Imprisoning

Imprisoning is a slang term used to describe certain spells that stop a creature from being used by its controller without destroying it outright. The two common forms of this are based on Pacifism, an Aura preventing blocking and attacking, and Oblivion Ring, exiling the creature so long as the imprisoning permanent is on the battlefield.^[1]^[2]

Description

Imprisoning is a primary white mechanic that prevents a creature from being used effectively. The ability is seen on permanents, usually an enchantment, and often carries a connotation of being "jailed", with the potential to be "freed from jail" by removing the permanent that caused the effect. This is sometimes considered "soft removal" since it attempts to nullify the target, but the effect can be reversed.

Auras enchanting the affected creature, preventing it from attacking or blocking, are the most common form of imprisonment and are known as Pacifism-style effects after the original card. This form of imprisonment is vulnerable to the creature using its abilities, being bounced, or being sacrificed, allowing its controller to continue benefiting from it even without enchantment removal. Some Pacifism-style effects can also stop activated abilities or affect planeswalkers. Others only stop half of the usual actions, either attacking or blocking; stopping attacking is more prevalent.

Oblivion Ring-style effects are more powerful and hence either costlier or rarer, exiling the target until the imprisoning permanent leaves the battlefield. In contrast to Pacifism-style, exiling the target means its passive abilities are lost, no modifications like counters or Auras are kept, tokens are removed entirely, and effects that exploit creatures outside of combat are unavailable. This type of imprisonment can also target a wider range of permanents, and sometimes appears on creatures, who are often flavored as enforcers or jailors. Two different rules text templates have been used for this style: the first used two linked abilities, while the modern version uses a single contingent ability (seen first on Banisher Priest). The former could be exploited when the "leaves" trigger occurred before the "enters" trigger, preventing the targeted creature from receiving its "freedom" as expected.

With the shift to Play Boosters and its reduction in commons, Banishing Light and its derivatives have since seen multiple printings at common and White Aura-based removal appears to have been dropped from the common framework. Dog Umbra from Modern Horizons 3 was the last such common Aura, as it uses modality based on player control.

Torment's Nightmare mechanic

Oblivion Ring being a white effect was not introduced until 2008, barring the combat-focused one of Wall of Nets. Prior to this, Torment introduced a series of black and red cards that, under today's parlance, imprisoned various targets and returned them once the creature left.^[3] In that set, though, the flavor was that they were reality-warping Nightmares that transformed out of the target, and returned to normal after they were defeated. The Blue ones were borne out of the caster's mind, and required the caster to give up something; the "lose-a-creature" designs resembled Champion.