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If I were to use a blink effect on a Planeswalker say after an ultimate (largest cost) Loyalty ability (and providing it still had Loyalty remaining), would its loyalty restore to the noted amount on the card?

From what I remember, if a card is exiled, unless stated otherwise, all counters are removed.

If this is so, when the planeswalker returns to the battlefield, would it then add the loyalty counters to match its noted amount back on the card?

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  • As a note, this is why the flip walkers from Origins did not just transform, but exiled themselves and returned transformed, so the ETB trigger would go off, giving them loyalty counters. – Andrew Jan 10 '19 at 20:39
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Yes, a planeswalker will return as if you had just played it, with full loyalty counters.

Blinking a Planeswalker means to first exile it, which indeed removes all counters from it, and then returning it to the battlefield, with a number of loyalty counters on it equal to the loyalty printed on the card.

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

121.2. Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.

209.1. Each planeswalker card has a loyalty number printed in its lower right corner. This indicates its loyalty while it’s not on the battlefield, and it also indicates that the planeswalker enters the battlefield with that many loyalty counters on it.

It doesn't matter how or from where a planeswalker entered the battlefield, it will always gain as many loyalty counters as it has loyalty printed on it whenever it does enter the battlefield.

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    As an added bonus, since the blinked planeswalker is a totally new object, you can still activate loyalty abilities even if you had done so before the blink. It's a great way to restore loyalty counters and use a planeswalker's abilities twice in one turn! – Nuclear Hoagie Oct 11 '17 at 14:48
  • Note that this is how the recent Saheeli Rai / Felidar Guardian infinite cat combo worked. – Brondahl Oct 11 '17 at 16:46
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    Of note, the Planeswalker "Kaya, Ghost Assassin" (if I remember the name correctly) blinks herself as her ONLY way to restore loyalty. – Kamil Drakari Oct 11 '17 at 17:56
  • This is brilliant news... I really need to get my hands on some Felidar Guardians. – ThunderToes Oct 12 '17 at 7:06
  • @ThunderToes Felidar guardian was banned in standard because of this combo, it is still legal in eternal formats, however I don't think the combo is really as competitive in those formats. – Andrew Jan 10 '19 at 20:41
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Yes, because it goes out and comes back in, making it a new object, so it is restored to the original counters, and can use it’s loyalty abilities again as well

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    Welcome to the site! This answer doesn't add anything to the already-accepted answer; and it lacks the rules citations that the other answer has. – GendoIkari Jan 10 '19 at 18:02

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