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Rules Answers › Card Types & Zones

If a creature dies and is returned to the battlefield in the same triggered ability, does it count as the same creature for auras?

Short answer
No. A creature returned to the battlefield after dying is a new game object, so all Auras that were attached fall off unless explicitly instructed otherwise.

When a creature dies, it moves to the graveyard and ceases to exist as a battlefield object. Any Auras attached to it immediately fall off and go to the graveyard as well (or to their owner's hand/graveyard depending on their own rules). This is covered by CR 704.5n and the general rule on aura attachment (CR 303.4c).

Even if a single triggered ability both triggers on the creature dying and returns it to the battlefield, the returned creature is a brand-new game object with no memory of its previous existence on the battlefield (CR 400.7). It does not retain any of the Auras, counters, or other attachments the original object had.

The only exceptions are effects that explicitly say something like 'return it to the battlefield with those Auras' or similar language. A standard 'return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield' effect carries no such instruction, so nothing is reattached automatically.

Concrete example: Your 3/3 creature has a Pacifism attached to it. Your opponent casts a spell that destroys it, then a 'Resurrection'-style triggered ability returns it. When it died, Pacifism went to the graveyard. The creature comes back as a fresh object with no Auras on it.

To summarize: death creates a new object on return (CR 400.7), Auras fall off when their permanent leaves the battlefield (CR 303.4c, 704.5n), and no standard resurrection effect re-attaches them automatically.

HIGH confidence CR 400.7 CR 303.4c CR 704.5n
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