Astral Slide in Premodern: the cycling engine that protects your threats and blinks away blockers

What it does

Astral Slide is a three-mana white enchantment: whenever a player cycles a card, you may remove target creature from the game, then return it to play under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step. The creature is phased out and back in — its “enters the battlefield” abilities trigger again on return. In the Astral Slide archetype, this creates a cycling-based engine where each cycled card removes an opponent’s blocker temporarily, or protects your own creatures from removal and sweepers, or re-triggers enters-the-battlefield effects.

When it’s played

Astral Slide is the namesake card of the Astral Slide archetype — a white-red control combo deck.

The Astral Slide deck pairs the enchantment with Lightning Rift (each cycling card deals one damage to any target) and a suite of cycling cards: Decree of Justice, Akroma’s Vengeance, Eternal Dragon, and various cycling lands. The combination generates card advantage, board control, and damage all from the cycling action.

The math / interaction worth knowing

Astral Slide can remove any creature — yours or an opponent’s. The ability says “remove target creature from the game.” This can target an opponent’s attacking creature (removing it from combat), an opponent’s key creature (removing it temporarily to break up their plan), or your own creatures (saving them from removal or sweepers). The creature returns at the beginning of the end step of the current turn — if you remove an opponent’s attacking creature during combat, it does not return until the end of that same turn, meaning it misses combat entirely.

Removing a creature with Astral Slide resets “summoning sickness.” When the creature returns to play, it has been in play for zero turns — it is treated as a creature that just entered the battlefield. This means attacking creatures that you Slide-remove cannot attack again when they return. For your own creatures, this also means creatures that entered the battlefield this turn (which have summoning sickness) that you Slide have the sickness reset on return.

The return is “at the beginning of the end step.” This means if Astral Slide removes a creature during the main phase, the creature returns at end of turn on the same turn. If removed during combat, it returns at end of turn. This is usually fine — the opponent’s creature missed combat. In some edge cases, you want the creature gone for more than one turn — you cannot use Astral Slide to permanently remove creatures.

Astral Slide + Lightning Rift per cycling card. Each cycling activation triggers both Astral Slide (choose a target) and Lightning Rift (deal one damage to any target). If you cycle three cards in one turn, you: remove three creatures or protect three creatures from Slide, and deal three damage from Rift. Against aggressive opponents, this combination resets the board while advancing the damage plan.

Decklists worth studying

When deck data populates, look for Astral Slide lists from MTGO Premodern Challenges. The cycling land count and the Slide-Rift combination ratio are the defining features.

Related cards

• Lightning Rift — The damage companion to Astral Slide; each cycling card triggers both.
• Decree of Justice — The primary cycling finisher; cycling it creates Soldiers and triggers Slide and Rift.
• Akroma’s Vengeance — The sweeper that also cycles; cycling it triggers Slide to protect creatures before Vengeance resolves.
• Eternal Dragon — The cycling threat that returns from the graveyard; Slide can protect it from removal.
• Wrath of God — The backup sweeper in Astral Slide builds.
• Lightning Bolt — Some Astral Slide builds include it alongside Lightning Rift for direct damage.