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I know the Commander replacement effect allows you to move your Commander to the Command Zone if it would be exiled or put into its owner's hand, graveyard or library from anywhere.

My question is if you flicker (exile and return) your commander with the likes of Venser, the Sojourner (without sending it to the command zone then so it returns at the end step) and your opponent casts a spell to Exile anything that would enter (e.g. Hallowed Moonlight), does that count as your Commander moving from Exile to Exile, thus allowing you to apply the replacement effect, or would your Commander be stuck in exile?

Edit: Figured it out and answered below.

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  • I would think that if the Hallowed Moonlight moves the commander to Exile, the replacement effect would still allow you to move him back to the Zone. As essentially it should mean "anywhere it says Exile, return to hand, Destroy... so on and so fourth, move to the commander Zone instead." so you should be able to move him back. However I'm not too sure as I have not played Commander before.
    – ThunderToes
    Nov 26, 2015 at 12:19

2 Answers 2

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Hallowed Moonlight instructs you to exile. This is what the replacement effect in question replaces.

903.11. If a commander would be exiled from anywhere or put into its owner’s hand, graveyard, or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event. This is an exception to rule 614.5.

As such, you may indeed return the Commander to the Command zone, even if the instruction would otherwise have done nothing at all.

As confirmation, 406.7 does presume than an exiled object can be exiled.

406.7. If an object in the exile zone becomes exiled, it doesn’t change zones, but it becomes a new object that has just been exiled.

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  • 406.7 is what I was looking for, because I wasn't sure if Exiling from Exile had an effect.
    – Cameron
    Nov 26, 2015 at 13:26
  • It implies that something "moving" from exile to exile becomes a new exiled object. Which would then give me the chance to send it to the command zone.
    – Cameron
    Nov 26, 2015 at 13:29
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    No, the fact that you were instructed to exile it is what gives you the chance, not the fact that it became a new object.
    – ikegami
    Nov 26, 2015 at 13:30
  • Fair enough. 406.7 is what stopped me from being confused about it.
    – Cameron
    Nov 26, 2015 at 13:31
  • Interesting that 406.7 and 400.8 are almost identical with the only difference being "is/becomes"
    – Ivo
    Nov 26, 2015 at 14:06
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Answering my own question here, just figured it out:

Rule 400.8 says: If an object in the exile zone is exiled, it doesn't change zones, but it becomes a new object that has just been exiled.

I seems this does give the player the chance to send their Commander to the Command Zone as a replacement effect.

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