The Battlefield

Ephemerate

$4.62

Felidar Guardian

$2.43

Preston, the Vanisher

$19.95

AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Ephemerate + Felidar Guardian + Preston, the Vanisher

Overview

Cast Ephemerate on Felidar Guardian to exile it and immediately return it. Because the Guardian entered the battlefield and it wasn’t cast, Preston, the Vanisher’s triggered ability will trigger and create a 0/1 white Illusion token that’s a copy of the creature that entered. Felidar Guardian’s own enter-the-battlefield ability will also trigger and can target and blink another permanent you control (for example Preston). If Preston is present when Felidar Guardian enters, Preston will see that entry and create the Illusion token; if Felidar’s triggered ability later blinks Preston, Preston will return as a new object (Ruling [2019-06-14]) but Preston does not trigger off its own return because its ability is “Whenever another nontoken creature you control enters…” [Ruling [2019-06-14]].

Step 1

You cast Ephemerate targeting Felidar Guardian; Ephemerate resolves, exiling the Guardian and then returning it to the battlefield under its owner’s control.

Step 2

When Felidar Guardian enters the battlefield, it is an object that entered without being cast, so Preston’s triggered ability sees that event and its controller puts Preston’s trigger on the stack to create a 0/1 white Illusion token copy of the entering creature .

Step 3

Felidar Guardian’s own enter-the-battlefield triggered ability is also created and put on the stack; you (the controller) order those triggered abilities as you choose (APNAP ordering for abilities you control).

Step 4

When Preston’s trigger resolves, it creates a token that is a copy of the creature that entered, except that token is a 0/1 white Illusion (that token is a token, so Preston’s ability does not trigger off that token entering).

Step 5

When Felidar Guardian’s ETB triggered ability resolves, you may exile another target permanent you control and then return it. If you target Preston, Preston is exiled and then returned to the battlefield as a new object (Ruling [2019-06-14]).

Step 6

Because the returning Preston is a new object, it does not remember previous instances (attachments/counters are lost per Ruling [2019-06-14]) and it does not trigger its ability for its own return because its ability requires 'another' creature to enter.

Resolution

When Ephemerate resolves, it exiles the targeted creature and then returns it to the battlefield. That return causes the creature to have entered the battlefield without having been cast, so Preston’s ability will trigger for that entering creature and create a 0/1 white Illusion token copy of it. Felidar Guardian’s triggered ability (from its own enter-the-battlefield trigger) will also trigger and, when it resolves, will exile then return the targeted other permanent. If that targeted permanent is Preston, Preston will be exiled and returned as a new object; it will not trigger its own ability on its own return because the ability reads “another” and because the returning object is a new object with no memory of its previous existence (Ruling [2019-06-14]). If Ephemerate is cast from exile using Rebound, that casting is a cast event and a creature entering as a result of a cast will not cause Preston’s “if it wasn’t cast” condition to be satisfied [Ruling [2019-06-14]] .

Feedback