Exchange of Words is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
When this enchantment enters, choose two target creatures. For as long as this enchantment remains on the battlefield, exchange the text boxes of those creatures.
Complete guide
Exchange of Words is a mind-bending enchantment from the Unfinity set that literally swaps the identities of two creatures on the board. By trading their rules text, you can turn a powerful utility creature into a blank slate while your smallest token becomes a massive threat. This card introduces a unique text-changing effect that lasts exactly as long as the enchantment remains in play.
What It Does
When Exchange of Words enters the battlefield, you choose two target creatures. These creatures essentially trade their text boxes. Everything written in the text box—including keywords, activated abilities, triggered abilities, and even flavor text—is swapped between the two targets. This is a continuous text-changing effect that does not care about the creatures' power, toughness, or types; only what is written in their text boxes is affected.
How It Resolves Step by Step
First, the enchantment enters the battlefield and its triggered ability goes on the stack, requiring you to choose two target creatures. Upon resolution, the game checks if both targets are still legal. If they are, the exchange occurs immediately. From this point forward, Creature A has the text that was printed on Creature B, and Creature B has the text that was printed on Creature A. This effect persists as long as Exchange of Words is on the battlefield. If the enchantment leaves, the creatures immediately revert to their original text.
Common Mistakes
A common misconception is that this swap includes granted abilities. It does not. Only the rules text printed on the card (or defined by the token's creation) is swapped. If a creature has an ability granted by an Aura, Equipment, or a counter, that ability stays with the physical permanent and is not part of the exchange. Additionally, if one of the targeted creatures leaves the battlefield after the exchange has happened, the remaining creature still keeps the swapped text until Exchange of Words itself leaves the battlefield.
When to Play It
This card is best used to neutralize a commander or a creature with a powerful passive ability. Because the exchange is tied to the enchantment's presence, you can use it to 'steal' an opponent's best utility while giving them the text box of a vanilla creature. It is particularly effective in multiplayer games where you can swap abilities between two different opponents to sow chaos.
Interaction examples
If you cast Exchange of Words and choose your own 1/1 Soldier token and an opponent's creature with Flying and Trample, the Soldier token now has Flying and Trample, while the opponent's creature has no rules text at all.
Rhystic StudyIf Rhystic Study were somehow a creature (perhaps via another card effect), you could use Exchange of Words to swap its text with a different creature. Even if Exchange of Words loses its own abilities later, the swap remains in effect because the duration is tied to the permanent being on the battlefield, not the permanent having the ability.
PropagandaIf you target two creatures with Exchange of Words, but an opponent destroys the enchantment in response to the enters-the-battlefield trigger, the exchange never happens. The targets must be checked at the moment of resolution, and since the 'source' duration (Exchange of Words being on the battlefield) is already over, no swap occurs.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Exchange of Words
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Exchanging two creatures’ text boxes means that each one loses its rules text and replaces it with the rules text the other one had. In Un- games, this also means the text boxes themselves are exchanged, including the flavor text and watermarks in those text boxes. In both cases, this is a text-changing effect.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Notably, ability stickers (and other granted abilities) aren’t part of the rules text that get exchanged. Any ability stickers on either of the two permanents continue to apply to the permanent they are on.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If Exchange of Words leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability resolves, the text boxes are never exchanged. Neither creature is ever affected. The same is true if either of the two creatures becomes an illegal target before the enters-the-battlefield ability resolved.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Once the exchange has happened, either of the two creatures leaving the battlefield has no effect on the other creature’s text box. The exchange will only end once Exchange of Words is no longer on the battlefield. Similarly, further changes to either creature’s text box won’t change the other’s text box.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If Exchange of Words has lost its own abilities (or perhaps its text box), the effect will still only end once it is no longer on the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Archfiend of the Dross + Exchange of Words
- 1Cast Exchange of Words by paying
. - 2Exchange of Words enters the battlefield, swapping the text boxes of Archfiend of the Dross and an opposing creature that does not have more than one oil counter on it.
