Oblivion Ring, Commanders, and Replacement Effects

[Malakai]

Alice targets Bob's Wydwen--who is his commander--with Oblivion Ring's trigger. The trigger resolves and Bob opts to move Wydwen to the command zone. A few turns later, Bob still has not re-cast Wydwen, and he bounces the Oblivion Ring. Does Wydwen change zones? Why or why not?

Same as above, except Bob has recast Wydwen, but it was countered.

Same as the first, except Bob has recast Wydwen, it resolved, and was sent to the command zone again when it was destroyed by Wrath of God.

Do any of these change if instead of Oblivion Ring, the card is Banishing Light?

[iamajellydonut]

The command zone is not exile.

Bob could choose to exile Wydwin rather than put it into the command zone, but if they do not, they have not. It's one or the other.

Edit: To answer the question that comes next... If Bob's Wydwin later gets actually exiled while the same Oblivion Ring is still on the battlefield, removing that first Oblivion Ring will not return the Wydwin as it would be treated as a different card.

[cdr]

Alice targets Bob's Wydwen--who is his commander--with Oblivion Ring's trigger. The trigger resolves and Bob opts to move Wydwen to the command zone. A few turns later, Bob still has not re-cast Wydwen, and he bounces the Oblivion Ring. Does Wydwen change zones? Why or why not?

Same as above, except Bob has recast Wydwen, but it was countered.

Same as the first, except Bob has recast Wydwen, it resolved, and was sent to the command zone again when it was destroyed by Wrath of God.

Do any of these change if instead of Oblivion Ring, the card is Banishing Light?

Oblivion Ring's second trigger specifically says "the exiled card", and only cards in the exile zone can be an "exiled card".

406.2. (http://www.yawgatog.com/resources/magic-rules/#R4062) To exile an object is to put it into the exile zone from whatever zone it's currently in. An exiled card is a card that's been put into the exile zone.

Your first example falls under this rule. If a replacement effect moves a card to a different zone than exile, it's no longer eligible to be returned by an effect that says "the exiled card".

Your "recast" examples fall under the rule that if an object changes zones, it becomes a new object and effects will not track it. Banishing Light can return a commander from the command zone so long as the card never left the zone after the initial exile effect resolved, but neither Banishing Light nor Oblivion Ring nor anything else can track the card if it leaves the initial zone it was moved to.

400.7. (http://www.yawgatog.com/resources/magic-rules/#R4007) An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule:

[Malakai]

So to be clear here, you're saying that:

the commander won't come back when Oblivion Ring is removed because it specifically describes "the exiled card"?
the commander will come back when Banishing Light is removed because it created a continuous effect, and that effect ends when the Banishing Light is removed?

[cdr]

So to be clear here, you're saying that:

the commander won't come back when Oblivion Ring is removed because it specifically describes "the exiled card"?
the commander will come back when Banishing Light is removed because it created a continuous effect, and that effect ends when the Banishing Light is removed?


That's correct. It's more the former than the latter. You could probably come up with a trigger that would return the commander from the command zone, but for whatever reason (I'm sure there is a reason, I just don't know it) linked triggers that exile use that wording and require the card to be in exile to be returned.

Obviously this is only if a replacement effect changes where the card is initially moved to - if anything move it after that, it's a new object and nothing can track it.

[Tammit67]

That's correct. It's more the former than the latter. You could probably come up with a trigger that would return the commander from the command zone, but for whatever reason (I'm sure there is a reason, I just don't know it) linked triggers that exile use that wording and require the card to be in exile to be returned.

Obviously this is only if a replacement effect changes where the card is initially moved to - if anything move it after that, it's a new object and nothing can track it.

This really doesn't sound right to me. You are suggesting BL doesn't care what zone the creature actually moves to. This is contradictory to what I'm hearing from other L2s regarding this topic

[cdr]

This really doesn't sound right to me. You are suggesting BL doesn't care what zone the creature actually moves to. This is contradictory to what I'm hearing from other L2s regarding this topic

AFAIK, no effect really cares where the card it refers to ends up short of a rule saying so (and as long as it's a public zone of course). This Cranial Insertion (http://www.cranialinsertion.com/articles/1385/) agrees for example, but I'm always happy to be proven wrong. I don't have access to some of the resources that active judges do.

I did list the wrong rule listed for "exiled card" in my first post, and I edited that to be more accurate.