Change of Plans

Two effects that rarely share a spell get bolted together on one instant and aimed inward, at the creatures you already control. Connive is card selection with an upside stapled on: filter toward what you need, and if you pitched a nonland, the creature grows a counter. Phasing out is a defensive trick, a way to blink a permanent without losing its attachments, counters, or the board state around it. Bundling them means the same spell that digs and fattens your team can also protect it: connive the creatures you care about, then let the ones under threat wink out until your next turn. The X scales how many creatures fold in, so a single cast can process a whole squad at once, but this is one shot, not a repeatable engine: exactly one dig-and-shield burst per copy. The sequence matters most at instant speed, because you can filter in response to a wrath or targeted removal and phase the survivors out of range before it resolves. What keeps it from pure upside is the discard buried inside connive: every creature you loot toward you might have to throw away a card you would rather keep, and only pitching a nonland pays you back with a counter. It is a spell for the player who treats their own creatures as a resource to manipulate rather than the threat to swing with.