Phasing

Phasing is a mechanic where permanents may phase out, causing them to be treated as if they don't exist until they automatically phase back in on their next untap step. This can be a protective action, or a means to temporarily disable an opponent's permanents. Phasing is primary in white and secondary in blue. Unlike similar concepts like flickering, a phased-out permanent remains the same object, and so retains counters, attachments, and choices made during the "life" of the object.
Phasing is also the name of the closely related keyword ability that puts a permanent in a repeating cycle of phasing out and in every two turns. This form of the ability functioned mainly as a drawback and has not been printed since Weatherlight in 1997 (aside from in Un-sets).
==Description==
Some spells and abilities cause permanents to "phase out". This is usually a keyword action, but the discontinued "Phasing" ability causes it as a turn-based action. While a permanent is phased out, it's treated as though it doesn't exist; a phased-out permanent can't affect or be affected by anything that doesn't specifically mention phased-out permanents. During each player's untap step, before they untap, all phased-out permanents under that player's control "phase in". Due to this timing, permanents that just phased in usually untap normally right afterward. A few cards can also cause a "phase in" outside of the untap step.
When permanents phase, they do not change zones or leave the battlefield, so no enters-the-battlefield or leaves-the-battlefield triggered abilities trigger. Any Auras, Equipments, and/or Fortifications attached to that permanent phase out with it; this is called "phasing out indirectly". A permanent that phases in are treated by the game rules as the same object that is phased out. As a result - and unlike a permanent that is flickered - it retains any counters that were on it. If it's a creature, it does not cause summoning sickness, so it can attack and use activated abilities with the tap or untap symbols in their activation costs during the turn it phases back in. Auras, Equipment, and/or Fortifications attached to that permanent "phase in indirectly" when the permanent itself phases in. Tokens continue to exist while phased out, and phase back in like any other permanent.
===Discontinued keyword ability===
The Phasing keyword ability generally causes a permanent to alternate between phasing out and phasing in each turn. Specifically, a permanent with the ability phases out on each of its controller's untap steps if it wasn't already phased out, causing it to alternate unless another effect interferes with the cycle. Phasing out this way happens simultaneously with other cards phasing in. This ability is no longer used outside of acorn cards but was heavily centered in blue with minor usage in green.Scryfall search
Note that the ability of a permanent to phase back in is completely unaffected by whether it has the Phasing ability or not. The ability only causes phasing out at special times, whereas general game rules cause phasing in for all phased objects.
===Interaction with other mechanics===
Generally, phasing functions to prevent interaction of any kind, and is similar to flicker or bounce in this way but with even fewer triggered abilities or state-based actions that can occur since objects phasing in or out are not considered to change zones. Decks focused on counters and auras may desire phasing as a protective mechanic since their phased-out permanents bring those modifications along with them instead of losing them.
The echo ability was formerly stated to trigger its payment requirement on a phasing permanent on the first turn on which it's not phased out during its controller's upkeep (generally, this will be its second turn after being played, having phased out on the first turn after being played). This was a ruling for an "un-set" and may not have been thoroughly considered; in any case, the current ruling is that echo is made irrelevant by the phasing ability.
==History==
Phasing was created by the Mirage design team with an eye toward Sealed Deck play. It created variability on the battlefield, which decreased the likelihood of a single player having an overwhelming creature advantage on a given turn, and complicated the tactics of board wipes. It also allowed designers to create large creatures at a lower cost since they'd be present only half the time.Brady Dommermuth (January 1999). Mechanically Inclined. The Duelist #33. Wizards of the Coast.Reprint: 
Phasing inspired the design of the Flicker ability. R&D didn't consider Phasing a well-understood mechanic. Nonetheless, it was used to clean up a few Oracle wordings, although some of these were later reverted, typically using the exile zone instead.
For a long time, the only tournament-legal cards with phasing had been printed during Mirage block. Its only reappearance was as an example of an outdated mechanic in Unhinged's <c>Old Fogey</c>.
==="Phase out" revival===
Thirteen years later, and just over twenty years after its last printing on a non-acorn card, "phase out" made a surprise return as an one-off on Commander 2017's <c>Teferi's Protection</c>.Scryfall search: Acorn card <c>Old Fogey</c> is the only phasing card printed between July 1997 and July 2017. This featured a new reminder text: (When permanents are phased out, they're treated as if they don't exist. They phase in before you untap during your untap step.) As of Commander 2017, tokens that phase out phase back in the same as nontoken permanents, instead of ceasing to exist as a state-based action.
In 2020, R&D was considering giving "phase out" deciduous status as a keyword action, because it allows for different design space than flickering, e.g Auras and Equipment don't "fall off" of and "enters the battlefield" and "leaves the battlefield" effects don't work. They are not interested in the permanent keyword phasing where an object continually phases in and out every turn. Two Teferi cards in Core Set 2021 made use of the technology (<c>Teferi, Master of Time</c> and <c>Teferi, Timeless Voyager</c>) These featured the following reminder text (Treat it and anything attached to it as though they don’t exist until its controller’s next turn). It also made the return of in Double Masters possible.
By 2021, the deciduous status of phasing was confirmed with Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. "Phase out", in contrast to the original phasing ability, is primary in white.Scryfall search for "phase out" cards since their reintroduction in 2017. As of April 2023, the color balance is narrowly in white's favor at 8, then blue at 7. Regardless, note that primary/secondary terminology is a design concept and may not be strictly reflected in final sets, although it's still worth noting empirical evidence since updates aren't always available to the exact current thinking of R&D.
==Rules==
==Examples==
==See also==
*Phased out an obsolete game zone previously used to deal with phased-out permanents before the Magic 2010 rules
==References==
==Notes==