- 3At the beginning of the opposing creature's controller's next upkeep, their creature triggers, causing them to remove an oil counter from that creature and lose the game.
Exchange of Words + Scute Swarm
- 1Cause a land you control to become a creature.
- 2Cast Exchange of Words by paying , exchanging the text boxes of the land creature and Scute Swarm.
- 3Play a land.
- 4The land enters the battlefield, triggering the land creature's Scute Swarm ability, creating a copy of itself with its original text.
- 5Step 4 repeats in a mandatory loop unless interrupted, drawing the game.
Exchange of Words + Scute Swarm + Blinkmoth Nexus
- 1Activate Blinkmoth Nexus' first ability by tapping it, adding
. - 2Activate Blinkmoth Nexus' second ability by paying , causing it to become a 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature that is still a land until end of turn.
- 3Cast Exchange of Words by paying , exchanging the text boxes of Blinkmoth Nexus and Scute Swarm.
- 4Play a land.
- 5The land enters the battlefield, triggering Blinkmoth Nexus's Scute Swarm ability, creating a copy of Blinkmoth Nexus with its original text.
- 6Step 5 repeats in a mandatory loop unless interrupted, drawing the game.
Exchange of Words + Scute Swarm + Mishra's Factory
- 1Activate Mishra's Factory's first ability by tapping it, adding .
- 2Activate Mishra's Factory's second ability by paying , causing it to become a 2/2 Assembly-Worker creature that is still a land until end of turn.
- 3Cast Exchange of Words by paying , exchanging the text boxes of Mishra's Factory and Scute Swarm.
- 4Play a land.
- 5The land enters the battlefield, triggering Mishra's Factory's Scute Swarm ability, creating a copy of Mishra's Factory with its original text.
- 6Step 5 repeats in a mandatory loop unless interrupted, drawing the game.
Exchange of Words + Scute Swarm + Mutavault
- 1Activate Mutavault's first ability by tapping it, adding .
- 2Activate Mutavault's second ability by paying , causing it to become a 2/2 creature that is still a land until end of turn.
- 3Cast Exchange of Words by paying , exchanging the text boxes of Mutavault and Scute Swarm.
- 4Play a land.
- 5The land enters the battlefield, triggering Mutavault's Scute Swarm ability, creating a copy of Mutavault with its original text.
- 6Step 5 repeats in a mandatory loop unless interrupted, drawing the game.
Exchange of Words + Scute Swarm + Inkmoth Nexus
- 1Activate Inkmoth Nexus' first ability by tapping it, adding .
- 2Activate Inkmoth Nexus' second ability by paying , causing it to become a 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature that is still a land until end of turn.
- 3Cast Exchange of Words by paying , exchanging the text boxes of Inkmoth Nexus and Scute Swarm.
- 4Play a land.
- 5The land enters the battlefield, triggering Inkmoth Nexus's Scute Swarm ability, creating a token copy of Inkmoth Nexus with its original text.
- 6Step 5 repeats in a mandatory loop unless interrupted, drawing the game.
Exchange of Words + Ley Weaver + Inkmoth Nexus
- 1Activate Inkmoth Nexus' second ability by paying , causing it to become a 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature in addition to its other types.
- 2Cast Exchange of Words by paying .
- 3When Exchange of Words enters the battlefield, it triggers, exchanging the text boxes of Ley Weaver and Inkmoth Nexus.
- 4Activate Inkmoth Nexus by tapping it, untapping itself and any other land you control.
- 5Repeat step 4.
Exchange of Words + Ley Weaver + Blinkmoth Nexus
- 1Activate Blinkmoth Nexus' second ability by paying , causing it to become a 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature in addition to its other types.
- 2Cast Exchange of Words by paying .
- 3When Exchange of Words enters the battlefield, it triggers, exchanging the text boxes of Ley Weaver and Blinkmoth Nexus.
- 4Activate Blinkmoth Nexus by tapping it, untapping itself and any other land you control.
- 5Repeat step 4.
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Exchange of Words
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.