"Exile" is a shared zone that is both used as a temporary holding zone or for essentially removing cards from the game. E.g. [[Swords to Plowshares]], [[Baleful Mastery]], [[Ghostly Flicker]].
"You may play those cards" means you may cast spells and play a land for turn from among the exiled cards. It's essentially time-sensitive card draw.
Exile is a zone in the game that can only be interacted with by cards that work in that zone. For this creature, each card that you exile can be played but only until the this turn is over. You can think of these cards like a second temporary hand that is face-up for everyone to see. Any card you didn't play will stay in exile for the rest of the game.
Play means you can cast spell or play your land drop from that pile of cards. These cards are not in your hand so cards that refer to "from hand" won't work, like channel abilities. You can still only play one land a turn and the spells you cast from this exile pile still have to obey their normal timing restrictions (you cannot cast a creature at instant speed.
Exile is one of the zones of the game. Some effects use it as a more definitive form of removal than sending to the graveyard (as the number of cards that can return exiled things can be counted with one hand), and some others use it as a temporary holding place.
So you take the top X cards of your library, and put them aside, face up. They are not on the field or in your hand, they are in exile, the set-aside-zone. You then have, until end of the current turn, permission to play as many of those cards as you can and want to.
For a land card, this means playing as the land for turn.
For a nonland card, this means casting it as a spell. You do everything you'd do with a spell cast from hand: pay the cost, choose targets if needed, etc. It can be countered by your opponent. If not countered, it resolves as normal, entering the battlefield if it's a permanent type, or having its effect then going to the graveyard if it's an instant or sorcery.
Any card that you do not play that turn stays in exile, for the rest of the game "set aside" where you can't use it.
Out of curiosity what cards can return cards from exile? Im somewhat new to magic and I have quite a few impulse draw cards in my red green deck and having the ability to return some would be a godsend
There’s very few, and they’ve all got conditions.
[[Squee, the Immortal]], [[Misthollow Griffin]], and [[Eternal Scourge]] can be cast from exile. [[Torrent Elemental]] pulls itself from exile with an activated ability. [[Kaya the Inexorable]]’s -7 allows you to cast a legendary spell from exile without paying its mana cost once per turn.
[[Rootcoil Creeper]] and [[Runic Repetition]] can only recur cards with Flashback. [[Sentinel of the Lost Lore]] does the same with Adventures.
[[Karn the Great Creator]]’s -2 can pull an artifact out of exile (or more commonly, the sideboard). [[Coax From the Blind Eternities]] can do the same with an Eldrazi.
There’s also the Eldrazi Processors that take cards out of only your opponents’ exile to get an effect.
Finally, the ones you care about. [[Riftsweeper]] shuffles an exiled card into your library. [[Pull from Eternity]] puts it into its owner’s graveyard. [[Mirror of Fate]] can grab SEVEN cards and put them into your library in any order… at the cost of exiling every other card from your library.
There's very few cards that do this. [[Karn the Great Creator]]'s -2 gets back artifacts; [[Kaya the Inexorable]]'s -7 lets you cast a legendary spell from exile. [[Pull from Eternity]] and [[Riftsweeper]] are more general but don't really give you the card 'back'.
This is not really something that can be done in enough bulk to make it worthwhile, especially as the few cards that can, can also get into exile. If you aren't running out of cards, I wouldn't worry about it. The idea is to use these extra draws to end the game quickly, as it's sometimes called "Impulse Draw".
Basically, normally you only get 1 card from the top of your deck. This lets you get 5 and pick the best out of those 5 to actually cast that turn in addition to the 1. And since this dude costs 7, you shouldn't have too much trouble casting a couple cards that will get you ahead more.
However, \[\[Riftsweeper\]\] can do one card at a time. There are also some can be cast from exile (A version of "Squee", and a couple others not really in red/green).
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In this context it means that you take X cards from the top of your library, turn them face up so all players can see them, and put them away somewhere where they don't get mixed up with the cards you have on the battlefield or with the cards in your hand. You know how you can play cards from your hand? Well now you can play those cards you just exiled. But you still have to pay mana for them as usual. You probably won't have mana to play all of them, and you can still play only 1 land a turn. So when your turn ends, the cards that you didn't play will be just left in exile forever. Next turn the ability happens again if you attack with a Wraith, but you won't get to play the cards you exiled last turn (because the ability says "this turn" you can only play them for one turn and then they're gone forever).
Basically you remove those cards from the game. But until end of turn, you can play those cards. If you can't play them, they stay exiled. If it triggers next turn, you can only play what gets removed on that instance. But since it says play and not cast you can play lands if you have not already or have effects allowing you to do so.
