirit is exiled, then immediately returned to the battlefield. It returns as a "new" creature. Any counters, Auras, and so on are removed. Any spells or abilities targeting Flickering Spirit no longer target it.
If Flickering Spirit's ability is activated, any "as this enters" choices for it are made by its owner, not its previous controller.
If a token copy of Flickering Spirit uses its activated ability, the token will not return to the battlefield, because of the rule that says tokens that leave the battlefield can't return.