Detain

Detain
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Duels Detain.png}}|70x70px]]
Keyword Action
Introduced	Return to Ravnica
Last used	Assassin's Creed
Reminder Text	Detain (Until your next turn, that permanent can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be activated.)
Storm Scale	3
Statistics	11 cards 36.4% 27.3% 36.4%
Scryfall Search
keyword:"Detain"

Detain is a keyword action that was introduced in Return to Ravnica as the guild mechanic of the Azorius guild.

Description

Detain means: "Until your next turn, that permanent can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be activated." In effect, for one round of turns, it is an Arrest or Faith's Fetters for any permanent.

History

Dragon's Maze added 2 cards with detain. More then ten years later it was reused on the Assassin's Creed card Tax Collector.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Detain

A keyword action that temporarily stops a permanent from attacking, blocking, or having its activated abilities activated. See rule 701.29, “Detain.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 701.29. Detain
  • 701.29a Certain spells and abilities can detain a permanent. Until the next turn of the controller of that spell or ability, that permanent can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.

Rulings

• Activated abilities include a colon and are written in the form “[cost]: [effect].” No one can activate any activated abilities, including mana abilities, of a detained permanent.
• The static abilities of a detained permanent still apply. The triggered abilities of a detained permanent can still trigger.
• If a creature is already attacking or blocking when it’s detained, it won’t be removed from combat. It will continue to attack or block.
• If a permanent’s activated ability is on the stack when that permanent is detained, the ability will be unaffected.
• If a noncreature permanent is detained and later turns into a creature, it won’t be able to attack or block.
• When a player leaves a multiplayer game, any continuous effects with durations that last until that player's next turn or until a specific point in that turn will last until that turn would have begun. They neither expire immediately nor last indefinitely.

Trivia

• While common as a static ability on Auras, four cards have outlined the rules text of Detain as their effect — Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate, Mythos of Vadrok, Edifice of Authority, and Academic Probation.

Examples

Example

Lyev Skyknight
Creature — Human Knight
3/1
Flying
When Lyev Skyknight enters the battlefield, detain target nonland permanent an opponent controls. (Until your next turn, that permanent can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be activated.)