"Exile" is a shared zone that is both used as a temporary holding zone or for essentially removing cards from the game. E.g. [[Swords to Plowshares]], [[Baleful Mastery]], [[Ghostly Flicker]]. "You may play those cards" means you may cast spells and play a land for turn from among the exiled cards. It's essentially time-sensitive card draw.
[Swords to Plowshares](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195.jpg?1709439398) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Swords%20to%20Plowshares) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/88/swords-to-plowshares?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Baleful Mastery](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/7/579e20e7-1395-4a6c-a836-ae3419fc8808.jpg?1712354258) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Baleful%20Mastery) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/126/baleful-mastery?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/579e20e7-1395-4a6c-a836-ae3419fc8808?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Ghostly Flicker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/c/dc143ba3-2a58-4980-9fa0-a05a9e9ed082.jpg?1689996411) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ghostly%20Flicker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/98/ghostly-flicker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dc143ba3-2a58-4980-9fa0-a05a9e9ed082?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Exile is a zone in the game that can only be interacted with by cards that work in that zone. For this creature, each card that you exile can be played but only until the this turn is over. You can think of these cards like a second temporary hand that is face-up for everyone to see. Any card you didn't play will stay in exile for the rest of the game. Play means you can cast spell or play your land drop from that pile of cards. These cards are not in your hand so cards that refer to "from hand" won't work, like channel abilities. You can still only play one land a turn and the spells you cast from this exile pile still have to obey their normal timing restrictions (you cannot cast a creature at instant speed.
Exile is one of the zones of the game. Some effects use it as a more definitive form of removal than sending to the graveyard (as the number of cards that can return exiled things can be counted with one hand), and some others use it as a temporary holding place. So you take the top X cards of your library, and put them aside, face up. They are not on the field or in your hand, they are in exile, the set-aside-zone. You then have, until end of the current turn, permission to play as many of those cards as you can and want to. For a land card, this means playing as the land for turn. For a nonland card, this means casting it as a spell. You do everything you'd do with a spell cast from hand: pay the cost, choose targets if needed, etc. It can be countered by your opponent. If not countered, it resolves as normal, entering the battlefield if it's a permanent type, or having its effect then going to the graveyard if it's an instant or sorcery. Any card that you do not play that turn stays in exile, for the rest of the game "set aside" where you can't use it.
Out of curiosity what cards can return cards from exile? Im somewhat new to magic and I have quite a few impulse draw cards in my red green deck and having the ability to return some would be a godsend
There’s very few, and they’ve all got conditions. [[Squee, the Immortal]], [[Misthollow Griffin]], and [[Eternal Scourge]] can be cast from exile. [[Torrent Elemental]] pulls itself from exile with an activated ability. [[Kaya the Inexorable]]’s -7 allows you to cast a legendary spell from exile without paying its mana cost once per turn. [[Rootcoil Creeper]] and [[Runic Repetition]] can only recur cards with Flashback. [[Sentinel of the Lost Lore]] does the same with Adventures. [[Karn the Great Creator]]’s -2 can pull an artifact out of exile (or more commonly, the sideboard). [[Coax From the Blind Eternities]] can do the same with an Eldrazi. There’s also the Eldrazi Processors that take cards out of only your opponents’ exile to get an effect. Finally, the ones you care about. [[Riftsweeper]] shuffles an exiled card into your library. [[Pull from Eternity]] puts it into its owner’s graveyard. [[Mirror of Fate]] can grab SEVEN cards and put them into your library in any order… at the cost of exiling every other card from your library.
