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Whenever you cycle a card, you may pay {1}. When you do, exile target artifact or creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Escape Protocol’s triggered ability goes on the stack without a target. While that ability is resolving, you may pay {1}. If you do, a second ability triggers and you pick a target artifact or creature you control. This is different from abilities that say “If you do . . .” in that players may cast spells and activate abilities after mana is paid but before the target changes zones.
If a token is exiled this way, it will cease to exist and won’t return to the battlefield.
Some cards with cycling have an ability that triggers when you cycle them, and some cards have an ability that triggers whenever you cycle any card. These triggered abilities resolve before you draw from the cycling ability.
Triggered abilities from cycling a card and the cycling ability itself aren’t spells. Effects that interact with spells (such as that of Cancel) won’t affect them.
When the card returns to the battlefield, it will be a new object with no connection to the card that was exiled. Auras attached to the exiled permanent will be put into their owners’ graveyards. Any Equipment will become unattached and remain on the battlefield. Any counters on the exiled permanent will cease to exist.
While resolving Escape Protocol’s triggered ability, you can’t pay {1} multiple times to exile multiple permanents you control.
You can cycle a card even if it has a triggered ability from cycling that won’t have a legal target. This is because the cycling ability and the triggered ability are separate. This also means that if either ability is countered (with Disallow, for example), the other ability will still resolve.
