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Enters the Battlefield
Mechanic
Introduced Portal
Last used Evergreen
Scryfall Search
fulloracle:"enter(s|ing)? the battlefield"

Enters, or Enters the battlefield, refers to putting a permanent onto the battlefield, or to an ability which is triggered when a permanent is put onto the battlefield. It is commonly abbreviated ETB.

History[ | ]

"Enters the Battlefield" was originally phrased as "Comes into play" (abbreviated as CIP)

"Enters-the-battlefield" abilities were introduced as a mechanic designed by Bill Rose for Portal. The design team liked it so much that they included it on one card of each color in Visions.[1] Popular cards with "enters-the-battlefield" effects were Nekrataal and Man-o'-War.[2] "Enters-the-battlefield" abilities which damage or kill a creature or destroy a permanent were colloquially known as 187 effects.

"Enters the battlefield" replaced the term "comes into play" when Magic 2010 rules changes went into effect.[3]

"Enters the battlefield" is not a keyword, but R&D talked about keywording it multiple times.[4] The word "arrives" was considered as an alternative.[5]

Starting with Bloomburrow in 2024, the phrase "Enters the battlefield" is shortened to "Enters" (and this will be applied retroactively in Oracle).[6] [7] Entering will be connected specifically with the battlefield, so cards can’t, for example, “enter the graveyard”. R&D will occasionally write out “enters the battlefield” where they think it is needed for clarity in a template. Note that Sagas already used the "enters" template earlier in their reminder text. Meanwhile, “Leaves the battlefield” is *not* being shortened to “leaves” as R&D have used leave as a means to talk about cards leaving the graveyard, so it created ambiguity they didn’t want.[8]

Rules[ | ]

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Magic: The Gathering Foundations)

Enter
In rules text, to enter the battlefield. See “Enters the Battlefield.”

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Magic: The Gathering Foundations)

Enters the Battlefield
A nontoken permanent enters the battlefield when it’s moved onto the battlefield from another zone. A token enters the battlefield as it’s created. See rules 403.3, 603.6a, 603.6d, and 614.12. This phrase has been shortened to simply “enters” in rules text on cards in most contexts.

From the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Magic: The Gathering Foundations)

  • 603.6a Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are written, “When [this object] enters, . . . “ or “Whenever a [type] enters, . . .” Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event.

From the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Magic: The Gathering Foundations)

  • 700.15. The term enter[s] is short for “enter[s] the battlefield.”

References[ | ]

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