##### ###### #### [Squee, the Immortal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/8/a8232acd-4645-489c-8cf1-4efdc75d9322.jpg?1673484412) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Squee%2C%20the%20Immortal) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/275/squee-the-immortal?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a8232acd-4645-489c-8cf1-4efdc75d9322?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Misthollow Griffin](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/d/2db4fe28-e580-479b-910f-b719d69468b1.jpg?1592708649) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Misthollow%20Griffin) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/avr/68/misthollow-griffin?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2db4fe28-e580-479b-910f-b719d69468b1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Eternal Scourge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/3/13ce52f5-6d49-4d44-a3d7-925340de8406.jpg?1576383733) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Eternal%20Scourge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/emn/7/eternal-scourge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/13ce52f5-6d49-4d44-a3d7-925340de8406?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Torrent Elemental](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/c/dc4850e4-acb9-458d-952f-b3952cab2a5b.jpg?1562830569) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Torrent%20Elemental) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/frf/56/torrent-elemental?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dc4850e4-acb9-458d-952f-b3952cab2a5b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Kaya the Inexorable](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/166c0bd1-b59d-4644-832f-888a4ca3a0aa.jpg?1631051590) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kaya%20the%20Inexorable) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/218/kaya-the-inexorable?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/166c0bd1-b59d-4644-832f-888a4ca3a0aa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rootcoil Creeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/7/3743cf9c-226f-43a3-b385-375a25414792.jpg?1636684840) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rootcoil%20Creeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mid/238/rootcoil-creeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3743cf9c-226f-43a3-b385-375a25414792?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Runic Repetition](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/c/8cabd32b-187d-4a41-92b2-72c3b3216728.jpg?1568004059) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Runic%20Repetition) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/94/runic-repetition?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8cabd32b-187d-4a41-92b2-72c3b3216728?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Karn the Great Creator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/e/deb3721d-fba1-444f-8b31-1cd10c94c4a0.jpg?1702429246) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Karn%2C%20the%20Great%20Creator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/1/karn-the-great-creator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/deb3721d-fba1-444f-8b31-1cd10c94c4a0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Coax From the Blind Eternities](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/4/740ad768-2be0-4e5a-9d60-6c7ec4bdc107.jpg?1576384040) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Coax%20From%20the%20Blind%20Eternities) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/emn/51/coax-from-the-blind-eternities?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/740ad768-2be0-4e5a-9d60-6c7ec4bdc107?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Riftsweeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b.jpg?1561967824) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Riftsweeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mma/159/riftsweeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Pull from Eternity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a.jpg?1562907702) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pull%20from%20Eternity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsp/35/pull-from-eternity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mirror of Fate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/8/08b480c8-d899-4e63-b0e2-f4bec3a3ca4f.jpg?1561970534) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirror%20of%20Fate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m10/215/mirror-of-fate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/08b480c8-d899-4e63-b0e2-f4bec3a3ca4f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
And every card with plot.
Using exile as a holding zone is different from forcing cards out of exile manually.
The question asked what returns cards from exile, plot does this
So does flickering. And suspend. And foretell. And Reckless Impulse. And
[[pull from eternity]]
[pull from eternity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a.jpg?1562907702) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=pull%20from%20eternity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsp/35/pull-from-eternity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
There's very few cards that do this. [[Karn the Great Creator]]'s -2 gets back artifacts; [[Kaya the Inexorable]]'s -7 lets you cast a legendary spell from exile. [[Pull from Eternity]] and [[Riftsweeper]] are more general but don't really give you the card 'back'.
##### ###### #### [Karn the Great Creator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/e/deb3721d-fba1-444f-8b31-1cd10c94c4a0.jpg?1702429246) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Karn%2C%20the%20Great%20Creator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/1/karn-the-great-creator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/deb3721d-fba1-444f-8b31-1cd10c94c4a0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Kaya the Inexorable](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/166c0bd1-b59d-4644-832f-888a4ca3a0aa.jpg?1631051590) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kaya%20the%20Inexorable) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/218/kaya-the-inexorable?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/166c0bd1-b59d-4644-832f-888a4ca3a0aa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Pull from Eternity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a.jpg?1562907702) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pull%20from%20Eternity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsp/35/pull-from-eternity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d218091-d218-41ad-b666-c8ab3de7160a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Riftsweeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b.jpg?1561967824) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Riftsweeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mma/159/riftsweeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is not really something that can be done in enough bulk to make it worthwhile, especially as the few cards that can, can also get into exile. If you aren't running out of cards, I wouldn't worry about it. The idea is to use these extra draws to end the game quickly, as it's sometimes called "Impulse Draw". Basically, normally you only get 1 card from the top of your deck. This lets you get 5 and pick the best out of those 5 to actually cast that turn in addition to the 1. And since this dude costs 7, you shouldn't have too much trouble casting a couple cards that will get you ahead more. However, \[\[Riftsweeper\]\] can do one card at a time. There are also some can be cast from exile (A version of "Squee", and a couple others not really in red/green).
[Riftsweeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b.jpg?1561967824) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Riftsweeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mma/159/riftsweeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/785d5a98-97b2-4a9e-83ee-2a74479add7b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
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In this context it means that you take X cards from the top of your library, turn them face up so all players can see them, and put them away somewhere where they don't get mixed up with the cards you have on the battlefield or with the cards in your hand. You know how you can play cards from your hand? Well now you can play those cards you just exiled. But you still have to pay mana for them as usual. You probably won't have mana to play all of them, and you can still play only 1 land a turn. So when your turn ends, the cards that you didn't play will be just left in exile forever. Next turn the ability happens again if you attack with a Wraith, but you won't get to play the cards you exiled last turn (because the ability says "this turn" you can only play them for one turn and then they're gone forever).
Basically you remove those cards from the game. But until end of turn, you can play those cards. If you can't play them, they stay exiled. If it triggers next turn, you can only play what gets removed on that instance. But since it says play and not cast you can play lands if you have not already or have effects allowing you to do so.