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Moxonomy

Abduction

Enchantment — Aura2 generic manaBlue manaBlue mana

Mind control with a built-in compensation clause, and the compensation is what makes the design strange. Most theft auras of this vintage simply granted control until they fell off; here, the enters-the-battlefield untap matters, but it does not do what a hasty steal-effect does. Because nothing grants the stolen creature haste, it still has summoning sickness the turn it changes hands: it cannot attack or use tap abilities, and the untap (a trigger on entry, not a windfall during the untap step) exists chiefly so the creature can block on the opponent's turn. The real wrinkle is the death trigger. When the creature you stole dies, it comes back under its owner's control, not yours. That single line turns a permanent theft into a lease with a return policy. The thief who wants to keep the body has to keep it alive, because death is how the original owner gets it back, free of the Aura. This rewrites the threat assessment around removal entirely. Destroying the creature in response to Abduction is the answer that actually denies anything: the Aura loses its only legal target, fizzles, and never enters, so the death trigger never exists to bring the creature back. Wait until the Aura has resolved, though, and removal becomes a gift to the original owner: the death trigger fires and the creature returns home to its rightful controller. A control spell whose entire counterplay turns on a single beat of timing.

Abduction (wth)
WTH · #30uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.28
Foil:
Oracle Text

Rules text

Enchant creature When this Aura enters, untap enchanted creature. You control enchanted creature. When enchanted creature dies, return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
N/A
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
Legal
PreDH
Legal
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
N/A
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

2 sets
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