This website requires JavaScript.
Skip to content
Planeswalker Hub

The Phasing of Zhalfir

two generic manaone blue manaone blue manaEnchantment — Saga

Card text

Read ahead (Choose a chapter and start with that many lore counters. Add one after your draw step. Skipped chapters don't trigger. Sacrifice after III.)

— Another target nonland permanent phases out. It can't phase in for as long as you control this Saga.

— Destroy all creatures. For each creature destroyed this way, its controller creates a 2/2 black Phyrexian creature token.

Showing Dominaria United#59

Price

0.35 $

Foil 0.36 $

10 printings · up to 1.28 $

Daily estimate from Scryfall, not a shop quote.

The Phasing of Zhalfir rulings

  • Permanents that phase out as The Phasing of Zhalfir's first and second chapter abilities resolve don't phase in during their controllers' untap steps while the Saga is on the battlefield. After it leaves the battlefield, they will phase in during their controller's next untap step as normal.

  • Phased-out permanents are treated as though they don't exist. They can't be the targets of spells or abilities, their static abilities have no effect on the game, their triggered abilities can't trigger, they can't attack or block, and so on.

  • As a permanent is phased out, Auras and Equipment attached to it also phase out at the same time. Those Auras and Equipment will phase in at the same time that permanent does, and they'll phase in still attached to it.

  • Normally, permanents phase back in during their controller's untap step, immediately before that player untaps their permanents. Creatures that phase in this way are able to attack and pay a cost of tap this permanent during that turn. If a permanent had counters on it when it phased out, it will have those counters when it phases back in.

  • An attacking or blocking creature that phases out is removed from combat.

  • Phasing out doesn't cause any "leaves the battlefield" abilities to trigger. Similarly, phasing in won't cause any "enters the battlefield" abilities to trigger.

  • Any continuous effects with a "for as long as" duration, such as that of Extraction Specialist, ignore phased-out objects. If ignoring those objects causes the effect's conditions to no longer be met, the duration will expire.

  • Choices made for permanents as they entered the battlefield are remembered when they phase in.

  • As a Saga with read ahead enters the battlefield, its controller chooses a number from one to that Saga's greatest chapter number. The Saga enters the battlefield with the chosen number of lore counters. Neither choosing the number nor putting the counters on the Saga use the stack, and neither can be responded to.

The Phasing of Zhalfir keyword rules

Read Ahead Rule 702.155

Read ahead is a keyword found on some Saga cards. “Read ahead” means “Chapter abilities of this Saga can’t trigger the turn it entered the battlefield unless it has exactly the number of lore counters on it specified in the chapter symbol of that ability.” See rule , “Saga Cards.”

As a Saga with the read ahead ability enters the battlefield, its controller chooses a number from one to that Saga’s final chapter number. That Saga enters the battlefield with the chosen number of lore counters on it. See rule , “Saga Cards.”

Multiple instances of read ahead on the same object are redundant.

The Phasing of Zhalfir format legality

Constructed

  • StandardNot legal
  • PioneerLegal
  • ModernLegal
  • Future StandardNot legal

Eternal

  • LegacyLegal
  • VintageLegal
  • PauperNot legal
  • PremodernNot legal
  • Old SchoolNot legal
  • Penny DreadfulLegal

Commander

  • CommanderLegal
  • OathbreakerLegal
  • Pauper CommanderNot legal
  • Duel CommanderLegal
  • PreDHNot legal

Arena & online

  • HistoricLegal
  • TimelessLegal
  • AlchemyNot legal
  • GladiatorLegal
  • BrawlLegal
  • Standard BrawlNot legal
  • Competitive BrawlLegal

Other

  • TLRNot legal

All printings of The Phasing of Zhalfir 10

Cards similar to The Phasing of Zhalfir

Show 20 more similar cards

Card data

Card data, card images and mana symbols are provided by Scryfall — which is not produced by or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. PlaneswalkerHub is in turn not produced by or endorsed by Scryfall.

Card prices shown are daily estimates and market values provided by Scryfall's affiliates. No guarantee is made for any price information — see the stores for final prices and details.

Legal

PlaneswalkerHub is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Magic: The Gathering, its logos, mana symbols, card images and the literal and graphical information presented about the game are copyright and trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. PlaneswalkerHub is not produced by, affiliated with, or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

All other content, including the PlaneswalkerHub name, logo and software, © 2026 PlaneswalkerHub. All rights reserved by their respective owners.

© 2026 PlaneswalkerHub — made by fans, for fans.
PrivacyTermsContact